Los Angeles Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke has found himself in The Hockey News’ latest rumor roundup as he finds himself in the trade rumor mill.

In Lyle Richardson’s latest roundup, he writes about a report from James Murphy of OG.Org. According to Murphy, sources tell him that multiple teams around the NHL have been calling on Clarke.

It was reported that Kings GM Ken Holland has no interest in moving on from the promising 22-year-old D-man, as he and coach Jim Hiller see Clarke as a piece of Los Angeles’ future.

Nonetheless, despite Holland’s perspective on Clarke’s ability, the young defenseman remains a pending RFA, and that’s what is attracting customers from across the league.

“There were people surprised he wasn’t locked up. Blue chip prospect, but it didn’t happen,” an unnamed source told Murphy.

“The longer he’s not locked up and plays well, that value goes up and that trade interest does too.”

Clarke is now in the final year of his entry-level contract, earning $863,334 against the Kings’ salary cap. 

If the team still hasn’t signed him to an extension when this contract expires, his rights will still belong to the Kings. However, all parties would prefer to handle business far before it’s too late.

Just ahead of this season, New Jersey Devils defenseman Luke Hughes signed his contract extension on Oct. 1, nearly leaving negotiations active into the start of the regular season. 

In fact, Luke Evangelista and the Nashville Predators fought until Oct. 3, four days before the first day of this season. 

The Kings and Clarke would likely rather get a deal done well before training camp, as that’ll benefit both parties. Clarke won’t miss any time in training camp and pre-season, and Los Angeles will have their young blueliner ready to roll for the upcoming campaign.

Ultimately, a clear factor as to why Clarke and the Kings haven’t done much extension talks is because of another player on the team that is looking for a new contract, which is star right winger Adrian Kempe.

Kempe’s situation is a little more critical as he is a pending UFA. That means, when July 1 hits, and the Swede is still without a contract, he hits the open market, allowing any team to have a fair shot at landing Kempe’s services.

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As far as Clarke’s performances, he’s been solid for Hiller’s side. In 15 appearances this season, he’s recorded two goals and seven points from the back end.

With that, he is tied with the fifth-most points on the roster, alongside left winger Andrei Kuzmenko, right winger Joel Armia and center Anze Kopitar.

What makes his production even more impressive is the limited ice time he receives. Among the regular defensemen on the Kings, Clarke averages the least ice time with 17:02 per game.

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The least amount of ice time he received this season was on Oct. 28 against the San Jose Sharks. Even with minimal ice time, the fifth-lowest among all skaters on the Kings in that contest, the blueliner recorded two points, a plus-three rating, and the game-winning goal.

Nonetheless, management said they’ll make an effort to increase his ice time. From the start of the season to that Sharks game, Clarke averaged 16:28 of ice time. But, in the four outings since then, he’s averaged 18:36.

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