Injuries will test any team, regardless of the position. Depth will come into the spotlight, and with a position such as a first-pair role on defense, an excess of minutes can either be munched on by veteran defensemen or dangled as a carrot to young players hoping to make their mark. Drew Doughty went down in the preseason to injury, leaving a massive void in the defensive corps. The keys to the kingdom, or in reality, first powerplay unit time, was passed to a young up-and-coming defenseman. Excess powerplay time is typically earned and rarified air for non-established players. This is something LA has experienced before. In the 2021-22 season, Doughty suffered a right knee contusion in a collision with Dallas Stars Jani Hakanpaa at the early start of the season. The defensive corps at the time had young Jordan Spence as an option, but management chose to give Sean Durzi the first powerplay unit and exponentially more minutes. Durzi separated himself from the competition to become Los Angeles's go-to offensive defenseman since, at the time, the right-handed depth chart had elite shutdown righty Matt Roy, a soon-to-be injured Sean Walker, and Jordan Spence. For Durzi, it was time to feast. He could showcase the skills the Toronto Maple Leafs saw when they drafted Durzi and what the Kings envisioned when they traded for him. While not the fastest skater or most physically imposing, Durzi utilized excellent offensive vision to make himself prevalent in the NHL, particularly on the powerplay. There was a plethora of risk to his game during his first season in Los Angeles, but he was the most offensively deployable defenseman available with Doughty recovering. His skillset made him an obvious choice to swap out Doughty's placement on the powerplay. Of his 27 points in his 64-game season, 15 were on the power play. He continued his production on the man advantage the next season with a healthy Doughty running the first unit, totaling 1g, 15a, 16p, operating the much quieter second unit. Durzi’s production on the man advantage in the 2022-23 season was a significant reason the Kings powerplay ranked fourth in the league (25.3%). Durzi was traded following their historically good (franchise-wise) salary cap era powerplay. The powerplay since then has withered season over season since, with the latest season a low point [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/los-angeles-kings/latest-news/kings-faltering-powerplay-is-limiting-their-potential]. Now that the Kings are on their second rendition of this "Durzi experience”, how has the future Doughty replacement in Brandt Clarke fared? Comparatively, Clarke is almost halfway towards the number of games Durzi completed during the last significant Doughty injury (31/64) in 2021-22. His numbers are similar to Durzi's in many ways but with some improvements. Per Moneypuck.com, Durzi's Expected Goals were significantly better than Clarke's current amount (5.9 vs 3.8), while Clarke's primary assists are likely to well surpass Durzi's total (10pa/31gp compared to 12pa/64gp). Durzi was a penalty-drawing machine compared to Clarke (43 PIM drawn vs. just 14). Both players took plenty of penalties, as Durzi compiled 55 PIM compared to Clarke's 22. It should be noted that Clarke has tightened up his discipline in the last ten games, with only one minor penalty taken. If he maintains this, he will massively separate himself from 2021-22 Durzi. Both players were and are not afraid to get in front of shots, posting matching blocked shots averages at 1.9. Possession-wise, Corsi and Fenwick favored Clarke (58%, 59% compared to 55% and 56% for Durzi), but there is plenty of time for things to improve or worsen for Clarke with the current season only approaching the halfway mark. Young defensemen will turn over the puck, and fortunately for these two, they didn't play under Darryl Sutter. Durzi's takeaway-to-giveaway ratio was 26:53. Clarke will likely match the takeaway ratio (13) but surpass the giveaway (31 through 31 games). Clarke's number of turnovers has not burned him yet, as he's a +5 compared to Durzi, who finished as a -9. This is where Clarke starts to break away from Durzi. His On-Ice Goals % is 64.7 compared to Durzi's 51.2. Clarke's On-Ice Expected Goals per 60 and On-Ice Higher Danger Shot Attempts per 60 reign supreme (3.44/4.32 vs 3.36/3.06). It's certainly not a knock on Durzi, as Clarke has a much higher overall ceiling. Clarke should finish with more points than Durzi's first year in LA (64gp, 3g, 24a, 27p, while Clarke sits at 3g, 14a, 17p in 31gp), but those numbers could potentially dip when Doughty returns in January [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/los-angeles-kings/latest-news/taking-a-look-at-drew-doughtys-potential-return]. The difference between the two scenarios is that Durzi wasn't expected to play as well as he did, which acted as more than just the bandaid to the wound left by Doughty. Clarke is expected to take over the blueline as the future 1D, as evidenced by Durzi being shipped off in the mass exodus of right-handed defensemen: the organization's move to ship off assets to "contend." Clarke will continue to wow the crowd, but his warts will also show, including his turnovers, penalties, and skating overall. Durzi held it together for a team that lost its number one defenseman in a season they were not expected to be as good as they were, ultimately ending with a game-seven loss to the Western Conference Finalist Edmonton Oilers. Durzi was a significant part of that, and credit due is credit due. However, for Clarke, the stakes are much higher than in 2021-22, as the franchise wobbles the line between success and disaster regarding the state of the current build. Fortunately for the organization, Clarke is a significant upgrade to 2021-22 Durzi, and Doughty is expected to return to make an impact down the stretch, unlike in 2021-22. The Durzi experience 2.0 has worked out thus far, with the team performing much better than the first time around. Clarke has met his expectations and has the time and talent to surpass them. KeithFriesKeysTHNWeek3
