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Saturday night, January 6, 2024, may not seem like a crazy date, but for Graeme Clarke, it will forever be known as the day he became an official NHLer. The Devils hosted the Vancouver Canucks in the second half of their back-to-back set and after managing to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 in the front half, the Garden Staters fell to the Canucks by the score of 6-4.
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The outcome of the game is one thing, but this night will always belong to Graeme Clarke. So, let’s take a look at how the youngster got here.
At first glance, you would be forgiven if you didn’t realize Clarke was a professional hockey player. His physical stature isn’t much, just six feet, 175 lbs. But his heart and compete level more than make up for his lack of physical size. As one hockey pundit put it, “Clarke’s compete level, his willingness to do whatever it takes, is the reason he is where he is.”
Clarke’s compete level is certainly a standout trait. If you couple that with his tendency to drive toward the net and his nose for the puck, you get a solid right-winger who has the potential to carve out a role for himself at the NHL level. Of course, the former 2019 third-round draft pick will need some help in that regard as he only drew into the lineup because of Jack Hughes’ absence. Once the Devils are fully healthy upfront Clarke will likely be sent back to Utica; unless of course, he can parlay his current opportunity into a more permanent job with the Devils.
Speaking of Jack Hughes, he and Graeme Clarke were once teammates with the Toronto Marlboros Minor Midget AAA team. In fact, during the 2016-17 season, Hughes and Clarke put up some exceptional numbers. Hughes registered 159 points (58G, 101A) in 80 games during his U16 AAA campaign. Meanwhile, Clarke scored 136 points (82G, 54A) in 81 games during his U16 AAA season.
Yes, you read that correctly, Clarke scored 82 goals that season.
Now, absolutely nobody thinks Clarke will score anywhere close to 82 goals in a season at the NHL level, but it does provide concrete proof that the kid knows how to finish his chances. Besides, the 22-year-old Waconia, Minnesota native, with Ottawa Ontario roots, is still developing his game, so, while he may not profile as a star in the NHL, there’s no reason he can’t have a solid career in the Big Leagues.
Getting back to Saturday night, Clarke’s final stat line wasn’t much to look at. He only saw a handful of shifts and played a total of 9:21. Here’s the breakdown of his three periods of action.
Clarke didn’t see much action in the first period as he only received 2:10 of ice time on two or three total shifts. His totals improved slightly in the second period as he saw 4:06 of ice time. With the Devils down two goals entering the third period, Clarke didn’t see as much action in the final frame as he did in the middle one; registering just 3:05 of ice time in the final 20 minutes.
Regardless of his ice time, after the game, Clarke expressed how grateful he was to get his opportunity to play in the NHL and to have his parents be in attendance. “To have my parents here today, that’s really special, ’cause of how much they’ve helped me get here,” Clarke said. “I just wanted to play well for them and be able to do this for them. It was exciting.”
As for how the Devils ended up on the losing end of a 6-4 score, well, it all started with a 0-0 tie going into the second period. Vancouver scored three quick goals in the first five minutes of the frame to take a 3-0 lead. Colin Miller got one back with 13:17 to go in the middle period to draw the Devils within 3-1. Nico Daws made several terrific saves during the middle of the period and his efforts appeared to pay off when Erik Haula scored in the waning seconds of the frame to draw the Devils within 3-2. Unfortunately, Conor Garland scored a wraparound goal with 10.4 seconds to go in the period to up Vancouver’s lead to 4-2.
Elias Pettersson scored 2:35 into the third period to put the Devils down 5-2, but goals by Colin Miller – his second of the game – and Brendan Smith drew New Jersey within 5-4 with 7:46 to go in regulation. The Garden Staters had a couple of late chances to tie the game but Dakota Joshua put an end to those hopes with an empty-net goal at the 18:49 mark of the third period.
For the Devils, the loss continued their struggles in the second half of back-to-back sets, falling to 1-7-1 in those games. Their next contest is Thursday, January 11th in Tampa Bay and they will face the Lightning without Jonas Siegenthaler, who was knocked out of the game against the Canucks when he broke his foot blocking a shot. That means somebody is going to get an opportunity to fill Siegenthaler’s shoes.
It won’t be Graeme Clarke, but that’s only because they don’t play the same position. Devils Head Coach Lindy Ruff said it was good for Clarke to get his “feet wet” in this game, so, hopefully he’ll have more chances to show what he can do in the NHL. Only time will tell.
