Living among the stars of Los Angeles and the rolling hills of Hollywood, Ottawa’s Brandt Clarke says Nepean will always be home. The 23-year-old defenceman for the LA Kings had a breakout 2025-26 season, earning himself a new 5-year, $37-million contract with the California hockey club. “They believe in me and they want to keep growing alongside me,” Clarke told CTV News Wednesday in Manotick. “It’s a cool moment for me; it’s a cool moment for my family. I’m just grateful that they have that trust in me, that they want to have me around for the next five years.” Clarke has returned home to Ottawa for the offseason, a trip he has done every year once the hockey season has wrapped, and one he intends to continue doing no matter where the sport takes him. “I’ve loved coming back to Ottawa. My intention is to come back here for as long as I play. Maybe other factors might come in in the future, but as of now, that’s where my head’s at,” he said. “I’m an Ottawa boy at heart.” The commitment to his hometown is genuine; Clarke’s parents (and family dog) still live in Nepean, he still has childhood friends around the city, but it’s also where he gets in the best training of the year. Clarke has been working out with high performance trainer Tony Greco for the better part of a decade, where year by year he has gotten stronger and faster. “Before I even started the OHL, before I went out to Barrie, Tony started working with my brother and Jack Quinn (of the Buffalo Sabres), who are both still here,” said Clarke. “It’s these relationships that last a long time. Especially with Tony, you enjoy coming to the gym.” “His attitude in the gym has just been phenomenal,” said Greco, after an hour-long training session with Clarke. “His focus and his standards and the expectations, this is what I think is so important for these kids. I see that in him right now.” And that work is showing on the ice, with Clarke racking up a career high 40 points last season and an average time on ice of 19:48 per game. “About five years ago we set a goal and I think he might have it still in his (phone) notes,” recalls Greco. “We said, ‘this is what you’re going to do, this is what’s going to happen.’ And that number that we want to fulfill, just of his hard work, has kind of come true now.” Just as influential to Clarke’s development was – and continues to be – his older brother, and current Belleville Senators player, Graeme Clarke. The pair still skate and work out together in the offseason. Brandt says it was days when he would take to the ice with Graeme and his friends, who are two-years his senior, that helped grow him into the player he is today. “They were going to skate on the outdoor rink or whatever it may be. They’d bring me along and obviously when you’re at that age, people that are two years older than you, it’s like a drastic, drastic difference, honestly. But, I feel like I’ve been a competitor since I was a young kid, and I wanted to keep up.” “I think that propelled me to like, okay, this is the standard I have to keep myself. And I don’t know why my six-year-old brain kind of thought like that. I don’t think a lot of people maybe are like that, but that’s just how I was. And I think that propelled me to where I am today.” “It seems like a constant is kind of coming back to this gym with Tony and just skating together always,” said Graeme, who joined Greco’s workout Wednesday in Manotick. “We’re our two biggest training partners in the summer.” Throughout his hockey journey, Brandt has always fallen back on the advice of his dad to “put on the Brandt Clarke show” whenever he steps on the ice. Clarke says over the years, that advice has evolved in his mind to match the moment. “Whether you’re playing in the World Juniors or whether you’re playing your first NHL game or whether you’re now a big contract player and super relied upon in the NHL and Kings organization, prove that they’re right, prove that they made the right decision to have you here, that they made the right decision to believe in you.” “When he says that, that’s kind of what I feel that he’s saying to me.” Now halfway through the summer, Clarke says it is nearing crunch time to put his offseason training into high gear before returning to Los Angeles in September. At 23, Clarke is the youngest player on the Kings roster, the team with the oldest average age in the NHL. Despite that, the young defenceman is ready for a prominent role on a team pushing for a playoff run. “I want to be that guy, you know? I want to help the team the best way I can. I want to be relied upon. I want to soak up these big minutes and stuff like that, because that’s just who I am. I want to embrace the moment.”
