Matt Clark

MATT CLARK


Matt Clark was selected with the 37th pick in the second round by the Ducks. Clark had an excellent rookie season in the OHL, he had 3 goals, 20 assists and 91 PIMS in 63 games.

Clark is a stay at home defensive minded Dman, in his first season he was matched up against the opposing teams top lines quite a bit and did a solid job. He helped lead the Brampton Battalion deep into the OHL playoffs where they lost in 5 games to the eventual Ontario Hockey League champs, Windsor Spitfires.

He plays a game very similar to another Ducks prospect, Mark Mitera but I would consider Mitera a better skater atleast pre knee injury and Mitera plays with a bit more nastiness but he’s developed that over the last couple of years with Michigan, but Clark has the ability to be a similar type player.

The one thing that jumps out at you is his size and reach he’s listed at 6’3 215 pounds. So as he continues to fill out he will be a big strong guy who can overpower players in 1 on 1 battles and in front of the net. He makes a good first pass which is required out of stay at home D if they want to make it as a legitimate top 4 type of guy. He’s got smarts as well and could be a candidate to make the Canadian WJC team,

Offensively he will not give you a whole lot but with all the offensive D the Ducks have in their system, that’s OK having guys like Mitera and Clark in the system to compliment players like Gardiner, Sbisa, Vataanen and Salcido just shows the depth the Ducks are beginning to build on the defensive part of the pipeline.

I compared him to Mark Mitera, who I would compare to somewhere in between a Keith Carney and Robyn Regehr type of upside. Essentially a player with top 4 shutdown D upside who if he reaches his possible peak could be a player you can rely on to help contain and stop opposing top lines playing 20+ minutes a game, even if Clark does not reach that upside he should still be a useful player down the line.