Article: Wild Re-Sign Final Restricted Free Agent

[Thomas Williams]

View full article

[mnfaninnc]

For Clarke, it's not as ominous as it seems. Yes, he'll have to pass through waivers, but that means someone will have to keep him for awhile on their N roster. They can't just pick him off and send him to their A affiliate....unless he looks horrible in camp for us, but then if that happens, who would claim him?

Both players, he and Beckman, got their change of scenery and now can reset for a huge training camp. It's on both of them to do what it will take to impress their GMs. Is Clarke as good as Lettieri/Lucchini?  Is he better?

[Protec]

MN has depth at this level. If a guy has to clear waivers or another team picks him up, that's how it goes. MN will get a good look during training camp. 

[mnfaninnc]

Clarke's had 2 strong season at Utica, came up to the Devils for 3 games and posted a -2. He's listed at 6' 174. That will compete fine in the A. That won't get it done in the N. 

I'm just going to go out on a limb and say that if Clarke comes into training camp at 185, he'll get a long look. But, at 6', he really needs to be around 200-205. I realize people get tired of these projections, but this is the game, you've got to have plenty of muscle. At 6' 174 there's no chance that he's going into a corner with Morrissey and coming out the other side with the puck. It won't happen vs. Nashville, St. Louis, Dallas or Colorado. He's simply not strong enough. This was Beckman's exact problem too. Maybe with a change of scenery and hearing the same thing from a different front office, it will kick in. He doesn't really need conditioning, he needs strength.