The Wild have re-upped RFA forward Graeme Clarke on a one-year, two-way deal, per a team announcement. It’ll carry an $800K cap hit and NHL salary this season with a minors salary of $105K.
Clarke, 23, made his NHL debut with the Devils last season, going without a point in three games. He posted a -2 rating while averaging 11:23 per game and struggled to control possession in heavy defensive usage, posting below-average shot-attempt and expected goal shares of 41.4% and 28.6%.
But the New Jersey third-round pick in 2019 has done quite well in the AHL, even if he hasn’t demonstrated he can be effective yet at the game’s highest level. He led AHL Utica in goals last year with 25 in 67 games and led them in scoring outright by a wide margin the year prior, posting 25 goals and 58 points in 68 games in 2022-23. He’s totaled 68 goals, 81 assists and 149 points in 218 AHL games in parts of four seasons. He was tabbed the fifth-best prospect in the New Jersey system by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler back in February.
The Wild hope he can more aggressively challenge for NHL minutes next season, as hinted at by his higher-than-league minimum salary. They picked up his signing rights in a June trade, sending the rights to similarly buried prospect Adam Beckman to the Devils. If not, he’ll at least be an impact piece on an AHL Iowa club that was one of the worst in the league last season, limping to a 27-37-8 record while averaging 2.56 goals per game. He would have been their lone 20-goal scorer.
Clarke will remain an RFA upon expiry next summer.