Los Angeles Kings head coach Jim Hiller didn't provide much certainty about Brandt Clarke's future when asked about scratching the defenseman Wednesday night.
"It's a tough, tough league for a young guy, you know what I mean?" Hiller said, according to team reporter Zach Dooley. "He's done great to get to this point, he finally got to be a healthy scratch, but he's played really well. This league will wear you down as a young player, and this will give (him) a reset. We'll see where it goes from here."
Hiller took the 21-year-old out of the lineup to accommodate Drew Doughty's return, as the 35-year-old made his season debut after recovering from a broken ankle.
Clarke has 24 points, including 21 assists, while averaging 17:01 of ice time in 47 games this season.
Doughty played a game-high 23:51 in the Kings' loss. He told reporters it "felt amazing" to be back but that it didn't feel that way at first.
"That's the most nervous I've been playing in a hockey game - that first shift - probably since honestly my first NHL game," Doughty said postgame.
The veteran noted it took him a while to get his groove back.
"I got better as the game went on, personally, felt better and more comfortable, and honestly by the third (period) felt completely like myself," he said.
The Kings drafted Clarke eighth overall in 2021.
Doughty ranks third in franchise history in games played with 1,1,78. He's in his 17th season with L.A., having helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014.
