In late August, we covered a report noting that former New Jersey Devils forward Graeme Clarke was receiving interest from several clubs in the SHL, the top division of pro hockey in Sweden. Yesterday, that reported interest turned into an official contract, as the SHL’s Frölunda HC announced the addition of Clarke on a one-year deal.
Clarke begins his European career after a strong six seasons in North American pro hockey.
Although he did not reach the NHL on a full-time basis, and has just three games played at the game’s highest level, he became an AHL All-Star during his time in the Devils’ system. In total, Clarke scored 104 goals and 229 points in career AHL games, with single-season highs of 25 goals and 58 points.
Clarke finished 2025-26 on a strong note, putting up 19 points in 15 games for the Belleville Senators after a March trade from the Washington Capitals organization. But the fact that Clarke is not considered a “development player” by the AHL’s Development Rule, likely helped push him towards Europe.
Now, instead of holding out for a shot in the AHL, Clarke will join one of the most recognizable teams in Scandinavian hockey.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
Former San Jose Sharks and Philadelphia Flyers prospect Artem Guryev was loaned to the KHL’s HK Sochi yesterday, after originally signing a contract with CSKA Moscow. The Moscow native is the second player CSKA has loaned to Sochi this month.
On Sept. 2, the team loaned top prospect Pyotr Andreyanov, a first-round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets, to Sochi.
The 23-year-old was a fifth-round pick of the Sharks at the 2021 draft who failed to make much of a dent in the organization. The 6’4″, 215-pound left-shot defenseman got a brief look in the AHL in 2023-24, playing in 31 games, but wasn’t able to advance beyond limited third-pairing usage and sporadic ice time on the penalty kill.
Guryev didn’t make the Sharks’ AHL roster the following year, and has since played mostly in the ECHL. Now, he’ll return to his home country to begin his KHL career, and will look to prove himself on one of the league’s weaker sides.
Sochi played their first game of league play yesterday, suffering a 5-1 defeat to Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk.
Rinat Valiev, a former Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens defenseman, has elected to return to North American professional hockey after playing a half-decade overseas. The 31-year-old signed a one-year ECHL deal with the Bloomington Bison.
Valiev has 260 AHL games and 12 NHL games on his resume, but has split the last three seasons of hockey between Russia’s second-tier VHL and the top professional league in Kazakhstan. Fans in Montreal may best remember Valiev as being associated with several notable Canadiens deals.
Not only was he originally acquired by the team in the trade that sent fan favorite Tomas Plekanec to the Maple Leafs, he was also part of the package the team sent to the Calgary Flames in order to acquire defenseman Brett Kulak a few months later. Kulak would go on to help the Canadiens reach the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers at the 2022 NHL trade deadline.
Montreal went on to use the second-rounder they received for Kulak to select superstar blueliner Lane Hutson.