Kale Clague

Kale Clague (born June 5, 1998) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He was selected in the second round, 51st overall, by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2016 NHL entry draft. Clague has also previously played for the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres.

Early life Clague was born on June 5, 1998, in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada to parents Jason and Juanita. His father was a goaltender for the 2000–01 Lloydminster Border Kings which was inducted into the Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame. His uncle Trevor Hanas is also involved in ice hockey; he played five seasons in the Western Hockey League (WHL) before a brief minor professional career. Growing up, he attended Holy Rosary High School and won the Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament.

Playing career Growing up in Alberta, Clague played both ice hockey and baseball. He was subsequently named to the AMHL First All-Star Team in 2013–14 and captained Alberta to a gold medal at the 2013 Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup.

Major junior Clague competed in four pre-season games with the Wheat Kings during their 2013–14 season, where he recorded two goals and five points, before being returned to the Alberta Midget Hockey League. He eventually rejoined the WHL to compete with the Wheat Kings in the 2014 WHL Playoffs. At the age of 16, Clague made his rookie season debut with the Wheat Kings but a series of injuries limited him to 20 games.

Following his disappointing rookie season, Clague increased his offensive output and recorded 43 points in 71 regular-season games and played in the 2016 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. By the conclusion of the playoffs, he tied for second among WHL defensemen in scoring with 14 points in 21 games. He joined the Kings for their 2016 development camp but suffered a leg injury and was forced to leave early. The injury came when an Arizona Coyotes prospect hit him and he fell awkwardly into the end boards. Upon returning to the WHL, Clague was named one of the Wheat Kings alternate captains for the 2016–17 season.

Clague began his final full season with the Wheat Kings by earning WHL Player of the Week for the week ending October 23, 2016. The honour came after he registered six points in his first two games of the season following his leg injury. As a result of his play during the remainder of the season, Clague signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Kings on March 6, 2017. At the time of the signing, he led team defenseman in points and assists and ranked second in goals with five. Following this, he was also named an WHL Eastern Conference First Team All-Star.

During the 2017 offseason, Clague was again invited to participate in the Los Angeles Kings' rookie and training camp. While with the Kings, he participated in two preseason games against the Anaheim Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights. By January, Clague had recorded 47 points in 28 games tying defenceman David Quenneville for the league scoring lead among defenceman. On January 17, leading up to the 2018 WHL Trade Deadline, Clague was traded to the Moose Jaw Warriors in exchange for Luka Burzan, Chase Hartje, a second-round pick in the 2018 WHL bantam draft, and first-round picks in the 2019 and 2021 drafts.

Professional Clague made his NHL debut with the Los Angeles Kings on December 21, 2019, against the Buffalo Sabres. From there, he appeared in three more games during his first NHL call-up where he averaged 14:34 time on ice per game. Upon returning to the AHL, Clague was named to the 2020 AHL All-Star Game for the first time. At the time of his selection, he led team defensemen in points with 16 in 33 games.

When the NHL resumed playing for the 2020–21 season, Clague was named to the Kings' opening night roster. On August 6, 2021, Clague signed a one-year extension with the Kings worth an annual value of $761,250 at the NHL level.

In the following 2021–22 season, Clague was assigned by Los Angeles to begin the year in the AHL with the Ontario Reign. On dual recalls to the Kings, Clague registered 5 assists through 11 games before he was placed on waivers and claimed by the Montreal Canadiens on December 4, 2021.

As a free agent from the Canadiens, Clague was signed by the Buffalo Sabres on a one-year, two-way contract on July 13, 2022.

After three seasons within the Sabres organization, Clague left as a free agent and was signed to a one-year, two-way contract with the Winnipeg Jets for the season on July 1, 2025.

Having concluded his contract with the Jets, Clague agreed to his first contract abroad in signing a two-year contract with Russian club, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg of the KHL, on June 9, 2026.

International play

Clague competed in the 2014 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge for Team Black, recording one goal in four games. He later won gold with Canada at the 2015 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, where he scored one goal in four games. Clague returned to Team Canada in 2017 as an assistant captain to help them win a silver medal at the 2017 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

In his final year qualifying for the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Clague was again selected to compete with Canada where he won a gold medal. Hockey Canada launched into high-profile allegations of group sexual assault in 2018 involving World Junior players including Kale Clague.

Player profile

Prior to becoming a professional ice hockey player, Clague described himself as "an offensive defenseman who sees the ice well and someone who works hard at defending in my own end." Clague has compared his playing style to that of Drew Doughty.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2012–13 Lloydminster Bobcats AMHL 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2013–14 Lloydminster Bobcats AMHL 31 11 22 33 34 12 2 11 13 2 2013–14 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 2 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 2 2014–15 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 20 4 9 13 6 12 1 2 3 4 2015–16 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 71 6 37 43 54 21 6 8 14 8 2016–17 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 48 5 35 40 41 4 1 3 4 6 2017–18 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 28 10 37 47 35 — — — — — 2017–18 Moose Jaw Warriors WHL 26 1 23 24 8 14 1 13 14 14 2018–19 Ontario Reign AHL 52 7 22 29 34 — — — — — 2019–20 Ontario Reign AHL 49 8 17 25 26 — — — — — 2019–20 Los Angeles Kings NHL 4 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 2020–21 Ontario Reign AHL 23 1 11 12 8 1 0 1 1 0 2020–21 Los Angeles Kings NHL 18 0 6 6 4 — — — — — 2021–22 Ontario Reign AHL 5 0 4 4 0 — — — — — 2021–22 Los Angeles Kings NHL 11 0 5 5 2 — — — — — 2021–22 Montreal Canadiens NHL 25 2 3 5 18 — — — — — 2022–23 Rochester Americans AHL 14 1 5 6 6 — — — — — 2022–23 Buffalo Sabres NHL 33 0 4 4 24 — — — — — 2023–24 Rochester Americans AHL 42 3 20 23 52 — — — — — 2023–24 Buffalo Sabres NHL 3 0 1 1 2 — — — — — 2024–25 Rochester Americans AHL 69 10 29 39 32 8 5 6 11 10 2025–26 Manitoba Moose AHL 67 9 18 27 38 6 0 2 2 0NHL totals 94 2 19 21 52 — — — — —

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2014 Canada Black U17 7th 4 1 0 1 0 2015 Canada IH18 4 1 0 1 2 2017 Canada WJC 7 0 6 6 2 2018 Canada WJC 6 0 2 2 4Junior totals 21 2 8 10 8