Wild trade Adam Beckman to Devils for Graeme Clarke in swap of restricted free agents

The Wild are moving on from longtime prospect Adam Beckman.

The 23-year old forward was traded Friday to New Jersey for minor leaguer Graeme Clarke, who was born in Waconia and made his NHL debut last season.

Beckman had been with the Wild since they drafted him in the third round in 2019. He was a prolific scorer in junior, pacing the Western Hockey League with 107 points the season after he was drafted and being named WHL Player of the Year. But that production didn’t translate to the Wild when he was called up from the minors.

In 23 NHL games across three seasons, the 6-2, 194-pounder tallied just three assists with the Wild. He did have more success with Iowa in the American Hockey League, eclipsing 20 goals two seasons ago. Last season, he had 19 goals.

As for Clarke, the Devils drafted him in the 2019 third round, five picks after the Wild chose Beckman.

A 6-foot, 174-pound right winger, Clarke spent most of last season in the AHL and led Utica in goals (25) and game-winning goals (8) while ranking second in points (49). The 23-year-old was named to the AHL All-Star Classic and skated in three games with New Jersey. Through 218 career AHL games, Clarke has 68 goals and 81 assists for 149 points.

Like Beckman, Clarke is a restricted free agent on an expiring entry-level contract.

Clarke lived in Minnesota for a year while his parents attended the University of Minnesota before moving to Ottawa. He and Marco Rossi were junior teammates with the Ottawa 67′s in the Ontario Hockey League, and Clarke’s younger brother Brandt, a defenseman, was a first-round pick by Los Angeles in 2021.

Nashville has hired former Wild assistant coach Darby Hendrickson as an assistant on coach Andrew Brunette’s staff.

Hendrickson and Brunette previously played and coached together with the Wild.

The Wild dismissed Hendrickson, 51, last month after he spent 14 seasons as an assistant, a stint that included working alongside six of the seven head coaches in franchise history. Hendrickson was an original member of the Wild who played for inaugural coach Jacques Lemaire from 2000 to ’04. He also famously scored the team’s first goal at Xcel Energy Center in 2000.

A former Gopher and Mr. Hockey out of Richfield High, Hendrickson is also reuniting with Predators assistant Todd Richards, who coached the Wild for two seasons after Lemaire.

The Wild will play six preseason games beginning Sept. 21 at Winnipeg.

They will also take a trip to Dallas (Sept. 25) before playing host to the Jets (Sept. 27) and Stars (Sept. 29) at Xcel Energy Center.

Their final two games are part of a home-and-home series against the Blackhawks. The two teams will face off in St. Paul on Oct. 1 before playing in Chicago on Oct. 4.