My only concern, really, with Clarke is that his skating is a bit weird imo. It looks a bit choppy and almost like his knees are facing inward. It looks funny but he's had that different kind of skating since his Minor Midget days. He's been able to be effective with it, but if we see him drop on draft day or if he's much lower on a ranking list than the general consensus, that would be the reason why.
I would still be thrilled if the Devils were somehow able to draft him.
What I always ask with players possessing "idiosyncratic" skating styles is, simply: "how well do they get around the ice in comparison to everyone else".
A great example would be Jeff Skinner. In his draft year (2010), I had Skinner in my top 5 -- far higher than the consensus. Many had him outside the top 15, citing his lack of size and unconventional skating style. Despite the fact that Skinner skated like no one I had ever seen, I felt he had tremendous balance and got from Point A to Point B very, very quickly. So, I stopped caring about the fact that he looked weird getting around.
I feel the same way about Brandt Clarke. I would say his speed and acceleration are both excellent; absolutely strengths. And there's no denying that Clarke's ability with the puck and vision are both high-end qualities; borderline elite. If I have one question about Clarke it's his defensive play which -- though not a disastrous detriment as with a Jeremie Poirier or Helge Grans -- certainly needs a great deal of improvement. Though I wish he had a full 2020-21 season to develop in the OHL, I would say based on his draft-1 campaign with the Barrie Colts that this is absolutely a player with top-pairing, high-scoring upside at the NHL level. Therefore, I would certainly consider Brandt Clarke a top-10 prospect for the 2021 draft, perhaps even top 5. Right now he is my highest ranked RD, and many pundits apparently feel the same way.