Prospect Update: Calle Clang

By Thomas Harrington

The Anaheim Ducks acquired goaltender Calle Clang from the Pittsburgh Penguins as part of the Rickard Rakell deal. Pittsburgh had originally selected him in the third round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, 77th overall. He spent all of this past season playing for the San Diego Gulls.

This was Clang’s third full season in North America and it was his most successful. He played in a career-high 36 games with a record of 18-9-9, a 2.80 goals against average, a .897 save percentage, and three shutouts. He started the year as Ville Husso’s backup, but after Husso was recalled to Anaheim for the rest of the season, Clang became San Diego’s starter. Unfortunately, he was away from the Gulls in December on a personal leave. If he had been with the team at the time, he probably would have been recalled to Anaheim instead of Vyacheslav Buteyets and made his NHL debut. Clang missed about a month of action while taking that leave. Despite missing so much time, he was one of San Diego’s two representatives at the AHL All-Star Game. Unfortunately, Clang was injured in the final game of the regular season and missed both of San Diego’s playoff games.

I had three expectations for Clang last summer, and he was able to meet two of them. First, I wanted him to put up better numbers with the Gulls, which he did by dropping his goals against average from 3.17 to 2.80, raising his save percentage from .895 to .897, recording the first three AHL shutouts of his career, and increasing his win total from 11 to 18. Second, I didn’t want him to miss significant time with injury. While it wasn’t an injury, his personal leave did cost him a month of action, plus he missed San Diego’s brief playoff run. Finally, I wanted him to spend the entire year in San Diego, which he was able to do.

This coming season, Clang has made the decision to head back to the SHL and play for Rogle BK, the team he was with before coming to North America. Between Laurent Brossoit, Tomas Suchanek, and Damian Clara, San Diego’s crease will be crowded this year. By going back to the SHL, Clang will hopefully get him more playing time. If he’d stayed in North America, there’s a chance he might have played in the ECHL, and I think the SHL will be better for his development than that league would be.

With Clang back in the SHL, I have a few expectations for him. First, for him to play in more than 25 games, which was the number he played for Rogle in his final season with them. Second, for him to put up better numbers than he did in his previous season in the SHL. Finally, for him to match the three shutouts he had this past year with San Diego.

Heading back to the SHL probably pushes Clang’s shot at the NHL back. Last year, I had thought he could have a chance at the NHL in the 2027-2028 season. If he can dominate the SHL, that could still happen, but the path to the NHL is now more uncertain than it was before. It will be interesting to see if Clang decides to come back to North America for the 2027-2028 season or choose to stay in the SHL for another season.

Clang is currently unsigned and is a restricted free agent. His decision to go back to the SHL was announced before qualifying offers were due, so I was a little surprised to see Anaheim decide to qualify him and retain his rights. Right now, my assumption is the Ducks qualified him so if he does return to North America, they’ll still be able to call upon him, but probably won’t sign him until that happens. For now, he’ll be a restricted free agent, similar to Judd Caulfield last season.

The next prospect update will be on forward Noah Read.

Related Articles:

Prospect Update: Konnor Smith

Prospect Update: Anthony Allain-Samake

Prospect Update: Judd Caulfield

Prospect Update: Herman Traff

Prospect Update: Elijah Neuenschwander 

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August 26th, 2026