The projected roster for the Bakersfield Condors this coming season is exciting for prospects fans. Last season was dull as dish water because the team kept trading bona fide AHL defensemen for guys who were not able to fill the role required of them upon arrival.
All an NHL team can ask from the minor-league managers and coaches is progress. A chance at NHL GM often means a different evaluation on the individuals expected to matriculate toward the NHL. One year ago, the August projected Condors depth chart looked like this:
- Goalies: Olivier Rodrigue, Collin Delia, Connor Ungar
- Left Defense: Cam Dineen, Ben Gleason, Noel Hoefenmayer
- Right Defense: Max Wanner, Phil Kemp, Connor Carrick, Connor Corcoran, Alex Kannok-Leipert
- Center: Lane Pederson, Noah Philp, Jayden Grubbe, Carl Berglund
- Left Wing: Raphael Lavoie, James Hamblin, Drake Caggiula, Roby Jarventie (inj)
- Right Wing: Matthew Savoie, Matvey Petrov, Seth Griffith, Cameron Wright, Ethan De Jong, James Stefan, Brady Stonehouse, Daniel D’Amato
Matt Savoie had a splendid season, but there’s miles of disappointment one year later. The Oilers are doing a fabulous job getting Seth Griffith to the AHL Hall of Fame, but Matvey Petrov is running in place.
The list of prospects who did not grab the next rung on the NHL climb is long: Olivier Rodrigue, Max Wanner, Jayden Grubbe, Raphael Lavoie, Roby Jarventie, Matvey Petrov, on it goes.
For this coming season, there are several new arrivals worth watching for. I’m most interested in Samuel Jonsson, Atro Leppanen, Alec Regula, Beau Akey, Matt Copponi, Viljami Marjala and Quinn Hutson among newcomers.
- Goalies: Matt Tomkins, Connor Ungar, Samuel Jonsson, Nathan Day
- Left Defense: Atro Leppanen, Cam Dineen, Riley Stillman, Damien Carfagna,
- Right Defense: Alec Regula, Josh Brown, Beau Akey
- Center: Noah Philp, James Hamblin, Rem Pitlick, Jayden Grubbe, Josh Samanski, Matt Copponi
- Left Wing: Roby Jarventie, Max Jones, Rhett Pitlick, Viljami Marjala, Brady Stonehouse, Connor Clattenburg
- Right Wing: Matvey Petrov, Quinn Hutson, James Stefan
This is not a complete list, but gets us started. Please play Petrov!
Riders!
Green is the color!
That’s some kind of retooling of the D year over year! Best to rent close to the airport fellas
Ethan Keppen also has a contract with Bakersfield. He came on at the end of the season and will probably be a top 9 winger on the club.
Sorry, this is off topic. But I’m thinking PTO’s, and I expect three this year Samsonov, Kostin & Leason. If one, two or all three are good enough to make the roster, then that would be terrific.
I would love to see Samsonov and Kostin on PTOs. Both bring some possible upside that is needed.
These are the PTO’s I remember the Oilers offering over the past 9 seasons. I doubt that there will be 3 this season, but you never know….
*If I missed anyone, please add to the string. Thanks!
2016 – Kris Versteeg
Eric Gryba*
2017 – Chris Kelly
2018 – Brandon Davidson (declined)
2019 – Alex Chiasson*
Scottie Upshall
2020 – Devin Shore*
Ryan Stanton
2022 – Jake Virtanen
Jason Demers
2023 – Brandon Sutter
Sam Gagner*
Adam Erne*
2024 – Mike Hoffman
Versteeg ended up signing with Calgary and the players with an asterisk signed NHL contracts. Chiasson was the best of the bunch by a mile. Shore was 2nd best by a similar margin.
I just remembered:
2019 – Anton Burdasov
2024 – Travis Dermott*
Coaching in the AHL matters for 80% of the players. Doing the same thing over again expecting different results….
How come you don’t like Colin Chaulk who more then most paid his dues playing deep in the minor system for almost a 1/4 Century?
Hopefully Larsson makes a difference soon. It’s clear player development is a priority now
The players Bowman drafted and developed is so impressive especially when you compare it with the Red Wings. I see Holland hired Tyler Wright again. Answer this how is possible to not have 1 single player from 5 drafts not on the Oilers roster? L.A was a brain cramp away from knocking us out and going on a run. Thankfully Holland has taken over as L.A had something really going. The Spence trade made no sense along with Ceci signing.
LT… I’m pretty sure you discussed this earlier in the year (Tweeners?) but with any NHL affiliate team, including the Oilers, how many prospects can actually be counted on to make the big club? Is it two (~10%) of the AHL roster? Given the rest or majority are tweeners, I think if there’s a logjam (ie Leftorium) it’s prudent for a GM to recognize that and trade for an area of weakness (ie RD, 3/4C), despite our deep connection (bias) for these players.
It’s generally two per draft, but more if you include undrafted free agents, etc. If you take an AHL team, include players who dressed for 10+ games, it’s difficult to find fewer than five who played 100 games.
From the 2014-15 OKC Barons, Iiro Pakarinen, Jordan Oesterle, Anton Lander, Brad Hunt, Jujhar Khaira, Brandon Davidson, Tyler Pitlick, Martin Marincin and Laurent Brossoit all made it, depending on your definition of making it.
Clattenburg is going to be a rock star in Bakersfield by Christmas. Slap Shot 3 is auditioning him as we speak.
You gotta be his Grandpa 😃
He’s a good-smart kid. He knows his window to impress is small and it’s now. We are going to find out rather quickly if his overage effectiveness playing against teenagers translates into a professional league one step away. Most think he’s destined to the ECHL I myself think he’ll stick in the AHL as his Skating and hockey IQ will hold up and like I said before he’ll become a cult hero by Christmas.
Speaking of Cult Hero’s where’s the unoriginal OP been the last couple of days?
Vote Petrov! Play Pedro
Guys been in the system a while , lets cheer for the guy; u never know whos gonna post 20 goals one year randomly
The Pitlick Boys are like a bad rash!
Haha. I actually think that was a nice piece of business for the team. Prospects need experienced help and those two bring a nice range of skills.
I agree. They’ve all been good pros.
I really liked their cousin Tyler. I thought he would have more of a impact and with his speed becoming a Jason Chimera or Dan Cleary type that will get you you 14 to 17 goals per year for a decade plus. He sure looked good in a Oiler uniform injuries can derail a youngsters progress.