That’s The Way Of The World

The 1987-88 Nova Scotia Oilers were a team I followed via The Hockey News back in the day. The club was younger than previous versions of the Oilers farm team, and had some kickass youngsters added to a few mid-level talents who were exiting the “prospect” years and becoming suspects.

The prospects were guys like Shaun Van Allen, Kelly Buchberger, Fabiian Joseph (who was young but pretty famous by then as a prospect), Kim Issel and Scott Metcalfe. My favourite was Selmar Odelein, I’d seen him play a few times for the Regina Pats and thought he was on his way to a long NHL career (injuries would derail him).

The man who emerged from that team was Kelly Buchberger. Played exactly one forever in the NHL. You can look it up. He was a pedestrian junior player, scoring 12 goals in his dratt year. Buchberger had size, determination, willingness to do anything asked, and he could score goals sometimes (he averaged seven a year during his career, and that included a significant stretch in a highly offensive scoring era).

When I look at this year’s Condors forwards, I see Kelly Buchberger staring back at me. His name is now Connor Clattenburg. He was a pedestrian junior player, scoring 13 goals in his draft year. Clattenburg has size, determination, willingness to do anything asked, and he can score goals sometimes. He scored one goal in five games with the Oilers this season, age 20. Buchberger played in the NHL at 20 (three playoff games) but didn’t score his first NHL goal until the following season.

I write these lines as fair warning: The fellows at the top of this list will play across the hockey world, but there’s a good chance only one of them plays more NHL games in his career than a guy like Clattenburg. The AHL doesn’t house the top-flight skill, or at least not for long. Here are the prospect forwards who played in 2025-26 for the Bakersfield Condors:

I’m going to mention Ike Howard first because he’s the true outlier in the group. Over a point-per-game, almost led the forwards in even-strength points despite fewer GP, over 50 percent in even-strength goal share. He can skate, shoot, a good passer. He always works hard, but I think he worked smart too later in the year. I hope they keep Howard and give him chances with skill. You’ve already invested in this young player, Stan Bowman, don’t stop now!

Quinn Hutson is in some ways a shooting version of Tyler Benson: He’s going to go as far as his foot speed will take him. A big test this fall for the young man who scorched the AHL during the first half of the year, but fell back to the pack in the second half. No surprise, but he’ll need to take a step forward from his 30-goal performance as an AHL rookie. That won’t be easy.

Viljarmi Marjala took on a more prominent role when Josh Samanski was recalled to Edmonton, and thrived with the extra minutes. I’ll guess he doesn’t spend a bunch of time in the NHL, partly because he doesn’t have a dominant skill. He is an excellent passer, but the Oilers roster has those guys by the dozen. I like him. I’ll cheer for him. I don’t think he has an NHL career ahead of him.

Roby Jarventie signed in Switzerland. Dammital Oilers! James Hamblin is the modern Mark Lamb waiting for a Kid Line invite during a magical spring.

Josh Samanski is a fine young hockey player. They found him in the black forest of Germany and he rewarded them with quality defensive play at center and at wing. I don’t know if he’ll score enough, but fourth-line center should be his to lose in the fall.

Max Jones got the call to the NHL over several of the guys on this list, and he played well enough to stay in the league for an extended period. He was a first round pick a decade ago, averages 9.4 goals per 82 NHL games, and skates well. He’s 28 and could have could have more NHL games ahead of him than behind him (305).

Connor Clattenburg may end up playing more than anyone not named Ike Howard among this group. He is exactly the kind of player who knocks the ragged edges off his game in the AHL and then climbs to the NHL. I can’t say he looks like a future outscorer. That could be his Achilles.

The three late-season auditions were notable. Lewandowski looked at home in his AHL debut, Lafreniere has good speed and can shoot, and Nicholl has a nice range of skills. He could be someone to watch closely next season.

I think the Oilers have some encouraging prospects among the Bakersfield forwards. Howard aside, none are NHL-likely and few would play in the heart of the game if they do arrive. If I’m a betting man, like Damien Carfagna and Beau Akey are a cut above on defense, I’ll list Samanski in a tier above the rest, while also being a tier below Howard. After that, Hutson and Clattenburg are the best bets.