The Bakersfield Condors announced Thursday that they’ve signed four players to one-year, two-way AHL contracts for the 2024–25 season. The players include goaltender Brett Brochu, defencemen Darren Brady and Tyler Inamoto, and forward Alex Swetlikoff.
Brochu’s goaltending history
Brochu spent last season with the Fort Wayne Komets of the ECHL, putting up a 7–11–1 record with a 2.66 GAA and .920 SV% in a time share with former Edmonton Oilers prospect Ryan Fanti and Tyler Parks. The 21-year-old Brochu had previously played his junior career with the London Knights, where he went 89–34–4 with a .910 SV% and 2.67 GAA in his career, along with winning the OHL Goaltender of the Year in 2021–22 and being selected to that year’s World Junior Team Canada. Brochu looks to have some upside, but is smaller in stature at 6’0″ and 176 lbs.
New defensive signings
Brady is a right shot 28-year-old minor veteran, spending time in the SPHL, ECHL, and AHL since graduating from the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he was captain in his senior year. Brady spent most of last year in the AHL with the Reading Royals, playing 50 games where he had six goals and 15 assists. In 2022–23, Brady played primarily with the San Jose Barracuda, putting up three goals and six assists in 50 games.
Inamoto is a 25-year-old left shot defenceman. The American is 6’2″ and 194 lbs, having been drafted in the fifth round of the 2017 draft by the Florida Panthers. Inamoto split time last year between the Ontario Reign of the AHL (6 GP, 0–2–2) and Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL (10 GP, 2–3–5). Before turning pro, Inamoto played five seasons for the University of Wisconsin, putting up five goals and 25 assists in 158 games in the NCAA while serving as an assistant captain in his final two years.
Adding another forward to the mix
Alex Swetlikoff is a 23-year-old left shot forward from Kelowna. Weighing in at 187 lbs and 6’3″, Swetlikoff split the 2023–24 season with the Henderson Silver Knights and Savannah Ghost Pirates. He had three goals in 19 games with Henderson and eight goals and 13 assists in 24 games with Savannah. Swetlikoff played his junior hockey with the Everett Silvertips and Kelowna Rockets of the WHL, putting up 58 goals and 80 assists in 178 games in his career.
The moves allow Keith Gretzky to fill out the bottom of the Condors’ roster, but the four recent signees will likely all split time between Bakersfield and with the Fort Wayne Komets. In terms of the goaltending depth chart, Brochu and Connor Ungar are likely to make up the tandem for the Komets in the ECHL while Olivier Rodrigue and Collin Delia man the crease in Bakersfield.
Photo from @Condors on Twitter
