It was an offseason with a ton of change to both the Edmonton Oilers’ roster and that of their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors. It started with the (now former) team captain, Brad Malone, who announced his retirement from professional hockey following the Calder Cup playoffs. Following that, various other players, such as Philip Broberg, Jack Campbell, Adam Erne, Xavier Bourgault, and Carter Savoie are a few of the other departures from the roster.
Incoming are some promising prospects, like Roby Jarventie, Matthew Savoie, James Stefan, Brett Brochu, and returning from a year away from hockey is Noah Philp. Vasily Podkolzin could also see time in the AHL, as has been the trend for him the past few seasons, though there is a path to the NHL roster he could take.
The Condors are on the older side of the AHL, with an average age of 24.45 years old. That is sixth oldest in the AHL, though there are a lot of other teams around 24-years-old. This also includes 31 players in the calculation, which will get reduced by the time the season starts.
One big change will be in net. Last season, Campbell was sent down to the Condors by mid-November and from there, shared the games with prospect Olivier Rodrigue. This year, the crease appears to be all Rodrigue’s.
Condors forwards
The Condors’ offence ranked 14th in the AHL last season with 223 goals. Not terrible, but it is an area they’d like to improve on to increase their chances of a winning season.
That is where the addition of players like Jarventie and Savoie come in. Both are highly talented scorers with potential to keep improving and will likely both spend most of the season in Bakersfield.
Jarventie, over four partial seasons in the AHL, has 86 points in 136 games. Including 20 points in 22 games last season.
These two will be focal points for the Condors roster while in Bakersfield.
They will be joined by some returning veterans, like Drake Caggiula, Seth Griffith, Lane Pederson, and James Hamblin. Griffith, the team’s leading scorer, Pederson, the second leading scorer, and Caggiula, the fifth leading scorer, show how significant these veterans are in Bakersfield.
All of these players are versatile and high on the Oilers’ call-up list but it is important to have this core group sticking together. Likely, one of these players will take over the captaincy.
Condors defenders
The defence on the Condors’ roster is stocked with veterans and players in their mid-20s looking to grow into a bigger role and potentially even crack the NHL roster soon. Players like Noel Hoefenmayer, Ben Gleason, Phil Kemp, and Cam Dineen are all under NHL contracts and could potentially crack the Oilers lineup with a strong performance at training camp or early in the season.
Most likely, however, they will be in the AHL looking to continue building on being the eighth best defence in the AHL last season. The loss of Broberg, who led the defence in scoring and was the team’s fourth highest scorer, will leave a massive hole, but one of these players should be more than capable of stepping up into that role.
Max Wanner, one of the Oilers’ top defence prospects, is looking to keep developing and should be given a fairly sizeable role with the Condors after his rookie season that saw him record 17 points in 68 games.
Condors goaltending
After joining the Condors in mid-November, Campbell was given a huge opportunity in Bakersfield’s net. With his buy-out earlier in the offseason, the net is all open for Rodrigue.
This will be his first season as the primary goalie in the AHL. In 2023–24, he set a career high with 37 games played and also had the best numbers of his professional career, with a 2.73 GAA and .916 SV%.
He is on the upswing in his development curve and there is even the possibility he sees NHL time in the upcoming season if everything goes well.
Connor Ungar and Collin Delia are the next two goalies in the pipeline, with the former being an intriguing prospect who was signed by the Oilers back in March. It will be his first professional season, and remains to be seen where he will begin.
How does the AHL veteran rule affect the Condors
It is an important consideration when putting AHL roster previews together to factor in the AHL’s veteran eligibility rule. It states that a gameday roster must have:
- A minimum of 12 skaters with less than 260 professional games played
- A maximum of one skater with less than 320 games played
- A maximum of five skaters with over 320 games played.
The intention is to keep the AHL as a development league for the NHL. Games played calculations are taken at the beginning of the season and that status applies for the entire season, even if they enter a new threshold mid-season.
Here’s how the Condors players fit into these categories.
| Less than 260 games | 261-320 games | Greater than 320 games |
| Alex Kannok Leipert | Cam Dineen | Ben Gleason |
| Alex Swetlikoff | Connor Carrick | |
| Brady Stonehouse | Drake Caggiula | |
| Cameron Wright | Lane Pederson | |
| Carl Berglund | Seth Griffith | |
| Connor Corcoran | ||
| Daniel D’Amato | ||
| Darren Brady | ||
| Ethan De Jong | ||
| James Hamblin | ||
| James Stefan | ||
| Jayden Grubbe | ||
| Noah Philp | ||
| Noel Hoefenmayer | ||
| Matthew Savoie | ||
| Matvei Petrov | ||
| Max Wanner | ||
| Phil Kemp | ||
| Raphael Lavoie | ||
| Roby Jarventie | ||
| Tyler Inamoto |
This is the list of everyone currently on the EliteProspects page for the Condors. Luckily, they have a perfectly constructed roster that their key veteran players will all be eligible to play in the same game.
