A Visit To The Edmonton Oilers Farm Team

The AHL season has not been good for the Oilers farm team the Bakersfield Condors. They got off to a slow start and were sitting dead last in the division for the longest time. Then in the new year, things started looking up, and they made some headway up the standings. At the time of this writing, the Condors sit seventh in the AHL’s Pacific Division. As of late, they’ve been almost as hot as the parent club, going 7-3-0 in their last 10, second best in the Pacific Division next to the division-leading Calgary Wranglers (patooey).

According to the AHL playoff format that was approved last year, seven teams in the Pacific will qualify for the playoffs, and four of those spots are locked up already. This means that the Condors may qualify for the playoffs yet, but it will come down to the wire. They’re currently 11 points back of fourth-place Colorado Eagles, so they definitely have some ground to make up. They have nine games remaining so a potential 18 points are up for grabs. We’ll see whether they make it or not. In the Jay Woodcroft era in Bakersfield, the Condors saw a lot of success in the playoffs, even winning an AHL championship and multiple division titles.

Whether the Condors make the playoffs or not, it’s worth looking at players who might be candidates for at least a call-up next year.

I’ll start with the man in the picture, RW Raphael Lavoie. The second-round pick of the Oilers in 2019, Lavoie currently ranks as the only 20-goal scorer on the Condors with 22 – 22-18-40 on the season in 52 games. Lavoie got called up briefly this season but never got into a game. He’s made remarkable progress in three seasons in Bakersfield, finishing with rising numbers in all categories – goals, assists, points, PIMs, and +/-.

Could be a future top-six forward per his scouting report.

Dylan Holloway

C/LW Holloway might be the most NHL-ready prospect on the Oilers, one who could make the team out of camp just like he did last season. Our first-round pick in 2020, Holloway started his career putting up 22 points in 33 games for Bakersfield before getting called up to the Oilers taxi squad for the playoffs where he managed to get into one game.

Fast forward to this season where he made the team right out of camp, played up and down the lineup – mostly down – and put up 3-6-9 with a 0 in 51 games. The injuries suffered earlier in the season were also partially responsible for Holloway staying up for so long.

After the roster got healthier and Holloway had cooled off the team rightfully decided to send him back to Bakersfield where he got injured in short order.

Depending on his health, history may repeat itself but we’ll see.

Tyler Tullio

Another RW prospect (I didn’t realize until now how many RWers we had in the system) Tyler Tullio was drafted in the fifth round of 2020. His scouting report is here.

Tullio has also made waves to be in the conversation as in his first pro season he’s put up 13-13-26 in 54 games. Probably needs more seasoning in the minors but so far so good. Depending on how he follows up next season he might be a candidate for a callup.

So far he looks like a diamond in the rough by Holland and his staff. It’s absolutely magic when you can find a forward with top-six upside this late in the draft.

James Hamblin

C/RW Hamblin has also taken an unorthodox route to the NHL. He wrapped up his junior career in 2019-20 and went undrafted, so the Oilers signed him as a free agent to a two-way contract. A 21-goal performance last season in Bakersfield meant Hamblin was called up once the bottom six started experiencing injuries this season, and promptly got into 10 games producing no offence but a -3 showed that at the very least he could be a decent middle six forward at absolute worst. I can’t for the life of me find a scouting report on the guy so I’m just making an educated guess at this point. He’s been in Bakersfield since before the new year. Due to the call-up he’s played fewer AHL games than last year but is putting up the offence at a slightly better rate than last season, with 0.58 PPG this season as opposed to 0.55 PPG last season.

Hamblin remains the best option for a bottom-six callup. Needs more seasoning in the long term but he did star in junior so once he’s ready for full-time NHL work the sky’s the limit for him.

Phil Kemp

RD Phil Kemp is currently the best-drafted defensive prospect the Oilers have to offer right now, and if he makes it he’ll join a relatively thin club – seventh-rounders who made the NHL. Kemp was drafted in the seventh round in 2017, and although he was drafted as a stay-at-home guy he’s shown the ability to put up at least secondary offence throughout his career with Bakersfield, which is now in its third season. He’s put up 5-13-18 in 62 games this season with a +10 and 45 PIMs, which means he has a mean streak of physicality in his game.

If he can show that he can produce more offence in the NHL then he may just make Vincent Desharnais obsolete. See his scouting report here.

Markus Niemelainen

We’ll start with the more familiar of the two names. Niemelainen is a stay-at-home physical left defenceman who has played 53 NHL games for the Oilers over the last two seasons, however now he finds himself buried behind Philip Broberg, as well as Brett Kulak, Darnell Nurse, and Mattias Ekholm higher up the lineup.

He was drafted in the third round of 2016 and although he has earned two separate call-ups over two seasons, he hasn’t stuck with a roster spot.

His value to the organization at this point is more of a trade chip and an injury fill-in. Perhaps Holland could get a fourth-round pick for him in the offseason.

At any rate, don’t expect Niemelainen back in the Oilers lineup anytime soon unless a wave of injuries happens – they may call him up for the taxi squad for the playoffs, though.

Cam Dineen

Left D Cam Dineen was the prospect piece coming back from Arizona in the Nick Bjugstad deadline deal in exchange for sending them, Michael Kesselring.

Dineen is the second leading scorer for Bakersfield this season with 4-38-42 in 60 games. So why hasn’t he been called up yet you say?

Probably since he’s -11 on the season, per the Condors website. Once Dineen can learn how to play without the puck better he might just earn himself a call-up. We all know Ken Holland likes his players to be sound defensively, even if they’re at the bottom of the roster. Expect Dineen to stay put in Bakersfield until he shows improvement in this area. I’m assuming Jay Woodcroft doesn’t want to deal with an Erik Karlsson type…..

Oilers goalie prospect Ryan Fanti – currently playing for our ECHL affiliate the Fort Wayne Komets – has been making a lot of waves lately, as a couple of weeks ago he got into a goalie fight with the opposing goalie. You can see the tilt here. One note – YouTube has classified the video as age sensitive so you’ll need a Google account to watch it.

Not to be outdone, a few days ago in another game, he scored the first goal by a goalie in franchise history.

Fanti started the season in Bakersfield but Calvin Pickard and Olivier Rodrigue beat him out for a roster spot, so he was sent down to Fort Wayne.

He just might end up back in Bakersfield, though, if he keeps making waves.

If he can stick with Bakersfield, they can certainly use the help between the pipes, as both Pickard and Rodrigue have been unimpressive this season – both sport a sv% barely above .900 and GAAs barely below 3.00. That’s not going to earn either guy an NHL call-up anytime soon.

Hopefully, someone grabs the reins of the nets in Bakersfield to become the undisputed starter soon, otherwise, the Oilers are in trouble if one of Skinner or Campbell goes down with an injury.