April 28, 2024 by Ryan Lotsberg

The Bakersfield Condors were eliminated from the 2024 Calder Cup playoffs after losing their first round series to the Ontario Reign on Saturday night. The final blow came after suffering a 3-1 loss on home ice.

The Condors finished in sixth place in the Pacific Division with a 39-27-4 record in the regular season, and they were quickly dispatched in the first round. The Condors were only able to muster two goals in the two game series.

Now that the Condors season is finished, the Edmonton Oilers will be able to recall players from their AHL affiliate to have on hand for the remainder of their playoff run.

Jack Campbell, Philip Broberg, Raphael Lavoie, Adam Erne, James Hamblin, and Phil Kemp all played games for the Oilers this season and would all be prime candidates to be a part of the black aces for the Oilers. 

Ben Gleason was recalled earlier in the regular season, but he did not play in a game for the Oilers while he was with the big club. Markus Niemalainen has played 43 games for the Oilers in the past, but none of those came this season. Seth Griffith and Drake Caggiula have both played games for the Oilers in the past as well. Lane Pederson has 71 NHL  games under his belt, but none for the Oilers. This group of players could theoretically be recalled, but are less likely to be recalled than the group of players listed above.

Regardless, it is highly unlikely that any of these players will see playoff action for the Oilers this spring, barring any unforeseen injuries. The bigger conversation is about how the prospects playing for the Condors this season fared and what that could mean for the future of the Oilers.

Philip Broberg was frustrated with his minimal role as the seventh defenceman on the Oilers early in the season. Broberg was sent to the Condors on December 7, 2023, and he was recalled in time to play the final two regular season games for the Oilers on April 17 and 18, 2024. Broberg ended up with 38 points in 49 games for the Condors, which put him in a tie for fifteenth among AHL defencemen in points. Only two defencemen above him on the scoring list averaged more points per game. 

Broberg was fantastic in a leading role for the Condors. He played in all situations and played tremendously well in that role. He was third on the team in plus/minus (+11), and fourth on the team in shots (119) despite only playing in 49 games. That says a lot about Broberg’s game.

Broberg also had two assists and was -1 in those two late regular season games with the Oilers. He made a fantastic play on the second Oilers goal against the Arizona Coyotes. He collected the puck in the corner in his own zone, used his legs to skate the puck out of trouble, then he made a crisp breakout pass to Warren Foegele. Broberg then took off up the ice and drove to the net. That created space for Foegele to cut to the middle and score a goal. Broberg got another assist on the powerplay against the Colorado Avalanche. It was a simple play where he got the puck at the point and took a low, hard wrist shot that was tipped in by Dylan Holloway.

He got fooled by an unfortunate bounce on the first goal of the game against the Coyotes, so it’s hard to place blame on him for that goal. Connor McDavid lost his check on the weak side after Broberg had challenged the puck carrier at the blue line on the second goal against in that game. If I was being really picky, I would comment on Broberg’s soft gap at the blue line and his decision to stick check rather than body check on that play; but the true breakdown came on the other side of the ice.

Broberg finds himself in an awkward spot where he is clearly too good for the AHL, but he hasn’t quite grabbed a hold of an NHL spot yet. He has the tools to succeed in the NHL. The question is whether or not his opportunity will come with the Oilers or another organization. If the Oilers feel that Brett Kulak is an expensive luxury to have on the third pairing when evaluating their tight salary cap situation this summer, then an opportunity would open up for Broberg. As long as Kulak is an Oiler, Broberg will be blocked from a spot in the Oilers’ top six.

Raphael Lavoie recorded career-highs in goals, assists and points this season with a 28-22-50 stat line in 66 games. He also led the team in shots by a mile with 201 shots. Those are all positive things, but those aren’t world beating numbers suggestive of an impactful NHL career. Lavoie earned seven games with the Oilers this season, but he didn’t do much with his opportunity. He didn’t record a point in minimal ice time in those seven games. The former second rounder has an elite shot and a big frame, so there’s a chance that he could become a useful bottom sixer. He’s only 23-years old, so he still has time. The problem is that the Oilers are short on time and they need impactful players sooner rather than later. He’s an impending RFA that could either be retained or used as trade bait this summer.

2021 first rounder Xavier Bourgault took a step back this season. He was limited to 55 games this season due to a shoulder injury. Bourgault only put up twenty points in those 55 games, compared to 34 points in 62 games last season. The hope is that this was simply a sophomore slump because Bourgault is an important prospect for the Oilers. The Oilers have traded their first round picks from 2022 (Reid Schaeffer), 2023 (used to acquire Mattias Ekholm), and 2024 (used to acquire Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick). The cap strapped Oilers can ill afford to have Bourgault not pan out. He has another year left on his entry level contract, but Bourgault could also easily be used as trade bait to improve the roster next season.

One bright spot I want to be sure to highlight is Max Wanner. The 2021 seventh rounder got seventeen points in 68 games for the Condors in his rookie season as a professional. More impressively, he finished tied for the team lead in plus/minus at +13. Wanner is looking like a steal of a pick.

While there are some players to be optimistic about, the reality is that no player drafted in the Ken Holland era has truly cemented an NHL spot yet (although Holloway is starting to look like he has finally earned it with his recent performances). The middling performance of the Condors this season and the lack of potentially impactful prospects on the team currently is evidence of a big problem in the organization. The Oilers will need impactful players on cheap contracts to emerge internally if they have designs on being an elite team over the course of the next decade. CEO Jeff Jackson and new Head of Amateur Scouting Rick Pracey have a lot of work to do to improve the drafting and development results of the Oilers.

Related: Oilers Mutually Part Ways with Wright, Hire Pracey