Lowetide: What the Oilers’ minor league history tells us about the 2023-24 AHL Condors

The Edmonton Oilers have produced one AHL championship team.

In 1992-93, the Calder Cup was awarded to the Cape Breton Oilers.

That club was a powerhouse on offence, with a 57-goal scorer (Dan Currie) and another forward (Bill McDougall) who scored 26 goals in 16 playoff games.

As is the case with most minor-league teams, it was the two-way forwards who had the best NHL careers.

Kirk Maltby (1,072 NHL games), Scott Thornton (941), Shaun Van Allen (794) and Shjon Podein (699) all had more NHL success than the pure skill men like Currie, McDougall and Steven Rice.

There’s a lesson there.

The role of a minor-league team is to send useful talent to the NHL team, and to provide assets that can be used to build around the established NHL talent in an effort to win a championship.

What team was most successful in doing those things?

The 1981-82 Wichita Wind (CHL)

Edmonton prospects have been playing in the minors for 44 seasons, since 1979-80.

The 1981-82 Wichita Wind delivered the most talent and several contributed to multiple Stanley Cup victories for the Oilers.

Charlie Huddy was an undrafted player who proved to be an outstanding two-way defender upon arrival to pro hockey. Huddy’s development was a major story early in the team’s build to the dynasty team of the 1980s.

Andy Moog was a late-round selection in 1980 who was in the NHL and starring against the Montreal Canadiens by the spring of 1981. Moog’s value to the organization came through winning Stanley Cups and in his enormous trade value. In March of 1988, Oilers general manager Glen Sather sent him to the Boston Bruins for goaltender Bill Ranford (who would win the Conn Smythe Trophy in leading Edmonton to the 1990 championship) and high-skill forward Geoff Courtnall.

Walt Poddubny played only four games for the Oilers, but his value was high enough to acquire NHL centre Laurie Boschman. Sather would then trade Boschman to the Winnipeg Jets for Willy Lindstrom.

That kind of value is difficult to create on a minor-league team, Poddubny, Marc Habscheid and Tom Roulston contributed a great deal to Edmonton’s success via trade.

Don’t forget the coach

The job of a minor-league coaching staff is to develop talent for the NHL team to employ or send away when the need arises.

The Wind’s coach in 1981-82 was John Muckler, who had coached for over a decade in pro hockey. That included a short stint as the head coach of the Minnesota North Stars of the NHL in 1968-69.

Muckler was a sound technical coach who also helped in the development of the young players listed above.

At the end of the 1981-82 season, Muckler was hired as an assistant coach for the Oilers. He would be a key member of the staff through the successful 1980s and was head coach of the club for the 1990 Stanley Cup victory.

Muckler would probably have helped in developing more players, but was destined for a more prominent career in the game.

The Condors

This season in Bakersfield, the AHL coaching staff was not able to move development forward for many of the team’s top-ranked prospects.

The youngsters who did thrive, like rookies Max Wanner and Jayden Grubbe, play a rugged style that fits the AHL style well.

For the skill forwards, injuries and lots of veteran competition resulted in disappointing performances.

All of Xavier Bourgault (2021 first-round selection), Carter Savoie (first-shot scorer), Tyler Tullio (two-way winger) and all-around offensive talent Matvey Petrov had trouble finding the range offensively.

Tullio led the group with a 0.40 points per game average in 2023-24, a total far too low for a player considered a legit NHL prospect. Dylan Holloway played for the Condors and posted 0.89 points per game, a number that suggests he will be an NHL player.

Changes

Many fans blame coach Colin Chaulk for the floundering skill forwards, but an audit of the Bakersfield roster reveals NHL management overloaded the club with veteran forwards this year.

In the 2022-23 season, the Condors roster housed four prospect forwards among the top nine names on the team. This season, that number fell to two names.

The argument can be made that Chaulk rewarded veterans with more playing time, but the roster was made up of mostly veterans.

A crowded group in Bakersfield added NHL players (Sam Gagner, Adam Erne) due to cap purposes and when Corey Perry was signed.

An indication management recognizes the issue came at the end of Bakersfield’s season, when team captain Brad Malone announced his retirement.

Malone was quoted as saying, “If I’m being realistic I think it’s at a point where I’m getting in the way. Young guys need to play.”

There are early signs an infusion of youth is on the way. In recent weeks, the club has added college goalie Connor Ungar, junior winger James Stefan and announced centre Noah Philp will return for the 2024-25 season.

Bottom line

The organization overloaded Bakersfield with veteran forwards this season, and the young forwards did not force their way up the depth chart.

No matter where the blame lands, this can’t happen again.

There’s an easy fix.

Malone, the team’s captain for the most recent four seasons, showed the leadership he’s become known for this week.

There may not be a Huddy or a Moog or even a Muckler in Bakersfield, but it’s time to let them sink or swim.

(Photo of Xavier Bourgault: Darcy Finley / NHLI via Getty Images)