It’s the same show.
While the parent club Edmonton Oilers were given a surprise Spring Break with a three-game series postponement in Montreal, the show went on with their American Hockey League farm club.
The Bakersfield Condors are 11-1-1 in their last 13 games. While Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are 1-2 in scoring in the NHL, Cooper Marody and Tyler Benson are 1-2 in scoring in the AHL. And playing the part of Mike Smith in goal is Stuart Skinner.
Marody is on a 14-game scoring streak, the longest in team history, and leads the league in goals with 14 and points with 24. Benson, a native of Edmonton, is second in AHL scoring with 21 points with six goals and 14 assists. At the same time, 21-year-old Ryan McLeod is tied for fifth in AHL scoring and probably has himself the No. 1 prospect wearing Oilers colours in the AHL.
And while Smith is putting up career numbers (11-3, 2.34 goals-against average and .922 save percentage) leading up to his 39th birthday this week, Skinner — another homegrown Edmontonian — leads the AHL in wins and minutes played in goal with his 10-2-1, 2.31 GAA and .916 SP set of numbers.
Like the Oilers, who only managed to win three of their first nine, the Condors didn’t get off to a good trip, either, going 0-5 out of the gate.
“It’s interesting, though,” Condors head coach Jay Woodcroft said when I talked to him after the latest win. “We were out-shooting, put-chancing and controlling zone time. There were a lot of good signs. It took a while but then things just started to take off.
“These teams are set up around their California NHL clubs. They’ve been together since September. Our team got together on Jan. 25. We had to work some things out. The bottom line is that we liked what we were seeing and we stuck with it. “
Now the Condors are flying in a 40-game schedule that will likely be followed with some sort of division-only playoffs, perhaps in a Hub City bubble.
While the Calgary Flames chose to relocate the Stockton Heat to Calgary and play in a Canadian division, the Oilers opted to keep the Condors in Bakersfield.
“Our players are excited about being around each other, they like living here and representing the city and I think because of the border situation, they all know that they’ll likely be together here all season,” Woodcroft said of the focus such proximity it brings.
The team also knows that some of them, such as McLeod, for sure, are here because Oilers general manager Ken Holland believed it would be more beneficial for their development to be in the AHL than on an NHL taxi squad.
“The history of that line actually goes back to the NHL’s Hub City playoff bubble, for which I was in Edmonton with the Oilers. I thought the three of them together then showed very well. So, four or five games into the season we put them together.
“It’s interesting because they all represent a different element. McLeod has an NHL body and-elite level skating. He’s an exciting, exciting prospect for the Oilers.
“When we look at Benson, he continues to put up big numbers at more than a point a game. He’s somebody who makes plays and has great vision. He guarantees pucks coming out of our own end.”
A left-winger, Benson is currently being introduced to penalty killing because there aren’t many minutes available with the Oilers on the power play.
“Marody is leading the league in goals and points and I think he’s been invigorated by a position switch, Woodcroft said. “He started the year at centre and is now a right winger. He battled some health problems last year with a concussion and getting nicked up. He came back healthy this year and his battle level has gone up tremendously.
“Those three have certainly found lightning in a bottle.”
McLeod is clearly the Oilers’ No. 1 priority as an NHL development player. Benson and Marody obviously command attention. And six-foot-six defenceman Markus Niemelainen has made himself a top NHL development player in the past month as well. And then there’s the fascinating case of Skinner.
The six-foot-four, 22-year-old goaltender made NHL money backing up Mikko Koskinen while Smith recovered from injury to start the season. He won his only start and headed to Bakersfield with an education.
“I think the challenge this year for Stuart was to show he could be an elite No. 1 AHL goaltender,” said Woodcroft. “And his experience going back to the bubble with the Oilers in the playoffs last year and being around those high-end players served him well.
“Then in Oilers training camp this year, a goaltender got claimed on waivers, another goaltender got hurt and all of a sudden he’s starting the year in the NHL and eventually got into a game. I think that opened his eyes to the quality of level the NHL is and made him a better goaltender. So, when he came down to us, he went on a nine-game heater and he’s now exactly where he needs to be on his development curve and taking a step, maturity-wise.”
And headed to Bakersfield soon are high-pedigree NCAA prospects and players previously performing in Europe.
Woodcroft is developing plenty of prospects with up arrows.
E-mail: tjones@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @byterryjones
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