Condors sign four to ATO’s
By Zach Laing
7 years agoThe Oilers organization are about to get a look at a monstrous defenceman selected in the 7th round, as well as a look at some recently signed prospects.
This afternoon, the Bakersfield Condors announced the signing of 2015 seventh-round draft pick Ziyat Paigin.
Weighing in at 203 lbs and standing at 6’6″, Paigin is an absolute giant of a man. The 22-year old has played all of his hockey overseas in the KHL, as well as it’s development league, the VHL.
Upon draft day, there wasn’t much to see when it came to Paigin. He had just came off a season split between the KHL and VHL and only put up three points in 36 games between the two. After all, the chances of playing more than 100 games for a player selected 209th overall is only 8%.
He did however play for the Russians at the 2015 World Juniors where he showed well scoring one goal in two assists in seven games.
In his draft+1 season, he broke out for HK Sochi, where he scored 27 points in 37 games and was named to the KHL all-star game.
This year, he has been plagued with injuries.
2016-17 has seen the young man take, apparently, a large step back. He re-signed with Ak Bars in the off-season but struggled early and then got hurt. Once he had healed, the rest of the season was split between the KHL and VHL. What went wrong? It may just be a matter of different coaching. Under Sochi head coach Vyacheslav Butsayev, Paigin was given freedom to join the attack, and to improvise. – Patrick Conway
Along with Paigin, the Condors signed recently signed Joe Gambardell and Ryan Manthato to ATO’s. Gambardella will make his pro debut this the Condors tonight.
Both Gambardella and Mantha recently signed entry level deals with the Edmonton Oilers recently.
According to a source, the Condors have also signed former Red Deer Rebel Evan Polei to an ATO for the rest of the year. Polei recently told Red Deer reporters that he would be heading to the Condors on what is believed to be a one-year deal.
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