RUNNING NUMBERS OUT OF BAKERSFIELD

7 years ago

The Bakersfield Condors are in action tonight, and I thought it might be an idea to run some numbers. The college goaltender is going to start tonight—Nick Ellis, in photo by Mark Williams—and the team has played over 10 percent of the schedule so we can go snoop behind the boxcars. One of the best ways to check on progress is to list even-strength totals and compare them to success stories of the past. Let’s have a look.

Remember Tobias Rieder? In his first (and only) AHL season, Rieder went
64, 18-11-29 0.453 even strength points-per-game—at age 20. Last year, at age 21, Jujhar Khaira went 49, 8-13-21 0.429 points-per-game. If the Oilers have anyone in the minors who has an NHL chance, even-strength scoring is probably going to be an early tell.

CONDORS FORWARDS (PROSPECTS ONLY) SCORING AFTER 8GP

Jujhar Khaira (22) 4, 3-2-5 1.25
Matt Benning (22) 2, 0-1-1 0.50—rookie
Mitch Moroz (22) 8, 1-2-3 0.375
Patrick Russell (23) 8, 0-3-3 0.375—rookie
Jordan Oesterle (24) 6, 1-1-2 0.333
David Musil (23) 6, 0-2-2 0.333
Joey Benik (24) 7, 2-0-2 0.286—rookie
Braden Christoffer (22) 8, 1-1-2 0.250
Jaedon Descheneau (21) 4, 0-1-1 0.250—rookie
Ben Betker (21) 5, 0-1-1 0.200—rookie
Kyle Platzer (21), 7, 0-1-1 0.125
Dillon Simpson (23) 7, 1-0-1 0.125
Jere Sallinen (25) 8, 1-0-1 0.125—rookie
Joey Laleggia (24) 8, 0-1-1 0.125

Not much there yet, really. Khaira off to a nice start, and he did spike in year two (I don’t think they played him much at 20, the Oilers lose some development time because of it imo). You could make a case for some of these other kids, but miles too early. The best rookie of the bunch is absolutely Nick Ellis, who has a .923 save percentage in four games so far. He has also stopped three of three in the shootout, which should count for something.

TAYLOR BECK

I didn’t list Beck above but he was having a great run in Bakersfield before his recall to Edmonton. He is inside the AHL Top Ten in points (8, 3-9-12) this year. At 25, it is a real stretch to call him a prospect, but I would submit that players with as much or less talent have caught a break at this age and posted a reasonable NHL career. Not saying it happens, but it is certainly possible.

CONDORS CURIOS

Home PP: 12.5 percent
Road PP: 11.8 percent
Home PK: 84.6 percent
Road PK: 81.8 percent
Shots For-Against First Period: 82-83
Shots For-Against Second Period: 84-96
Shots For-Against Third Period: 80-98
GF-GA per game: 3.25—2.75
Shots For-Against per game: 251-278
Source

TONIGHT’S LINEUP

Hamilton—Newbury—Benik
Allen—Kellen Lain—Russell
Moroz—Currie—Christoffer
Chase—Platzer—Reichlicz
Laleggia—Simonelli
Fraser—Musil
Betker—Aneloski
Ellis (Brossoit)

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

From here, I think it is pretty obvious that Jujhar Khaira is a legit prospect and Matt Benning may be another. The Bakersfield rookie that we should be paying attention to this season? Nick Ellis. He starts tonight. Game starts at 8, you can follow along below.

Source