Building from within, Edmonton Oilers sign three young Condors to (NHL-class) contract extensions, later trade veteran netminder

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A sharp bit of business by the Edmonton Oilers in attending to the intermediate future of three promising members of their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors.

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[Pictured in tweet: James Hamblin]

Dmitri Samorukov is the best-known of the three, having ranked high among our Cult of Hockey Oilers prospects rankings since being drafted in the third round back in 2017. Signed to a 3-year Entry Level Contract later this summer, only now, going on 5 years later, has he reached the end of that deal, having twice “slid” back to major junior — where he became a dominant d-man — before turning pro in 2019. After an up-and-down rookie year in Bakersfield, he had something of a breakthrough in 2020-21 back in his home country while North American hockey struggled with the vexing COVID issue, playing for the famous CSKA Moskva of the KHL .

Alas, injury interrupted his progress. Last season came to a premature conclusion with a shoulder issue, then the current campaign was derailed in the very first shift of the very first rookie game, when Samorukov broke his jaw in a violent hit in the neutral zone that ended badly indeed. That put paid to any chance he had to making the Oilers out of camp, and indeed set him back rather longer than the six weeks he was officially on the shelf, as he had to wear a cumbersome jaw protector for quiet a while thereafter. It was weeks before he started to look comfortable to my eye, which occasionally takes in a Condors game along the way.

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Samorukov had one chance in the NHL just after Christmas and it went badly indeed. With the Oilers left defence riddled with injuries and/or positive tests, he was called up right after the first COVID delay. He was burned for 2 goals in very short order at St. Louis and found himself nailed to the bench for the rest of the night with just 2:28 on his game log. (One can only wonder how current coaches Jay Woodcroft and Dave Manson might have played that, but my educated guess is “differently”.)

I watched (on AHLTV) the Condors play a three-game series at Abbotsford a couple of weeks later and kept a close eye on Samorukov, providing this report:

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…with this further update from a win over Colorado Eagles a month later:

Oilers assistant GM Keith Gretzky gave some interesting background on all three players in an  interview on the Jason Gregor Show on Wednesday afternoon, remarking that Samorukov’s game started to come around right after his return from Edmonton. For one thing, he was elevated in the Condors line-up given the absence of fellow young left d-men like William Lagesson, Markus Niemelainen and Philip Broberg. Said Gretzky:

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“He’s taken huge strides. The biggest thing is he’s moving his feet. And when you move your feet, you’re not going to get yourself into trouble, you don’t box yourself in. Since Niemelainen and Broberg have gone up, he’s been a guy we’ve really counted on. I think he logs about 23, 24 minutes a game… With Dmitri I’m very happy. Not to knock him, he was struggling… but the last two months he’s been phenomenal and a real big part of our shutdown with Vinny Desharnais.”

Samorukov’s stats have subsequently improved to 36 GP, 2-9-11, +6, which is to say 1-4-5, +7 in the 16 games since my first report. Over that same span, the Condors have been on a major tear.

According to CapFriendly, the one-year extension is a one-way deal just above the NHL minimum at $775,000, a good price point for the club with guaranteed NHL money from the player’s perspective. The one-year term captures the reality of a situation in which both player and team have other options in case things don’t click. He will no longer be exempt from waivers, so it really will be decision time, or at least, audition time in 2022-23.

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Samorukov will be in the same place career-wise next season that Tyler Benson is right now. At its end, the club will retain RFA rights with a low qualifying offer, the player will have gained arbitration rights, and presumably all concerned will have a lot better picture of where things are going.

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The other two players signed on Wednesday didn’t just get a contract extension on Wednesday, they got a promotion from a minor league agreement to an NHL-class contract, officially joining the Oilers 50-man list. As prescience had it, I provided a report on both from the earlier cited post from the Bakersfield-at-Abbotsford series. Let’s start with Samorukov’s D partner:

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Since the time of this report, Desharnais has exploded with 2-8-10 and an eye-popping +20 in 17 games. His boxcars on the season now stand at 42 GP, 5-13-18, +27 with not a one of those points coming on the powerplay. And lo and behold, as fearlessly predicted by your humble correspondent, he’s now landed an NHL deal.

Gretzky detailed the Oilers policy of treating players on AHL pacts as prospects and part of the Oilers organization, an approach that convinced Desharnais to sign a pair of two-year pacts at that level in 2019 and 2021.

Nearly three years along, the big right-shot defender has covered the bet sufficiently for the club to overwrite the final year with a spanking new two-year NHL-class that will kick in next fall. The two-way deal is set at the NHL minimum of $750k next season, $775k the following, with an AAV of $762,500. Significantly, the pact offers a substantial AHL component of $150,000 then $250,000.

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For his part, the versatile Hamblin has scored 7 goals in 18 games since the prior write-up, raising his season totals to 39 GP, 12-8-20, +7.

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(UPDATE: make that 9 in 19, as Hamblin (#11) scored twice for the Condors in Wednesday night’s 5-3 loss San Jose Barracuda, with Samorukov (#44) also in on the first one, video below.)

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The 22-year-old native of Edmonton and product of South Side Athletic Club has signed a two-year ELC at NHL minimum, though he did manage to work in a $45k signing bonus each season to bump the AAV slightly. His minors component on the other hand is a more slender $80,000 per annum, befitting his relative youth and inexperience when compared to Desharnais.

At minimum, both can be expected to provide excellent play at the AHL level, providing internal competition and already-demonstrated leadership. Who knows how high they can take it with continued improvement — as both players have shown throughout their careers to this point — but from this distance it’s a smart bet by Ken Holland and his lieutenant Keith Gretzky to build the 50-man list from within when warranted.

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Indeed, the Oilers have just seen the first fruit of a recently-upgraded AHL contract when Brad Malone made a successful return to the NHL in Edmonton’s 3-0 win at Philadelphia on Tuesday evening. Here’s hoping Desharnais and/or Hamblin might follow his lead at some future point.

Oilers trade Stalock

The Oilers subsequently shaved one player off their 50-man list late Wednesday when they announced the trade of depth goalie Alex Stalock to San Jose Sharks for the ubiquitous “future considerations”.

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Stalock was acquired by the Oilers on waivers last season to solve an ongoing problem with their #3 goaltender. He suited up but never played a game for the Oil and only 5 with the Condors as first COVID, then myocarditis derailed his career for a time. The 34-year-old will get a fresh start in San Jose, the club that originally signed him as a college free agent back in 2009 and where he played the first 61 of his 151 NHL games.

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