The Bakersfield Condors have signed a veteran forward, adding Tim Schaller on an AHL contract. The 30-year-old spent last season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on a similar minor league deal.
Once a regular in the NHL, Schaller spent the entire 2020-21 season in the AHL, scoring 18 points with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. That’s a far fall from 2017-18 when he played in all 82 games with the Boston Bruins, and is a surprising turn for a player that has suited up 276 times in the NHL. Schaller isn’t an offensive threat, with just 29 goals during that span, but had been considered a worthwhile bottom-six forward in the past, even signing a two-year deal with Vancouver in 2018 that carried an average annual value of $1.9MM.
It appears as though that period of his career is over though with this deal, though he could always ink an NHL contract at some point if the Edmonton Oilers deal with injury concerns. He’ll be a valuable asset to their AHL team for the time being, helping insulate the younger players in the organization while still providing good production at the minor league level.
Go from $1.9MM in Vancouver to an AHL contract. That “Jim Benning sucks at contract management” horse is dead and beaten!