The Bakersfield Condors are set to get some reinforcements as the Edmonton Oilers have activated winger Roby Jarventie from the injured reserve, assigning him to their AHL club.
Jarventie, 22, was acquired by the Oilers this summer from the Ottawa Senators in a deal that sent 2021 22nd overall pick Xavier Bourgault the other way. The incoming winger had been dealing with a knee injury, forcing him to miss training camp and the start of the 2024-25 season.
The injury occurred last February, having to undergo surgery for what Belleville Senators head coach David Bell called a nagging issue.
“It’s unfortunate for him,” Belleville head coach David Bell. “It’s just a nagging knee issue that they’ve tried to band-aid along the last couple of years, and it just got to the point where he needed to have surgery to get this thing completely fixed. It’ll be a long off-season for him, but hopefully he comes back the player that he was when he left.”
The Oilers clearly felt good about the prognosis, as they acquired him alongside a fourth-round pick for Bourgault and another prospect, Jake Chiasson.
Jarventie was selected 33rd overall by the Senators in the 2020 draft, spending his post-draft season with Tampere Ilves in the Finnish Elite League, scoring 14 goals and 25 points in 48 games. He would arrive in North America after that season, drawing in for four AHL games, scoring two goals and three points.
He had a strong first full season in the AHL, scoring 11 goals and 33 points in 70 games. He followed it up with a strong 2022-23 season, scoring 16 goals and 30 points in 40 games and was in the midst of a breakout campaign last year, scoring nine goals and 20 points in 22 games before being shut down.
Bourgault, who fell out of favour as a prospect amid stagnant years with the Oilers AHL club, has drawn in for five games for Ottawa’s AHL affiliate, scoring a goal and an assist. Chiasson has yet to dress in a game this season.
Jarventie wasn’t in the Condors’ lineup Saturday night, but with forward James Hamblin expected to miss some time, Condors play-by-play man Ryan Holt reported, it likely won’t be long until Jarventie gets into game action.
