Longtime Oilers AHL captain announces retirement after season
A longtime fixture of the Edmonton Oilers development system is calling it quits after the AHL playoffs are finished.
The AHL’s Bakersfield Condors announced this morning that captain Brad Malone, who has been with the Oilers organization for seven seasons, will retire after this season.
“It has been a 20-year journey since I left home, and this is the only place I’ve called home since leaving,” Malone said in a statement. “I’m most proud of the relationships we’ve made here with close friends and the culture we’ve created on and off the ice. I’m thankful for my family, staff, teammates, and everyone I was able to learn from that came before me.
“I’m not a leader who leads by himself, and I’m proud of our team success and looking forward to a long postseason run.”
Brad Malone, the longest serving captain in team history, will retire following the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs after 14 seasons and nearly 800 professional games. 🫡
Join us Saturday for a special ceremony to honor his career and contributions to #Condorstown
— Bakersfield Condors (@Condors) April 18, 2024
The 34-year-old Malone has appeared in 551 AHL games and 217 NHL games throughout his 14-year professional career. He was initially drafted 105th overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2007 NHL Draft.
Malone made his NHL debut with the Avalanche in December 2011 during a 4-1 victory over the Oilers. He would wind up playing games with both the Hurricanes and Oilers as his career progressed, putting up 14 goals and 32 points while in the NHL.
He joined the Oilers before the 2017-18 season when he signed a two-year two-way deal with the club in the offseason. Malone was named captain of the Condors in 2021 and is the longest-serving captain in that franchise’s history.
Malone appeared in 41 games with the Oilers over seven years but could only muster up a goal and an assist in that time. He provided much more value for the organization in his leadership abilities down the AHL, where he helped the Condors to a Pacific Division playoff title in the COVID-affected 2020-21 season.
His career is not quite over yet, as he will still have to help Bakersfield on their current playoff run. The team has clinched a spot in this year’s AHL playoffs and still has two games left on their regular season schedule.
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