BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — The Bakersfield Condors watched many of their top players make the jump to the Edmonton Oilers and not return during the past season.

Which is why getting back veterans Brad Malone and Luke Esposito was important for the team. In a video happy hour call with season ticket holders on Thursday, both expressed their content to returning.

“Doing whatever I could do when it came to surviving my role and when it came to Bakersfield, I was trying to do the same thing," Malone said. "And it kind of become sort of a college vibe to me with the unity and the vibe around the rink.”

Malone has been a Condor since 2017, Esposito since 2018. Both have NHL experience and have found a comfort at this point in their careers in Kern County.

"The big thing for me when I first took a PTO with Edmonton my first year was to find a place where I had an opportunity to play and kinda show the player I was and fill a role for the team," Esposito said.

Now they are transitioning into the "old guys" at the rink, which is fine by these two.