Seth Griffith has become a fixture in Bakersfield for a reason, and the Condors believe his value goes far beyond the points he piles up.
For years, Griffith has been one of the AHL’s more reliable offensive veterans, the kind of player who can produce near a point per game and still understand that his real job is bigger than the box score. That mindset, according to head coach Colin Chaulk, has taken on a new shape since Griffith was named the fourth captain in franchise history after Brad Malone retired in 2024.
Chaulk said the change was immediate once Griffith started wearing the C.
“It almost gave him like a superhero suit,” Chaulk told Bob Stauffer in a recent interview on Oilers Now. “He went from Peter Parker to Spider-Man.”
The captaincy, Chaulk explained, pushed Griffith to expand his focus. He was already one of Bakersfield’s most dangerous attackers, but now he had to set the tone everywhere, not just on the scoresheet.
When Chaulk arrived as head coach in 2022, he said Griffith still had room to grow as a leader. That shift didn’t happen overnight.
“It took a year and a half to two years,” Chaulk said, before he really started seeing those qualities come through.
The turning point, in Chaulk’s telling, was when Griffith stopped centering everything on his own production and started embracing the full responsibility that comes with being a veteran anchor in the AHL.
“He was worried about being a good player. He was worried about scoring goals and getting points.
And that’s how he provided for his family, and that’s how he provided for himself to feel good,” said Chaulk. “He’s taken on all of those other intangibles.
He’s done an absolutely fantastic job.”
That broader role has shown up in Griffith’s game. Chaulk said he’s become better defensively, more vocal, and more willing to model the right habits for younger players. Just as important, he’s been willing to accept less when the situation calls for it.
“He was just better defensively. He set better examples. If I skipped him a shift or two because he made an errant play, if I put a young prospect on late in the game instead of him, he understood,” explained Chaulk.
“He was just accepting of his role and understanding that, yes, he’s an important player to help Bakersfield be competitive. He’s an important player to help young players get points and be offensive because he’s someone who can support them. But he also was a tremendous leader by just sometimes accepting less, and then also being a teacher to them.”
That kind of buy-in is what makes Griffith such a valuable AHL veteran, even if the NHL opportunities have been scarce. He doesn’t have an NHL contract, and he’s played only one NHL game in the last eight years. Still, Chaulk said Griffith has stayed positive and fully engaged with what Bakersfield needs from him.
“We communicate clearly to him, Keith Gretzky, Kalle, Stan, myself, that we understand how important he is and then also understanding where he’s at in his career and what his role is,” said Chaulk. “And he’s more than accepting of that. He’s an extension of the coaching staff.”
Griffith’s longevity in Bakersfield tells the same story. He is the Condors’ all-time leader in games played with 379, and in January he signed a two-year extension with the Edmonton Oilers that will keep him in the organization through his age-35 season.
His own view of the job has evolved, too.
“Your goals shift,” said Griffith after signing his extension. “Initially, it was doing everything I could to try and make the Oilers. Now it kind of transitions to where I just want to win so badly down here and focus on being in Bakersfield and helping young guys achieve their goals to make the NHL and, at the same time, win down here.”
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