Last week, a look at the Edmonton Oilers’ prospect forwards revealed six names of interest. Three appear destined for 100-plus NHL games (Ike Howard, Josh Samanski and Quinn Hutson), while three more (Roby Jarventie, Connor Clattenburg and Viljami Marjala) will need a little luck to establish themselves in the league.

Now, let’s take a look at defencemen and goaltenders bubbling under with the AHL Bakersfield Condors and ECHL Fort Wayne Komets.

Veteran AHL defencemen

Veteran players in the minors are important for an NHL team, as defence is a position with incredible attrition due to injury each year. When an Edmonton defenceman gets hurt, one of these men is the likely recall. NHL teams keep seven blueliners on the roster, so these players are the group who are ready for plug-and-play when injuries hit. Here are the even-strength outscoring numbers for each of these player-types in Bakersfield, first and second half of 2025-26:

PlayerFirst halfSecond halfTotal

19-24 (44 pct)

13-15 (46 pct)

32-39 (45 pct)

9-12 (43 pct)

15-17 (47 pct)

24-29 (45 pct)

24-21 (53 pct)

13-21 (38 pct)

37-42 (47 pct)

All numbers via AHL.com

These men serve as mentors to young defencemen in the AHL and are often passed over by those young prospects in-season. In 2025-26, recalls among the veterans have been rare. Riley Stillman played in four games with the Oilers, and that was the extent of recall activity in this group. One quick note: There’s a real chance one of these names sees playoff action with the Oilers this spring. Injuries at this position during the postseason are frequent, and the trade route is not available in the playoffs.

It would be a mistake to assume these men will never be NHL regulars. Stillman, Cam Dineen and Josh Brown all have NHL experience, and all could catch a break via injury and spend the next several seasons in the league. Former Oilers player Brad Hunt spent parts of six seasons in the minors before emerging as a regular NHL player.

Prospect AHL defencemen

This is the area that holds the most interest for the organization and fans. Whereas the veterans are known talents, and the roles change only due to injury, prospects can jump the queue and arrive in the NHL seemingly overnight. There hasn’t been too much of a buzz about him, but one Condors defender is absolutely announcing his presence with authority this season.

PlayerFirst halfSecond halfTotal

Damien Carfagna

27-22 (55 pct)

25-18 (58 pct)

52-40 (57 pct)

Beau Akey

26-17 (60 pct)

7-8 (47 pct)

33-25 (57 pct)

Atro Leppanen

22-27 (45 pct)

15-16 (48 pct)

37-43 (46 pct)

Alec Regula

15-17 (47 pct)

15-17 (47 pct)

All numbers via AHL.com

Damien Carfagna has great wheels and a solid two-way defensive style. His results in both halves of the season have been strong, and he’s deployed in big game situations. All of his arrows are heading in a good direction, and Carfagna is NHL-ready at this time. The Oilers are strong at left defence, but an inexpensive young prospect with his range of skills is going to find a way to the NHL sooner rather than later. A playoff recall is unlikely given his lack of pro experience (this is his rookie year), but Carfagna is a find for the Oilers organization.

Beau Akey is also a rookie and has strong numbers. He has suffered injury trouble during the season, and there may be a disconnect between player and organization. A right-handed defenceman, Akey has thrived with Carfagna and others in bigger minutes, but his playing time in those minutes has faded over the season. The Oilers have a valuable young player who fits an area of need (right-handed defenceman who has speed and can move the puck), but there is no urgency to his development. History tells us a smart NHL team may come calling (remember Mike Kesselring?) in the days to come.

Atro Leppanen is an outlier prospect due to age (he’s 27) and style (chaos defenceman), but there’s a player here. The Oilers extended his contract earlier this season as he came out of an outrageous period of being outscored at even strength, showing just how much faith management has in his future. In early November, his even-strength goals (4-15, 21 percent) were ghastly, but Leppanen recovered to go 33-28, 54 percent over the rest of the season. He’s a lefty, meaning the depth chart above him includes Mattias Ekholm, Darnell Nurse, Jake Walman and Spencer Stastney. Leppanen has intriguing skills, though, and might make it anyway.

Alec Regula spent much of the season in the NHL with the Oilers, but struggled to find his way after a year off from hockey due to injury. He has regained his level of play in Bakersfield and could be a factor next season. Fans may discount him due to his uneven play earlier with the Oilers, but a big defenceman who can move the puck has real value.

Defencemen on AHL contracts

One of the wrinkles of the minor leagues is the group of players signed to AHL deals. These men are important to the team, but rarely secure an NHL contract. Vincent Desharnais and James Hamblin are recent examples, but there have been fewer than six men on these deals who signed with the Oilers over the last 20 years.

This season, Luke Prokop (32-39 goals at even strength), Mason Millman (31-31) and Tyson Feist (6-2 goals) have been the main contributors. These players scoot to the ECHL when there is no need for them in Bakersfield, waiting for the next recall.

Goaltenders

Projecting goaltenders correctly is an exercise in futility. What we can do is track progress in search of a netminder who delivers quality results three seasons in a row.

At the AHL level, no one qualifies. Veteran Matt Tomkins is a consistent AHL goaltender with save percentages of .904, .907 and .904 over the past three seasons. That’s good, but not good enough to push for NHL work. He would be a reasonable recall option, but Calvin Pickard is in front of him (and was recalled to Edmonton this week). Pickard recently lost his NHL job after parts of three seasons backing up Edmonton’s starter, and is an example of a player who has enjoyed a late-career renaissance after an extended AHL run. Pickard played in more than 20 NHL games in 2015-16, 2016-17, 2023-24 and 2024-25. That’s the life of a goaltender on the fringes of the NHL. There are only 64 goalie jobs available every year.

The goalies of the future are an interesting group. Connor Ungar is the only one of the prospects who saw AHL action this season (12 games, .926 save percentage), and he does look like a real prospect. He’s undersized (6 feet, 205 pounds) compared to the Oilers’ other goaltenders, but he stops pucks and has been a star for three different ECHL teams this year. Ungar is 24, and we’ll know how serious the Oilers are about him in the fall. If he’s a starter in Bakersfield, management believes in him.

Samuel Jonsson hasn’t seen the AHL yet, but he has two seasons in a row of quality. In 2024-25, he was the best goaltender in Sweden’s Allsvenskan, and this year he is playing well for the Komets. His save percentage (.910) is well clear of his partner’s (Nathaniel Day, .893). If he starts well next season, probably in Bakersfield, the Oilers will have a prospect goaltender who is delivering a third strong season in a row. That’s a very good indicator.

How many NHL players?

In the look at forwards last week, the estimate was that three to six would play, and three would dress for 100-plus NHL games. The Oilers have fewer true prospects on defence and in goal, and both positions are much harder to project.

Among goalies, Jonsson’s two seasons of quality place him in a good position to matriculate to the NHL. He may not play 100 NHL games, but he should be a good bet for 50-plus in The Show.

Among defencemen, Carfagna is the surest thing and should be considered as the second most likely prospect in the minors to deliver 100-plus NHL games (behind Howard). Regula has already played in 51 games, and there’s a player there. He’ll be a waiver worry in the fall, but should play enough in the next couple of years to clear 100 career games.

Akey is bona fide, but there’s something about his deployment this season that doesn’t rhyme with the results. Either there is an additional injury or the organization has soured on him. We’ll know in time. I’ll bet he has an NHL future.

Finally, Leppanen. The worst conclusion one can make with prospects is uncertainty, but Leppanen has such a range of skills/challenges that we simply don’t know. He’s a fantastic puck passer, moves well and is creative. He has defensive lapses that appear fixable but return. The Oilers were wise to sign him to an extension to see how this plays out.

Oilers prospects in the system headed for 100-plus games: Howard, Samanski, Hutson among forwards; Carfagna and Akey from the defence pool; Jonsson in net. Leppanen is the wild card.