One goalie in the Edmonton Oilers system this year is not like the others.
Only one has a save percentage above .900 within the organization.
Only one has out-performed his teammates/internal competitors at each level of play he’s so far experienced.
Only one has gone from the forgotten man within the organizational depth chart to becoming the next best bet for the NHL Oilers should the current group of Oilers goalies get injured or fail to get the job done.
Oilers goalies
The goalie is Connor Ungar, 23, now with the Bakersfield Condors, where his run of outstanding play has continued.
In 14 games for four different minor pro teams, Ungar has a record eight wins and five losses and a smashing .943 save percentage.
Most impressively, he’s out-performed by a wide margin every other goalie on his same team. For example in Bakersfield — where he was promoted from the ECHL in mid-December — Ungar has a .941 save percentage in three games, with Matt Tomkins at .895 in 18 games and Connor Ingram at .856 in 11 games.
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What to make of Ungar’s play?
First off, it’s just a small sample size of games, just 14 games of this new season. Earlier this year prospect goalie Samuel Jonsson had a brilliant run of shut-out games that thrilled hardcore fans in Oil Country, but then Jonsson got injured. Since coming back to ECHL, he’s struggled.
If we go back to last season, Ungar was just the second best goalie on his Fort Wayne ECHL team, behind Brett Brochu by save percentage, .923 to .903.
Brochu, 23, is now playing in the German league. Maybe Ungar will be playing in the German league as well next year.
He’s on the last year of Entry Level Contract with the Oilers. Heading into the season, he was ranked 32 out of 34 Oilers prospects by the Cult of Hockey, this after finishing 21st overall in the summer of 2024 rankings.
But, in Ungar’s favour, he was also by far the best goalie on his Brock University team in the last year of the only year of his Canadian university career, and he was the by far the best goalie on his Moose Jaw team in his final year in the Western Hockey League. He was also the best goalie in his Red Deer WHL team the year before that.
Ungar has a history of rising up and out-playing his internal competition.
Ungar
As for the Oilers situation in net just now, it’s much improved over the first two months of the season, but it’s still fluid. Tristan Jarry looked solid in his first few NHL games with the Oilers, and he’s back on the practice ice now after being out with a groin injury. He’s a few weeks from playing, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters today.
Calvin Pickard has been hot for a month in the nets, while Connor Ingram, another NHL vet, has had three solid starts in his four Oilers games and one stinker. Ingram gets the start tonight against Nashville.
Ungar’s best and only bet is to keep playing lights out in Bakersfield. He’s got a lot of pushing and shoving to do if he’s going to rise up to the NHL in the short or long term. But he’s just 23 and he’s never been better.
It’s encouraging to see the Oilers having such a strong goalie prospect in the system.
At the Cult of Hockey
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