Oilers goalie hopeful Connor Ungar has been impressing everyone with his great performance this season, but now he has been dropped down to the ECHL, which is a step back.
Ungar, who is 24 and was not picked in the draft, has quickly moved up the ranks of Oilers prospects with amazing results over the past two years. He made his first appearance in professional hockey with the AHL this season and had an impressive save percentage of . 926 in 12 games.
The Edmonton Oilers are moving their top goalie prospect down to the ECHL to make space for Pickard.
The Condors, which are the Oilers’ team in the AHL, announced today that they are sending Ungar down to the ECHL.
This decision is not because of how well Ungar has been playing, as shown by his performance with the Condors. They are doing this to bring in Calvin Pickard, who has just joined the AHL team after passing waivers.
It is surprising to see the Oilers move a promising player like Ungar down just to make room for two goalies who are older than 30. The other starting goalie for the Condors right now is Matt Tomkins, who is 31 and has played in the AHL for a long time. It’s disappointing that the Oilers would rather give time to two experienced players instead of a promising young talent, especially in the minors.
TRANSACTION: the @EdmontonOilers have reassigned Connor Ungar to @OrlandoHockey #Condorstown pic.twitter.com/01eMBpvI2B
— Bakersfield Condors (@Condors) February 23, 2026
Fans and experts were more hopeful that Ungar would get promoted to the NHL instead of being sent down to the ECHL, and they are completely shocked by this decision.
Calvin Pickard will be ready to step in if an Oilers goalie gets hurt, but sending Ungar down is just the wrong decision. At this time, it would make more sense to move Tomkins to the ECHL since he is unlikely to play for the Oilers again.
We can only hope that Ungar returns to the AHL soon and keeps improving his skills with the Condors.
Leave a Reply