Edmonton Oilers have just found a hidden gem inside their system

Almost all of them come from two- to four-game cameos, and that quietly changes what they prove.

He was excellent in short bursts across three ECHL stops last season. With Greensboro he went 2-1-1 with a .945 save percentage, and he won both of his Fort Wayne starts.

Then Bakersfield gave him a real look, and he answered with a 9-2-2 record and a 25-save shutout against Ontario.

That is the version making the rounds this week.

Ungar's one extended assignment all year was 19 games in Orlando, where he posted a .913 save percentage and a losing 7-8-3 record.

A .913 over 19 starts is respectable but unremarkable. It is also the only stretch on his sheet that resembles a starter's month.

Every dazzling figure he owns sits under a five-game workload. The moment the volume climbed, his numbers settled toward ordinary.

Edmonton has spent two seasons anointing goalies and then moving on. Stuart Skinner was the answer until December, when Stan Bowman shipped him to Pittsburgh for Tristan Jarry.

Jarry was then outplayed by Connor Ingram before Anaheim ended the season in the first round. A hot AHL month is exactly how that cycle starts.

Bowman did not hand Ungar $850,000 because he solves the crease. He signed a goalie who stayed sharp while dressing for four teams and never setting his own schedule.

That adaptability is the real asset, not the save-of-the-year clip. The open question is whether a netminder who has never carried a pro crease can suddenly carry one at 24.

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