Worrying report emerges and it concerns the Edmonton Oilers pipeline
Photo credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images
Two of the three best prospects in the Edmonton Oilers system are goaltenders.
That single fact reframes the worst pipeline ranking in hockey.
Steven Ellis published his Daily Faceoff prospect breakdown on July 21, and the headline judgment was blunt.
Edmonton has made seven first-round picks in the past decade, and only Evan Bouchard is still with the club.
"One of the worst pipelines in the game today."
- Steven Ellis
- Steven Ellis
That part is true and widely repeated. What almost nobody has flagged is the shape of what remains.
Those goalies are Samuel Jonsson, a fifth-round pick in 2022, and Connor Ungar, an undrafted signing from 2024, ranked second and third.
Ellis also noted he would have slotted Devon Levi second if Levi's 39 NHL games hadn't disqualified him.
Ellis's listed weakness is blunt too: if Ike Howard does not stick, no other Oilers forward projects into a top six.
The strength is stacked where it cannot be used
General manager Stan Bowman confirmed the Oilers will open 2026-27 carrying three goaltenders on the active roster.
Tristan Jarry, Frederik Andersen and Levi are all ahead of Jonsson and Ungar, with Matt Tomkins also in Bakersfield.
So the one genuine strength in this system sits at the only position Edmonton has already solved three times over.
That is not a depth chart. That is inventory.
Why other teams should be watching Bakersfield
Goaltending is the position most likely to go sideways somewhere in the league by December.
Bowman has almost no tradeable forward capital left beyond Howard, and Mike Babcock inherits a roster built to win now.
The Oilers pipeline is ranked near the bottom, but it holds the kind of asset contenders actually call about in a crisis.
A bad pipeline that produces one useful trade chip is worth more to a win-now team than a good pipeline that produces nobody for four years.
That is the part the rankings cannot measure.
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