You might have heard his name before? Samuel Jonsson.
He’s an athletic and gigantic Edmonton Oilers goalie prospect who crushed it for a long stretch of games earlier this year for the Fort Wayne Comets of the ECHL and is doing so again in the ECHL playoffs.
In five games, Jonsson has five wins and he’s only let in five goals. He’s got an out-of-this-world 0.968 save percentage.
Jonsson is 6-feet, 5-inches tall and 200 pounds. He was taken by Ken Holland’s scouting staff in the fifth round of the 2022 draft, the 12th goalie selected.
Samuel Jonsson
He had an .883 save percentage for Sweden’s Brynas junior team that year, but his numbers have steadily improved since then, starting with .902 save percentage for the Rogle junior team in 2022-23.
Jonsson was injured much of the 2023-24 season. But he rebounded to an 0.922 save percentage of Bokfors of the second Swedish pro league in 2024-25, then to 0.910 this year in Fort Wayne, his first pro season in North America. An injury cut short his hot streak earlier this year, but he’s evidently now back to top form in the playoffs.
Edmonton’s goalies generally struggled in the regular season, at least at the NHL level. The best goalie in the system was 24-year-old Connor Ungar, who put up the best numbers in Bakersfield, but was blocked by 31 year-old goalie Matt Tomkins when it came to getting any AHL playoff games.
Oilers goalies
Tomkins has one more year on his AHL deal, which might prevent Bako from going with both Ungar and Jonsson in net next season, not exactly a strong plan for the Oilers heading into 2026-27, when one of Ungar or Jonsson could well see time with the NHL team if they can dominate at the AHL level.
Perhaps Oilers GM Stan Bowman will address this by trading Tomkins. Ungar is a Restricted Free agent and has to be signed this summer. Jonsson has two more years to go on his Entry Level Contract.
We know that young goalies often announce their talent fast and are able to make a difference in the NHL at ages 22, 23 or 24.
For example, 24-year-old Jakub Dobes is now helping lead the Montreal Canadiens to playoff success. Jesper Wallstedt, 23, also did well for the Minnesota Wild. Dobes was a fifth round pick in the 2020 draft.
Edmonton’s got issues in net, but it’s also got at least two top young prospects in Ungar and Jonsson, both brought in under Ken Holland’s watch. They both need steady AHL play in 2026-27.
We’ll see if they get what they need.
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