2025 Edmonton Oilers Prospect Rankings: #4 Samuel Jonsson

Jonsson’s development so far

The Oilers took the netminder out of the Swedish J20 in 2022, following a brutal season in which he went 9–20 and put up a 0.883 save percentage in 31 games. Brynas was the worst team in their conference that year, and had no prospects of note on the team at all. It was a miracle that they weren’t relegated that season, largely due to the strong play of Jonsson. Not a single skater was even close to scoring a point per game, and in J20 (Swedish Junior Hockey), this is highly uncommon.

The following season, Jonsson moved from Brynas IF to Rogle BK, which substantially helped his numbers. Playing on a team with multiple NHL prospects, including Tom Willander of the Vancouver Canucks and Felix Nilsson of the Nashville Predators, his numbers turned up substantially. Through 27 games, he finished with a 0.902 save percentage and recorded two shutouts.

He was outstanding in the playoffs, playing all six games, putting up six straight wins and a 0.927 save percentage to lead Rogle to the J20 Championship that year.

Injuries derailed last season for Jonsson, who played just eight games all season and put up very marginal numbers, but this past season was outstanding. The netminder put up a 1.88 goals against average and a 0.922 save percentage in the HockeyAllsvenskan (most comparable to the Swedish AHL). He led the league in shutouts with six and took home the Goalie of the Year Award in the league. While the team had a bit of a rough playoffs, dropping out in the semifinals, it’s worth noting that the team had no prospects except for Philadelphia Flyers forward Jack Berglund, who played 14 games.

Jonsson’s strengths and weaknesses

The one thing that Jonsson has going for him is his size. Standing 6’5″ and weighing in just north of 200 pounds, Jonsson is a big body who can stand tall in the crease.

Jonsson plays a hybrid style in net, and because of his size, he’s able to stop pucks from going over his shoulder easily when he’s down in the butterfly. His size makes him quite good at seeing around screens and anticipating chances against, but his lateral movement is an area of concern. Like Stuart Skinner, he’s good when the puck is coming from a single point of attack as he can square up easily, but when the angle of attack changes, he struggles to adapt easily.

He has taken major strides this year in this regard, but there’s still work to be done. That said, the real test will be how he does when he comes over to North America.

Jonsson’s next steps

Jonsson is expected to make the move to North America this season and will likely join the Bakersfield Condors. It is going to be a very busy crease in the minors with Jonsson sharing the crease with Connor Ungar, Nathaniel Day, and Matt Tomkins. One or two of these goalies will likely be in the ECHL this season.

For Jonsson, the key will be how quickly he adapts to the North American game. With the numbers in Bakersfield, there is a good chance he starts the year in the ECHL, but if he can figure out that league and can make the move to the AHL a season later, he could be in the running for an NHL job in two to three years.

Predicting goalie progression is difficult at the best of times, but Jonsson has a lot of the fundamentals that teams like in a goalie. If he can improve his speed and positioning as he develops, the Oilers may have an NHL netminder in the wings.

NHL ETA: three years

Potential: An NHL goalie, likely a tandem goalie.

What do you think of Jonsson?