On March 18, the Edmonton Oilers signed goaltender Connor Ungar out of the Brock University Badgers. Ungar had just completed his rookie season, posting a 20–6 record with a 0.932 save percentage and a 2.15 GAA, being named the Ontario University Athletics’ goaltender and rookie of the year. That performance, in addition to his name being Connor, is a big reason why the Oilers signed him.
Signing players out of U Sports, the administrator of the University sports leagues in Canada, is not necessarily the norm for NHL teams, but is not unheard of. In fact, there have been a fair amount of U Sports (formerly CIS) alums who have not only played in the NHL but led long and successful careers.
Let’s take a look at arguably the five best players to come out of U Sports, so we can all get overly excited about this signing and anoint him the future starter for the team.
Logan Thompson, Brock University
If there’s one reason to believe that Ungar can in fact become a legitimate NHLer, it comes in the form of a previous Brock University and current Vegas Golden Knight goalie Logan Thompson. Like Ungar, the undrafted Thompson played one season for the Badgers, going 18–6 with a 0.934 save percentage and 2.22 GAA, winning the West division goaltender and rookie of the year.
Three years later, Thompson was looking to be the new starting goaltender for the Knights, although a combination of injuries and Adin Hill’s playoff performance has led to a timeshare in the net. However, Thompson still has a 0.911 career save percentage and could easily be a starter for any team in the league.
So, yeah, get ready for the Skinner-Ungar tandem in 2026–27.
Dr. Randy Gregg, University of Alberta
If there was ever someone from the hockey world that screams “Edmonton”, you would be hard pressed to find someone better than Dr. Randy Gregg.
An Edmonton native, Gregg played for the hometown University of Alberta Golden Bears while attending medical school (hence the Dr – not just a nickname), winning two championships and being named player of the year in 1979.
Gregg would then captain the Canadian team at the 1980 Olympics, and then spend two years in Japan as a player-coach.
He would come back to North America in 1982, signing with the hometown Oilers before the playoffs.
Gregg would go on to play the the next eight seasons with the Oilers (with a slight break in 1987–88 to play for Canada at the Olympics again. Oh and also to do his residency in orthopeadic surgery).
Gregg is one of seven Oilers to have won all five cups with the team. He also is the only player in NHL history to retire four times (I assume).
True to his Edmonton roots, Gregg stayed in Edmonton to continue his medical practice.
A doctor and an NHL player? He’s like the son my parents never had (wait…).
Steve Rucchin, University of Western Ontario
Steve Rucchin played four seasons with the University of Western Ontario, scoring 163 points in 69 games (nice) and being named Player of the Year in his senior year.
That would lead to Rucchin being picked second overall by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the 1994 NHL Supplemental Draft, which we all knew was thing before now. For those of you who don’t know, it was a draft the NHL implemented for teams to select college players who weren’t eligible for the standard NHL draft.
Rucchin would go on to play 735 games (the most of any player selected in the history of the Supplemental Draft), scoring 171 goals and 489 points. He was a big part of the Mighty Ducks’ Stanley Cup final run in 2003, including scoring the overtime winner to seal the shocking sweep of the Detroit Red Wings in the first round, starting a streak of three straight seasons where the Red Wings would lose to a lower seeded team on a Cinderella run.
Mike Ridley, University of Manitoba
Mike Ridley may be the best player I had never heard of before now.
Ridley played two seasons with the University of Manitoba, scoring 147 points in just 76 games. That led to a contract with the New York Rangers in 1985, where as a rookie he led the Rangers in scoring with 65 points in 80 games, followed by 14 points in 16 playoff games.
He would score 36 points in 38 games the next season before being traded to the Washington Capitals, where he would score a further 34 points in 40 games.
Ridley started his career off with nine straight 20 goal seasons (and ten 20 goal seasons in his 12 year career), including 31 in his sophomore season and 41 in 1988–89, where he would lead the Capitals with a career high 89 points. He would lead his team in scoring for the third time in his career in 1993–94, leading the Capitals with 70 points in 81 games.
Ridley would finish his career with 292 goals and 758 points in 866 games, along with 78 points in 104 playoff games.
Paul MacLean, Dalhousie University
Before he became a Jack Adams Trophy winning head coach with a glorious moustache, Paul MacLean was actually a very good hockey player with a glorious moustache.
After scoring 29 points in 18 games for Dalhousie University in 1978–79, MacLean would play 10 NHL seasons, scoring 20 goals nine straight times to start his career like Ridley (although he played one game in 1980–81 so I guess you can argue that’s not true). That included five 30-goal seasons and three 40-goal seasons, along with a season of 101 points in 1984–85, finishing his career with 324 goals and 673 points in 719 games.
Honourable mentions
Two further UAlberta alums with long careers who also ended up playing for the Oilers were Derek Ryan and Cory Cross. Cross played 659 games, scoring a career high seven goals and 21 points with the Oilers in 2003–04, while Ryan is currently playing for the Oilers, with 53 points in 217 games, and has 202 points in 562 games over his career.
Joel Ward may actually be the most well-known player to have come out from U Sports, as he would usually be the first answer that comes to mind for most people.
Ward played four seasons at the University of Prince Edward Island and then two seasons in the AHL before earning his first NHL contract. He would go on to play 726 games, scoring 133 goals (including two 20-goal seasons) and 304 points. He would lead the Nashville Predators in playoff scoring in 2010–11 with seven goals and 13 points in 12 games, and would score 22 goals and 52 points in just 83 playoff games.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
