Huge setback for Babcock and the Oilers after latest development

Devon Levi's prospect stock has fallen fast, and the timing could not be worse for the Edmonton Oilers.

David Staples flagged the drop this week, pulling from Scott Wheeler's annual goalie prospect rankings at The Athletic.

Levi once looked like a sure thing. Wheeler ranked him third overall among goalie prospects back in 2023, saying flatly that he was a believer.

That ranking slipped to fifth in 2024, then seventh in 2025, and now sits at 11th in Wheeler's newest list, dropping him out of the top ten entirely.

Wheeler also moved Levi down a full tier this year, from Tier 2 to Tier 3, the kind of shift that reflects real doubt building up.

The numbers back up the concern. Levi's NHL save percentage sits at just .894 over parts of three seasons, well below his college pedigree.

His AHL work has been steadier, a .914 career mark in Rochester, but even Wheeler noted that pro career has not lived up to what preceded it.

He's now part of a crowded Oilers goalie mix

Edmonton just added Levi to a crease that already includes Tristan Jarry and Frederik Andersen, exactly the crowded picture insider Elliotte Friedman flagged recently.

Neither veteran locked down the job last season either. Jarry posted an .882 save percentage, while Andersen sat around .874.

That leaves Edmonton with three unproven or declining options rather than one clear answer in net heading into a season built around a real playoff push.

Wheeler still is not ready to count Levi out entirely, writing that the clock is now ticking on him proving it at the NHL level with Edmonton.

Betting on a fourth different path to work, after Buffalo, is exactly the kind of gamble a contending team usually tries to avoid.

Staples' full breakdown on the ranking drop is worth reading in detail.