The Edmonton Oilers’ youngest centre, big German Josh Samanski, is getting some rave reviews at the 2026 Olympics, where Germany just beat France 5-1 to advance to the quarter final against Slovakia.
Samanski had a goal and an assist in the game, while Edmonton ace Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists.
Samanski made a great backhand feed from the side of the crease to set up Draisaitl for his deadly Executioner’s Shot.
Said What Chaos podcaster DJ Bean of Samanski: “Lot of buzz that Josh Samanski is the best young player in the tournament and who am I to argue.”
Cult of Hockey contributor Ira Cooper pointed out Edmonton will have to find a way after the Olympics to keep Samanski on the Oilers roster despite the team’s cap crunch with the expected return of Adam Henrique to the squad.
“It will be egregious if Samanski is not back on the roster immediately post break. To activate Henrique someone needs to go ($100K set) – a Mangiapane trade or Mang/Janmark waived and assigned (presuming not Matt Savoie nor Curtis Lazar)-$1.15MM will be enough to bring Samanski back up. A must!”
Samanski
My take
1. The rise of Samanski, 23, has been astounding. In the 2019-20 season, Samanski’s only season of major junior in Canada, he had just four goals and 20 points in 54 games for Owen Sound of the Ontario Hockey League.
It was no surprise to anyone that he did not get taken in the NHL draft.
Samanski went back to Germany to play for Ravensburg in the Second Division, where he had just four goals and 22 points in 41 games.
But he advanced to Straubing of the top German league and by last season had turned himself into a two-way force, with 40 points in 52 games.
2. Samanski became something of a hot commodity as a free agent last summer, but with the reported help of Draisaitl, the Oilers convinced him to sign here, part of GM Stan Bowman’s efforts to boost Edmonton’s prospect pool.
And it worked. Samanski was seen as the best two-way play at Bakersfield this year before he got called up to the Oilers in January.
4. With the Oilers, Samanski proved to be a capable third-line centre in a small sample size. He got two assists in five games with limited ice-time. He forechecked hard and back-checked smartly.
Cooper is right in his assessment — it’s a must for Bowman to now find a way to keep Samanski on the Oilers roster.
At the Cult of Hockey
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