Edmonton Oilers are close to signing up-and-coming German forward: report
The Edmonton Oilers are reportedly signing an up-and-coming player out of Germany’s DEL.
While the team already boasts the greatest German NHL player of all time in Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers will apparently have another player from the country join the organization next season.
A new report from the German news publication Bild has said that the Oilers have signed 23-year-old centreman Josh Samanski of the Straubing Tigers.
“Josh Samanski will be a teammate of superstar Leon Draisaitl in the NHL and will join the Edmonton Oilers organization next season,” a translated version of the report read.
Samanski is one of Germany’s most promising young forwards right now and is having a fairly decent season with Straubing. Through 52 games this season, the Erding native has 14 goals and 40 points, which leads his team in both categories.
Bild’s Jörg Lubrich, who wrote the report, also had high praise for Samanski, calling him “Straubing’s best player and perhaps the greatest German talent at the forward position” in a translation.
It’s far too early to pencil Samanski in on the Oilers NHL roster next season, but considering he is already 23 and has experience playing in a professional environment, he could make a decent run at cracking the big leagues.
Edmonton’s center position is fairly solid heading into next season, with all of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Adam Henrique under contract. This makes it likely that Samanski would need to move to the wing to break into the NHL.
This would be far from the first time the Oilers tried to bring another German player onto the team. They have previously had unsuccessful stints with players like Tobias Reider and Dominik Kahun, who are no longer in the NHL.
The 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs have not even started yet, but we already have our first bit of Oilers intrigue for next season’s training camp.