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Edmonton Oilers prospect cracks German Olympic roster

Preston Hodgkinson
Preston Hodgkinson
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Jan 7 2026, 5:40 pm
Edmonton Oilers prospect cracks German Olympic roster
Perry Nelson/Imagn Images

The Edmonton Oilers will have two players representing Germany at next month’s Winter Olympic Games in Milan.

Germany revealed its men’s Olympic hockey roster on Wednesday morning with the hope that the country can get back into the medal conversation. Leon Draisaitl will lead the team as the highest-scoring German NHL player of all time, but he won’t be the only Oilers-affiliated player on the team.

23-year-old Josh Samanski, who hails from Erding, Germany, has also been named to the team. Samanski has spent the entire season with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors.

The Oilers inked Samanski to a two-year deal last April after he had spent the previous three seasons playing for the Straubing Tigers in Germany’s DEL. He had made quite a name for himself in his native country and was hailed as one of the nation’s finest young forwards by one German publication last year.

In 32 AHL games this year, the German has been an effective player, notching five goals and 25 points with the Condors. He has yet to earn a call-up to the Oilers.

Apart from Draisaitl and Samanski, several other names should be familiar to Edmonton fans on the German Olympic squad. Former Oilers Tobias Rieder and Dominik Kahun have also cracked the roster and will reunite with Draisaitl for the tournament.

While this will be his first Olympic Games, Samanski has represented Germany on the national stage several times in his career. Most recently, he suited up for the Germans at the 2021 and 2022 World Junior Championships, where he scored a combined three points in six games.

The Germans will open up their Olympic schedule in Milan on Feb. 12 against Denmark.

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