Oilers to sign massive centre known as “greatest German talent at forward position”
This in from reporter Jorg Lubrich of the German newspaper Bild, news that the Edmonton Oilers are going to sign a gigantic and talented young centre out of Germany Josh Samanski.
While Samanski was never drafted, it’s not uncommon for players with his size, 6-foot- 5-inches, 190-pounds, be late bloomers. They need time to get their strength and coordination.
Former Bakersfield Condor Luke Esposito, now playing in Germany, had this to say about him to Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now: “He’s a pretty impressive player. It was my job this year to match up against him in the couple of games we played. So I definitely got saw a lot of them. He seems to have kind of developed from last year to this year. He developed that extra step. You know, a difficult player, plays with a lot of pace and pretty competitive too. So yeah, I think you said it, a project, but definitely somebody I could see making the jump and have some success in North America.”
2. There are few prospect reports on Samanski, but he’s a Canadian citizen, who once played for the Owen Sound Attack in 2019-20. An OHL prospects blog pre-season report on him in 2019 read: “An interesting player who played the majority of his minor hockey in Germany (with his father playing and coaching there). But the Canadian citizen came back home last year and played with Brantford of the OJHL where he had a pretty decent season. Seeing this, the Attack signed him and hope that he can be a regular contributor in a depth role next season. Scouting Report: Obviously nothing on The mScout for Samanski, but doing some digging he appears to be a big forward (6’3) who can play any forward position. He’s lauded for two-way play and compete level, in addition to his offensive potential.”
In 2023 he attended the Arizona Coyotes prospect camp, but did not sign there.
3. Samanski has yet to sign, of course, but this sounds like a credible report. If he is signing here, Samanski is making an excellent choice as there is all kinds of opportunity to make the Oilers, who lack prospect depth at all positions. Of course, it’s a long way from the German Elite League to the National Hockey League, especially on one of the NHL’s top teams.
4. McKeen’s Hockey had this to say about him this spring: “We already thought he’d be a player the NHL would take into consideration last summer after he arrived as a bonafide middle six forward at the ripe age of 21. Now he’s taken things to a whole new level. A very big boy who uses his size well to gain, protect, and battle for pucks, Samanski has done nothing but show continual bursts of speed, silky mitts, and a keen sense of creating and finishing all season long.”
