Oilers Recall Josh Samanski Under Emergency Conditions
The Edmonton Oilers have recalled forward Josh Samanski under emergency conditions. This call-up will not count against Edmonton’s remaining regular season recalls. Samanski was moved to the AHL ahead of the Trade Deadline to ensure his eligibility for the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs.
The Oilers could face a hole in their fourth-line center spot if Adam Henrique is ruled out of Sunday’s matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights. Henrique is a game-time decision due to an undisclosed injury per head coach Kris Knoblauch. The Oilers are already relying on trade acquisitions Jason Dickinson and Colton Dach to fill roles in their bottom-six and could now lean on another rookie to shore up their depth.
Samanski filled a fourth-line role in Edmonton’s March 3rd win over the Ottawa Senators but hasn’t had an extended tenure in the NHL since early-February. He played the first five games of his NHL career after a late-January call-up and scored two assists. Samanski has made a much bigger impact in a top-six center role with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, where he’s racked up 31 points in 45 games this season. He also represented Team Germany at the 2026 Winter Olympics, scoring two points in five games.
Samanski is in his first professional season in North America after spending the last four seasons in Germany’s DEL. He totaled 40 goals and 93 points in 193 games at Germany’s top-level. That set a club record for U23 scoring with the Straubing Tigers, exceeding the previous record by 29 points. Samanski is still searching for his spark in the NHL but should still provide solid depth if Edmonton needs to call on him.
AHL Assignments: 3/6/25
Today’s trade deadline also has minor-league implications. Players must be on an AHL roster at 2:00 p.m. Central in order to be eligible to play in the Calder Cup Playoffs. As such, teams will be ferrying a large number of waiver-exempt players to the minors this morning and afternoon before recalling them before the end of the league day for cap counting at 4:00 p.m. That allows them to bypass the new rule that players must play at least one game in the minors after being reassigned before they’re eligible for a recall again.
Here’s the rundown of today’s reassignments that will be announced during the blizzard of other moves today:
- The Flames will ferry winger Matvei Gridin to the Calgary Wranglers, Ryan Pike of Flames Nation reports. The 2024 #28 overall pick is in his first professional season and is already beginning to look like a natural fit in the Flames’ top nine, posting seven points through his first 18 NHL games while averaging 14:18 of ice time per night. Gridin’s 4.17 shot attempts per game are fourth on the team after Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar were traded away. He’s also got 10 goals and 29 points in 36 games for the Wranglers, but with the Flames’ roster thinning out as they sell pieces off, he’ll be up in the NHL for the stretch run before returning to the playoff-bound Wranglers after the regular season ends.
- The Jets announced they’ve sent winger Walker Duehr and defender Isaak Phillips to AHL Manitoba. Both may find their way back down to Manitoba on a full-time basis before the end of the season as Winnipeg gets some of its IR-bound players back in the lineup, but for now, they’ll serve as depth pieces for the Jets as they potentially subtract more talents from their roster today.
- The Mammoth sent defenseman Dmitriy Simashev to Tucson, per PuckPedia. The 2023 sixth overall pick got into the Utah lineup for the first time since December last night. The rookie has been exceptional in the minors but has just one assist with a -9 rating through his first 25 career NHL outings.
- The Blackhawks assigned defender Ethan Del Mastro to Rockford, per PuckPedia. He’ll be back up after being recalled earlier in the week to replace Connor Murphy on the roster after he was dealt to the Oilers.
- The Penguins have sent down winger Avery Hayes to make him post-season eligible, per Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The 23-year-old rookie has two goals through his first six NHL contests over the past several weeks, both of which came in his debut.
- The Avalanche have demoted winger Gavin Brindley to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Brindley is in his first full NHL season after being acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets last year, scoring six goals and 12 points in 47 games, averaging 9:51 of ice time per game.
- The Rangers are making sure that AHL Hartford has reinforcements for the playoffs. New York has reassigned forwards Jaroslav Chmelar and Juuso Pärssinen. The former scored the first goal of his NHL career in a lopsided victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
- According to a team announcement, the Vancouver Canucks have reassigned netminder Nikita Tolopilo and defenseman Cole Clayton to AHL Abbotsford. Tolopilo has been a mainstay between the pipes for Vancouver over the last little while, managing a 3-5-2 record in nine starts this season with a .901 SV% and 3.27 GAA.
- Unlikely to make the playoffs this season, the Panthers are making sure the cupboards are stocked for the Charlotte Checkers’ playoff run. The Panthers have reassigned Tobias Björnfot and Sandis Vilmanis, allowing them to remain eligible for the postseason.
- The Kraken have reassigned forwards Jacob Melanson and Ryan Winterton to the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. The pair have combined for four goals and 19 points in 82 games for Seattle this season.
- According to Bill Hoppe of the Times Herald, the Buffalo Sabres have assigned Zach Metsa to the AHL’s Rochester Americans in a paper transaction. Metsa, 27, is in his first full NHL season, scoring two goals and four points in 31 games, averaging 9:45 of ice time per game.
- The best team in the AHL may be even better during the playoffs. To maintain their eligibility for the postseason, the Grand Rapids Griffins announced that captain Dominik Shine and defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka have been reassigned in a paper transaction.
- According to Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports, the Flyers have reassigned Denver Barkey and Adam Ginning to AHL Lehigh Valley. Barkey has been an encouraging story of late, scoring two goals and 10 points in his first 26 games of NHL action.
- Murat Ates of The Athletic confirmed that the Winnipeg Jets reassigned defenseman Elias Salomonsson to retain his postseason eligibility. Salomonsson has been relatively disappointing for AHL Manitoba this season, registering one goal and nine points in 29 contests.
- Pushing back on the earlier report today indicating that the Canucks had recalled Ty Mueller, Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet shared that he won’t be joining the Canucks. Vancouver will run with a bare-bones roster tonight against the Blackhawks.
- Missing the playoffs for the first time in a decade, the Maple Leafs are making sure AHL Toronto has additional firepower for their postseason run. According to Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun, the Maple Leafs have reassigned Easton Cowan and Jacob Quillan in a paper transaction. Despite being a higher-regarded prospect, Cowan only has two games of AHL experience.
- As expected, the Edmonton Oilers have reassigned forward Josh Samanski to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors to ensure his postseason eligibility. Samanski has been exceptional for AHL Bakersfield this year, registering eight goals and 31 points in 43 games with a +6 rating.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Oilers Reassign Josh Samanski
2/5/26: The Oilers announced that Samanski has been reassigned to the AHL Bakersfield. This is not a transaction with immediate on-ice implications for Samanski, as he won’t be spending the Olympic break in California playing in the AHL. Instead, he’ll be in Italy, competing for Germany.
The Oilers won two of their five games with Samanski in the lineup, and Samanski managed to register his first two NHL points, both of which were assists.
1/26/26: The Edmonton Oilers have swapped forward prospects on the NHL roster. Winger Isaac Howard has been assigned to the minors and, in his place, Edmonton has awarded forward Josh Samanski with the first call-up of his career. Samanski is in his first AHL season after joining the Oilers as an undrafted free-agent this summer. He spent the last four seasons in the DEL, Germany’s top league.
Samanski has been a quick revelation down the Oilers’ depth chart. He ranks fourth on the Bakersfield Condors in scoring with seven goals and 28 points in 39 games. He is also tied for third on the offense in plus-minus with a plus-eight. After a standout start to his career in Germany, Samanski is proving his responsible, two-way presence can stick on North American ice.
Samanski was born in Germany and emerged as a star youth player in the Jungadler Mannheim program. He scored 106 points in 36 games of his age-14 season, while playing on Mannheim’s U16 club. After that breakout, Samanski and family moved to Canada, where he was able to pursue one year of youth hockey and one year in the OHL.
After that, Samanski returned to Germany and made a quick splash in the DEL-2. He scored 22 points in 41 games as a 17-year-old rookie. That performance, and four points in seven DEL-2 games to start the next year, earned Samanski a spot on the Straubing Tigers’ DEL roster in 2021-22. He only scored eight points in 42 games as a rookie, but has seen his scoring rise in every season since. He climbed all the way to 14 goals and 40 points in 52 games last season, while serving as one of Straubing’s alternate captains.
Samanski made a return to North America to test his chance in an NHL depth chart this summer. In the midst of his rise to prominence in the AHL, he was also named to Team Germany’s roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics. The 23 year old will have to try and put that tournament in the back of his mind for the short term, with his NHL debut set for Monday night. He will step onto the third-line wing previously occupied by Howard.
Meanwhile, Howard will return to the minors having recorded two assists in 11 games on his latest recall. He is now up to five points and a minus-six in 28 NHL games this season. He’s struggled to emerge at the NHL level but has proven to be a conduit of offense for the Condors. His 23 points in 16 games leads the team in points-per-game while his plus-12 leads in plus-minus. Howard will be an exciting addition to the AHL lineup, where he’ll look to rediscover a scoring touch before his next call-up to Edmonton.
Oilers Sign Josh Samanski To Entry-Level Deal
The Oilers are the first team to make a foray into this year’s European free-agent market. They announced they’d signed 23-year-old forward Josh Samanski to a two-year, entry-level contract beginning next year. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Samanski crosses the pond for the second time in his playing career. The German forward previously played junior hockey in Canada, suiting up for the Junior ‘A’ Brantford 99ers in 2018-19 before spending 2019-20 with the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League. After completing his junior career when the pandemic hit in 2020, he took his talents back home.
The 2020-21 season saw him make his professional debut with the Ravensburg Towerstars of the DEL2, Germany’s second-tier pro league. He notched 22 points in 41 games for the club while also representing his country at the World Juniors, something he’d also do as an alternate captain in 2022.
That was Samanski’s last meaningful stint outside of a top-flight professional league. He cracked the Straubing Tigers’ roster the following season to play in the high-level DEL and has remained with the team ever since. The 6’5″, 190-lb center/left-winger has steadily upped his point totals over his quartet of campaigns in Straubing, culminating with a breakout 14-goal, 40-point campaign in 52 appearances this season.
He’ll now join an NHL training camp for the first time in Edmonton next fall. He’ll try to crack the roster as a cheap depth scoring option but could be destined for AHL Bakersfield instead. It’s unclear if his deal has a European assignment clause, which may force the Oilers to loan Samanski back to Germany after a certain amount of time if he’s not on the NHL roster. His contract with Straubing expired after this season, though. He’ll be a restricted free agent when his ELC expires in 2027.