Oilers Recall Josh Samanski, Assign Isaac Howard
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.