Insider names Oilers' best prospect currently playing outside of the NHL
Photo credit: Straubing Tigers Image
Host of Oilers Now Bob Stauffer believes that Oilers' young-gun Josh Samanski is the best prospect not in the National Hockey League.
That is saying a lot, given that roughly 600 players can dress in the NHL in any given season, of the countless thousands that wish they could. The twenty-three year old Samanski has the skills to be an NHLer.
Edmonton's German-Olympian prospect has skill and physicality
Though Josh was never drafted, he signed an ELC with Edmonton this April, 2025. And it's not hard to see why. The hulking twenty-three-year-old has impressive tools on the skill-side and the physicality that many teams like to see in their players, especially in the postseason.
German Reporter Gunter Klein, via The Edmonton Journal's Jim Matheson, reported this about the Oilers' young prospect:
«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.»
For the last four years Josh Samanski has played with the Straubing Tigers. He will also be playing for Team Germany at the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano, Italy, alongside Leon Draisaitl.
His potential utilization by the Oilers could involve a bottom-six forward role, possibly as a call-up option if injuries affect the NHL club. Given his style and position, he has the potential to fit into the Oilers' bottom-six starting lineup in the 2026-27 season.
Josh Samanski was among a group of players directly loaned to the Bakersfield Condors (AHL) following the preseason, where he will continue to adapt to the North American style of play, and where his 6'5" frame can do a lot of damage come playoff time.
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