Oilers prospect at Olympics proves he can be an NHL player
Photo credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images
On a recent episode of The Jason Gregor Show, the host argued that prospect Josh Samanski may have secured a spot on Edmonton's roster once the NHL season resumes.
Prospect gaining valuable experience against world's best
"All it's gonna do [playing in Olympics]," Gregor said, "it's gonna raise his confidence, and it will give Stan Bowman and the Oilers to say ok, what are some options here, maybe we move out a guy, maybe we think Samanski can be a guy, because there's not much more of a pressure situation than playing in the Olympics."
Now, we know what Samasnki can do at the AHL level; with Bakersfield this season, he's recorded 28 points in 39 games playing strong two-way hockey.
Yet, though the sample-size is small, it's what Josh has done in his five games with Edmonton that points to being in the lineup when the NHL returns to action on February 25. He makes the team better.
Note that without McDavid and Draisaitl on-ice at 5-on-5, Edmonton has been out-scored 32 to 60, or at a 35% goal share. That is the worst in the McDrai era, largely because of Frederic's, Janmark's, and Henrique's individual GS% of around the 30% mark.
However, in his five games with the Oilers, Samanski has a 57% GS and a 59% faceoff win rate. In fact, his xGS is even better at 59% and has a ridiculous shot share of 68%, all according to Natural Stat Trick.
To put this into perspective, the Oilers have controlled over two-thirds of the 5-on-5 shots when Samanski is on-ice.
When the team's bottom-six is struggling to produce, it only makes sense to replace one of them with the German-native.
His experience in the Olympics playing alongside Draisaitl can only make him stronger.
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