Can the Oilers' Depth Help Pull Them Through?

Some players get noticed when a team puts together its opening-night roster, while others stay just outside the picture. Josh Samanski was one of those players for the Edmonton Oilers.

The 24-year-old forward just missed out on the Oilers' opening-night roster, with Owen Michaels getting the fourth-line centre job. Now, only a game into the season, Samanski is back with the big club after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. And sometimes these little roster moves tell us something about a team.

Samanski isn't being recalled because the Oilers suddenly discovered the next great NHL forward. He's being recalled because Edmonton has only 12 healthy forwards and needs another body. That's how hockey works over an 82-game season.

But having a player like Samanski available matters. He played 24 games for the Oilers last season, scoring two goals and four points while registering nine shots, 27 hits and 14 blocked shots. Those aren't numbers that jump off the page. In fact, they're almost deliberately unglamorous. That's part of the point.

The Oilers Need Players Who Can Just Play.

The interesting thing about a player like Samanski is that the Oilers don't need him to become something he's not. They need him to come in, play responsibly, take a few shifts, compete, and give the coaching staff some flexibility while Nugent-Hopkins is out. If he can do a little more than that, even better.

For a team built around Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, depth players can sometimes get overlooked. But when injuries arrive—and they always do—the quality of those players suddenly matters more. Samanski has already been through this once. He knows what the NHL is like. He knows the organization. He knows what is expected. That helps.

And there is another little wrinkle here that I like. Samanski didn't make the opening-night team. Edmonton loaned him to Bakersfield, and three days later, when Nugent-Hopkins went on injured reserve, the Oilers called him back. That's not a glamorous role. It might not even last very long.

Now, Samanski gets another opportunity. Can he make the most of it?

But over an NHL season, those are exactly the kinds of players who can quietly keep a team moving forward. For the Oilers, it's another reminder that championship aspirations aren't built only around the stars. Sometimes they depend on the 13th, 14th or 15th forward being ready when his name is called.