At the beginning of April, the Oilers signed German forward Josh Samanski, a 23-year-old who’ll likely start the 2025-26 season in the American Hockey League. The same day, the Oilers signed Czech forward David Tomášek, who led the Swedish Hockey League with 24 goals and 57 points.

Just over a week later, they signed SM-Liiga leading scorer Atro Leppänen to a one-year deal, with the 26-year-old scoring 21 goals and 63 points in 60 games last season on defence. They also added 22-year-old centre Viljami Marjala to their AHL squad.

The best move GM Stan Bowman has ever made in his career was bringing over undrafted Russian forward Artemi Panarin, who now has 302 goals and 870 points in 752 career games.

Can he strike magic again? Let’s take a look at some European players who aren’t affiliated with NHL clubs that the Oilers could potentially look at signing down the road.

Henrik Borgström

Tomášek finished first in points in the SHL, but 28-year-old centre Henrik Borgström finished eighth, potting 19 goals and 45 points. This off-season, he agreed to a one-year deal with HC Fribourg-Gottéron, a Swiss team playing in the National League.

Unlike many players we’ll take a look at in this article, Borgström has National Hockey League experience. In 111 games, he has 13 goals and 26 points, including an eight-goal, 18-point season in 2018-19 with the Florida Panthers.

Depending on how he does with Fribourg-Gottéron, there’s a chance he earns an NHL deal.

Marián Studenič

Another player with NHL experience is 26-year-old Slovak Marián Studenič. Like Borgström and Tomášek, Studenič finished in the top 10 in scoring, potting 14 goals and 44 points in 50 games.

Drafted in the fifth round of the 2017 draft by the New Jersey Devils, Studenič has scored three goals and six points in 46 career games, playing for the Devils, Dallas Stars, and Seattle Kraken.

The winger’s final season in North America was in 2023-24 with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds, where Studenič scored 15 goals and 44 points in 64 regular-season games, along with four goals and 11 points in 18 postseason games.

Liam Kirk

Switching gears to Germany, English-born Liam Kirk scored 23 goals and 44 points last season, the eighth-most goals and tied for the 15th-most points. He won the Deutsche Eishockey Liga championship with Eisbären Berlin, adding eight goals and 15 points in 14 postseason games.

Kirk was drafted in the seventh round of the 2018 draft and has had a stint in North America. The 25-year-old played with the Ontario Hockey League’s Peterborough Petes in 2018-19 and 2019-20, as well as eight AHL games in 2021-22, and 16 games in 2022-23, mainly with the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators.

Before the 2024-25 season, Kirk signed a two-year deal, meaning he’ll be a free agent at season’s end.

Filip Chlapík

Czech forward Filip Chlapík was drafted 48th overall in the stacked 2015 draft class by the Ottawa Senators. All 57 of his NHL games were with the team from the Nation’s Capital, as he scored five goals and 11 points in 57 games. His final season in North America was in 2020-21, before departing to play in Europe.

Before the 2023-24 season, the 28-year-old signed a three-year deal with HC Sparta Prague of the Czech Extraliga, scoring 22 goals and 48 points in 47 games that season. Last season, Chlapík scored 15 goals and 48 points in 48 games, with four goals and 11 points in 12 postseason games.

Neither season was his career-best in Czechia, as he scored 31 goals and 70 points in 53 games back in 2021-22, with five goals and 15 points in 16 postseason games. Despite this, the centre finished third in points and tied for 18th in goals.

Antti Kalapudas

One player who’s never played a game in North America is Finnish centre Antti Kalapudas. In fact, the 29-year-old has never played for a team outside Finland.

Last season was a career-best for Kalapudas, scoring 26 goals and 49 points in 54 games, along with eight goals and 13 points in 21 postseason games. Those 49 points were good enough to be tied for 17th, but his 26 goals were fifth in the league.

Interestingly, former Oiler Iiro Pakarinen was tied for the lead in SM-Liiga goals last season, scoring 30 in 58 games. Kalapudas’ contract ends at the end of the season, making him a free agent.

Lukas Wernblom

Another SM-Liiga player of note is Lukas Wernblom, who had a good season with TPS, potting 25 goals (sixth) and 44 points, tied for 25th in the league. The Swede spent the majority of his career in the SHL before signing in Finland for the 2023-24 season.

In 97 games, Wernblom has 38 goals and 74 points, as well as five goals and 10 points in 12 postseason games. In mid-June, the 25-year-old winger signed a one-year contract extension.

Valtteri Ojantakanen

Another Finnish player about to enter his prime is Valtteri Ojantakanen. The right-winger scored 24 goals last season, good enough for seventh in the league. That said, the 24-year-old is like me in NHL 26, as he’s never reached double-digit assists in his SM-Liiga career.

Last season, Ojantakanen finished with a career-high 31 points, with only seven assists. The season before, he had 19 goals and 23 points, with 20 goals and 23 points in 2022-23.

Ojantakanen signed a two-year contract before the 2023-24 season, making him a free agent at the end of the 2025-26 season, where he’ll be 25 years old.

Danil Aimurzin

Stan Bowman’s biggest success as a general manager was bringing in Russian forward Artemi Panarin. There are a few notable Russians who have an expiring contract that could be of note. Of course, the Oilers already have two Russians in the system, forward Maxim Beryozkin and defenceman Nikita Yevseyev.

One Russian forward whose NHL rights remain up for grabs is 23-year-old Danil Aimurzin. With Cherepovets Severstal of the Kontinental Hockey League last season, Aimurzin scored 31 goals and 57 points in 66 games.

He finished fourth in goal scoring, while his 57 points were tied for ninth-best in the league. The KHL is the second-best league in the world, and when a young player like Aimurzin finds success like he has, teams should jump all over that. For context, Panarin scored 26 goals and 62 points in 54 games in the KHL as a 23-year-old, signing with the Blackhawks shortly after.

In February of this year, Aimurzin re-upped on a one-year deal that’ll make him a free agent after the 2025-26 season. You have to imagine there’ll be a ton of interest from NHL teams.

Kirill Pilipenko

Aimurzin’s teammate, Kirill Pilipenko, is a half-decade older than Aimurzin, but the 5’9” forward still has a scoring touch. At 28 years old, Pilipenko scored 30 goals and 56 points in 66 games, slightly down from his 32 goals and 62 points in 62 games in 2023-24.

Pilipenko’s 30 goals were good enough for the sixth-best in the KHL, while his 56 points were tied for 13th with former Oiler Tyler Beck, who played three games with the Oilers in 2016-17. Like Aimurzin, Pilipenko signed a one-year extension and will be a free agent after the 2025-26 season.

Nikita Lyamkin

There weren’t a lot of defencemen of note in the other leagues, but I’ve decided to include Russian defenceman Nikita Lyamkin.

Last season with Kazan Ak-Bars, the 29-year-old left-shot defenceman scored eight goals and 44 points, a career-high in both categories. He also chipped in with a goal and four points in 13 postseason games.

Unlike Aimurzin and Pilipenko, Lyamkin has played in North America in the past, playing two seasons with the Québec Maritimes Junior Hockey League’s Chicoutimi Saguenéens. His two-year deal ends after the 2025-26 season, making him a free agent.

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