Josh Samanski will be making his Edmonton Oilers playoff debut tonight in Game 2 against the desperate Anaheim Ducks.

It’s not an easy situation to be thrust into, but with Adam Henrique sidelined by a knee injury, the Oilers are banking on Samanski’s speed, energy and youthful enthusiasm to pick up the slack on Edmonton’s fourth line with Colton Dach and Trent Frederic.

“It’s going to be special,” said the 24-year-old. “I’m not really a nervous guy, I’ll just happy to be out there. Watching (Game 1) and seeing the fans, how much pride they have, seeing the boys battling, made me really want to be on the ice. I’m excited to get out there.”

It’s been a whirlwind year for the rookie, who was playing in the German League a year ago at this time. Now he’s an NHLer, he’s played in the Olympics with Leon Draisaitl and his coach has enough confidence in him to slot him in in a playoff series.

“I’m building my game, taking pride in the D zone, battling for pucks and trying to do the little things right,” he said. “It’s not easy for a coach to trust a young guy, especially since I played in the DEL last year and they’re not sure what to expect.

“But the staff and the teammates did a great job of helping me adjust.”

Making the jump from the German League to the NHL is one thing, but the jump from the regular season hockey to playoff hockey is another level altogether. But the six-foot-two, 195-pound centre says playing at the Olympics will absolutely help him deal with the atmosphere at Rogers Place.

“It’s a big stage, you’re playing against the best players, you’re playing with some of the best players. It definitely helped me.”

It’s a big step for a young kid, but head coach Kris Knoblauch feels confident that this is going to be a good fit.

“We’ve been very happy with him all year. We anticipated him being an Oiler in the future, but we weren’t expecting it to be so fast — maybe down the road next year. But he had an outstanding training camp and caught our attention immediately, then went down to Bakersfield and played very well down there.

“He’s somebody who makes the coaching staff very comfortable when he’s on the ice. He’s wired to play good defensive hockey; he was never going to hurt us when he was on the ice.”

E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com

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