Sam O'Reilly putting himself on the Oilers' radar during training camp
The Edmonton Oilers have made several cuts between the beginning of training camp and now, yet Sam O’Reilly remains.
The Oilers clearly liked what they saw in O’Reilly, as they made a trade late on the first day of this year’s draft to give themselves a first-round pick and snap up the 18-year-old at 32nd overall.
By no means were O’Reilly’s stats from the 2023-24 eyepopping, though he did have a respectable 20 goals and 56 points in 68 games with the London Knights. It may not have been his offensive skill that allowed for him to be taken in the first round, however.
“Moments where he’s not perfectly positioned are rare, and his endless work rate allows him to impact plays many can’t,” Elite Prospects 2024 NHL Draft Guide described O’Reilly shortly before he was selected. “He checks the hands, ties up sticks, and torpedoes himself into opponents along the wall.”
By that description, it is clear that the young forward is an extremely hard worker who, thanks to great on-ice awareness and positioning, is very defensively sound. Even more intriguing is that he is a centreman.
As has been well-documented, several players are fighting to earn a spot on the Oilers’ opening-night roster as the fourth-line centreman. Derek Ryan, James Hamblin, and Lane Pederson are all considered candidates to land the role, while Noah Philp has also been discussed. Few, if any, however, have considered O’Reilly.
In last night’s outing versus the Winnipeg Jets, O’Reilly took a team-high 20 faceoffs. He didn’t fare particularly well, winning only 35% of those draws, though it’s worth noting he was going up against a roster that featured some very good centres in Mark Scheifele and Adam Lowry.
At the very least, it appears that head coach Kris Knoblauch is giving the youngster a long leash to see what he can provide.
“We wanted to see what he could do playing with two regular NHL players,” Knoblauch said after putting O’Reilly on a line with Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown. “I thought he did a heck of a job. I think it was a good test for him, just seeing if he can play at that calibre. He’s an extremely smart player. He’s young, he’s only going to get stronger and faster. There’s so much to like with [him] right now.”
Does keeping a player this young on a Stanley Cup-contending team make sense? Probably not, but it certainly doesn’t appear to be out of the realm of possibilities given that he remains in camp.
Whatever the outcome, it’s been an impressive showing for the young forward, and gives Oilers fans plenty of excitement as to what the future holds for him.
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