In a shocking turn, the Edmonton Oilers made a trade at the 2024 NHL draft and used it on 200-foot center Sam O’Reilly. This player has a wide range of skills, but is not a burner. The selection is in the range of expected (I had him No. 35, he went No. 32) and the organization has their future two-way pivot. One note: He played in the OHL for the London Knights and Dale Hunter. Curiouser and Curiouser. This is absolutely a change in direction for Edmonton. O’Reilly can score (68, 20-36-56, NHLE is 22) but this is a player who will make his living at even strength as a two-way center. Brock Otten compares him to Scott Laughton here.
Rick Pracey, our new director of scouting, definitely called his shot with this one.
Pracey in a pre draft interview with Gregor on ON said he highly values playing situation knowledge.
When I first read it I thought he was deflecting on a question about analytics. Hhe went into depth in how he valued knowledge about a players role on the team and quality of the team. Is a player getting zoomed by line mates or getting lots on PP time on a weak team.
O’Reilly’s situation seems to be opposite Samwise, being buried on a deep Knights team rather than zoomed by a game changing talent.
We will see if there is a D+1 pop but whether it works out not it shows the Oilers are trying to find value that is greater superficial appearance. I approve.
I am a bit more surprised by the empty chest they further emptied for the new GM. Tying up the next two 1st from deadline ammo on a player 3-4 years away from being a threat to make the lineup. The new GM is going to inherit very few prospects, very few picks, absolute cap hell for 8+ years and the best player in NHL and a damn fine if old team.
My friends, we have another London Knight! This excites me. I suppose I’m easily pleased! But seriously. This is great as a fan of both teams. I want to continue this tradition of having many former Knights on the team. Maybe not THE specific player who’d excite us like Dickinson, so San Jose will be rocking in a few years, but still. I’m a happy fan today.
Last edited 5 months ago by Professor Q
Strapping Jocks
June 29, 2024 2:10 am
Obviously I know nothing, and have spent less time on this draft than any other in years. BUT there are already hints in O’Reilly’s write ups that he is not very speedy. That should be a bit worrying for first round pick in today’s NHL
Greenberg
June 29, 2024 1:35 am
I think some defenceman named Bouchard says hello to jfry.
jfry
June 28, 2024 11:50 pm
buying from the knights is potentially fools gold. the minutes they run people at is really absurd. the oiler’s have witnessed this in real time with other drafts.
The numbers aren’t strong on the current player drafted, if we’re hoping he resembles Nuge. We’re likely to get Mcleod lite from this pick.
A conversation about a team going into the draft and free agency with the two most important players on the clock, needs to be a discussion.
It’s really starting to appear that there was no succession plan after Holland, and I was hoping to be a believer in the new regime.
Punting Drai down the block and having no staff ready for free agency or the draft is starting to look like the Oilers of 5 years ago.
Have a real strong look at the production. Regardless of situation, this was not a player to trade into. In the first round, you don’t trade into it for a player with less than 1pt/gm in the OHL.
Especially when you’re drafting from a team that games the system.
Look at our historical picks from the Knights. They’ve basically all been fails. Creating a junior team and getting players drafted is one thing. Creating an NHL team is another.
This guy didn’t even have a dedicated position prior to this year.
So many NHLEs on the board. I would say that analytics missed on this. So, we’re not advancing like we hoped.
Robert Thomas is doing okay, I guess. O’Reilly’s numbers are in the same ballpark as Thomas’s were, and unlike Thomas, this was O’Reilly’s rookie season on a very deep team.
I mean it’s not like O’Reilly is Kyle Platzer.
I see the upside in this player and he is going to be an NHL player. The same cannot be said for either Reid Schaefer or Xavier Bourgault.
I am sorry you feel the way you do, hopefully he wins you over, over the next couple of seasons.
He got his production from deeper in the depth chart, which is important when looking at London players. He is going to receive a promotion up the Knights depth chart due to other players matriculating and with his current production and skillset, should have a pop this year in the OHL. If he pops as the pro evaluators expect, he will be a darn fine pick for Edmonton.
finn_fann
June 28, 2024 11:19 pm
Interesting that he just switched from D to forward a few years ago. You can see the logic of the pick – he’s as green a banana as they come, so he could be that guy who goes top 10 in a redraft if he fixes all of the warts and takes a big step forward once he is no longer blocked/losing playing time to the other star players.
That said, it may be a little concerning that his main knock is foot speed, Benson showed us that you can have several high-end skills but you still need at least reasonable speed to be able to keep up with the game.
€√¥£€^$
June 28, 2024 11:18 pm
Solid pick, nothing but upside to this player. Incredible year over year improvement. High IQ, high effort, will to win. This kid is a winner, hopefully he can improve his skating.
Other players I like, perhaps we can get 2 of them:
Tarin Smith
John Mustard
Luca Marelli
Kevin He
It was great to see a pick tonight, totally caught me off guard.
Ancient Oilers Fan
June 28, 2024 10:48 pm
Interesting foreshadowing, OP posted that our chief scout talked about environment and players playing behind older more established players, read Sam O’Reilly on a deep London team, who apparently they had rated much higher.
I immediately thought of OP’s post when I saw this pick as well.
He seems to be behind a lot of high draft picks who are older (or maybe they are his linemates, I don’t know), but it’s still hard to argue that London isn’t a great environment.
Android
June 28, 2024 10:18 pm
There’s a lot of people elsewhere on the internet quite loudly proclaiming this to be a waste of assets, assets that should instead be saved for the trade deadline.
But to me this is looks like a move based around adding some high end depth to the prospect pool, the kind that will hopefully be hitting the big league on an ELC right as the big contract extensions are kicking in.
It’s a move that gives me some further confidence regarding the Draisaitl extension talks, and the fact that they were willing to move the first outside a deadline move makes me wonder if the team is feeling confident about the possibility of re-signing Henrique.
It’s kind of funny to watch so many people not realize that an A level prospect is worth as much or more than a First in a trade. This is a guy that had like no PP time and is on a team that overplays its stars who then have inflated stats. It’s a bit of a risk but a very solid move
Melman
June 28, 2024 10:14 pm
can someone please explain why Philly would do this? Other than thinking next year’s Oilers won’t go deep in the playoffs. Seems weird to delay youth by one year for moving up a handful of picks next year.
Rick Pracey, our new director of scouting, definitely called his shot with this one.
Pracey in a pre draft interview with Gregor on ON said he highly values playing situation knowledge.
When I first read it I thought he was deflecting on a question about analytics. Hhe went into depth in how he valued knowledge about a players role on the team and quality of the team. Is a player getting zoomed by line mates or getting lots on PP time on a weak team.
O’Reilly’s situation seems to be opposite Samwise, being buried on a deep Knights team rather than zoomed by a game changing talent.
We will see if there is a D+1 pop but whether it works out not it shows the Oilers are trying to find value that is greater superficial appearance. I approve.
I am a bit more surprised by the empty chest they further emptied for the new GM. Tying up the next two 1st from deadline ammo on a player 3-4 years away from being a threat to make the lineup. The new GM is going to inherit very few prospects, very few picks, absolute cap hell for 8+ years and the best player in NHL and a damn fine if old team.
The 2026 1st is available to trade (in addition obviously to the player just selected).
A condition on the 2025 pick was ‘top 12 protected’ so they’ve covered themselves if the team faceplants.
If the Oilers trade the 2026 pick, the ‘top 12 protected’ condition on the 2025 pick goes away (ie – the 2025 1st is locked in).
The conditions protect the Oilers while also leaving them the flexibility to trade the 2026 pick.
Thanks for the clarification
FWIW Draisaitl texted Sam O’Reilly last night. Basically congrats, enjoy it, and see you in a couple of months.
https://x.com/EdmontonOilers/status/1806925288724381952
Classy move Leo.
My friends, we have another London Knight! This excites me. I suppose I’m easily pleased! But seriously. This is great as a fan of both teams. I want to continue this tradition of having many former Knights on the team. Maybe not THE specific player who’d excite us like Dickinson, so San Jose will be rocking in a few years, but still. I’m a happy fan today.
Obviously I know nothing, and have spent less time on this draft than any other in years. BUT there are already hints in O’Reilly’s write ups that he is not very speedy. That should be a bit worrying for first round pick in today’s NHL
I think some defenceman named Bouchard says hello to jfry.
buying from the knights is potentially fools gold. the minutes they run people at is really absurd. the oiler’s have witnessed this in real time with other drafts.
The numbers aren’t strong on the current player drafted, if we’re hoping he resembles Nuge. We’re likely to get Mcleod lite from this pick.
A conversation about a team going into the draft and free agency with the two most important players on the clock, needs to be a discussion.
It’s really starting to appear that there was no succession plan after Holland, and I was hoping to be a believer in the new regime.
Punting Drai down the block and having no staff ready for free agency or the draft is starting to look like the Oilers of 5 years ago.
McLeod – lite? Yuck.
And unfortunately, the Oilers be Oilering again it seems.
We’ve seen the numbers shift from Knights player’s minutes before, but apparently O’Reollu plays no PP, so this is all EV production.
We can like the player.
At the same time, we can agree it was a poor trade for a mediocre prospect?
With zero guidance from a GM?
The keys have been given over to a new unit and today’s movement doesn’t look strong.
There were so many options available to the oil that didn’t involve picking a second round talent at the expense of a first round value in the future.
Have a real strong look at the production. Regardless of situation, this was not a player to trade into. In the first round, you don’t trade into it for a player with less than 1pt/gm in the OHL.
Especially when you’re drafting from a team that games the system.
Look at our historical picks from the Knights. They’ve basically all been fails. Creating a junior team and getting players drafted is one thing. Creating an NHL team is another.
This guy didn’t even have a dedicated position prior to this year.
So many NHLEs on the board. I would say that analytics missed on this. So, we’re not advancing like we hoped.
Robert Thomas is doing okay, I guess. O’Reilly’s numbers are in the same ballpark as Thomas’s were, and unlike Thomas, this was O’Reilly’s rookie season on a very deep team.
I mean it’s not like O’Reilly is Kyle Platzer.
I see the upside in this player and he is going to be an NHL player. The same cannot be said for either Reid Schaefer or Xavier Bourgault.
I am sorry you feel the way you do, hopefully he wins you over, over the next couple of seasons.
He got his production from deeper in the depth chart, which is important when looking at London players. He is going to receive a promotion up the Knights depth chart due to other players matriculating and with his current production and skillset, should have a pop this year in the OHL. If he pops as the pro evaluators expect, he will be a darn fine pick for Edmonton.
Interesting that he just switched from D to forward a few years ago. You can see the logic of the pick – he’s as green a banana as they come, so he could be that guy who goes top 10 in a redraft if he fixes all of the warts and takes a big step forward once he is no longer blocked/losing playing time to the other star players.
That said, it may be a little concerning that his main knock is foot speed, Benson showed us that you can have several high-end skills but you still need at least reasonable speed to be able to keep up with the game.
Solid pick, nothing but upside to this player. Incredible year over year improvement. High IQ, high effort, will to win. This kid is a winner, hopefully he can improve his skating.
Other players I like, perhaps we can get 2 of them:
Tarin Smith
John Mustard
Luca Marelli
Kevin He
It was great to see a pick tonight, totally caught me off guard.
Interesting foreshadowing, OP posted that our chief scout talked about environment and players playing behind older more established players, read Sam O’Reilly on a deep London team, who apparently they had rated much higher.
I immediately thought of OP’s post when I saw this pick as well.
He seems to be behind a lot of high draft picks who are older (or maybe they are his linemates, I don’t know), but it’s still hard to argue that London isn’t a great environment.
There’s a lot of people elsewhere on the internet quite loudly proclaiming this to be a waste of assets, assets that should instead be saved for the trade deadline.
But to me this is looks like a move based around adding some high end depth to the prospect pool, the kind that will hopefully be hitting the big league on an ELC right as the big contract extensions are kicking in.
It’s a move that gives me some further confidence regarding the Draisaitl extension talks, and the fact that they were willing to move the first outside a deadline move makes me wonder if the team is feeling confident about the possibility of re-signing Henrique.
It’s kind of funny to watch so many people not realize that an A level prospect is worth as much or more than a First in a trade. This is a guy that had like no PP time and is on a team that overplays its stars who then have inflated stats. It’s a bit of a risk but a very solid move
can someone please explain why Philly would do this? Other than thinking next year’s Oilers won’t go deep in the playoffs. Seems weird to delay youth by one year for moving up a handful of picks next year.
next years a deeper year apparently they are more interested in 2025 picks
It’s about the potentially better value of the player and lining up their window to compete. They have 3 firsts and 3 seconds already in 2025
Meanwhile, Bob Mackenzie continues to be a witch as only four of his top 32 remain:
21 – LW Igor Chernyshov
29 – D Dominik Badinka
30 – LW Andrew Basha
31 – RW Ryder Ritchie
Unless something has changed, McKenzie’s list has always been based on getting the official draft lists of 10-12 (or so) teams and aggregating.
There is a reason its always so accurate and its crazy that he gets these lists.
Cheap talent and ELCs > Trade deadline rentals
This list will probably come out on the morrow, but the BPA’s from the LT list:
16 – LW Nikita Artamonov
23 – D Aron Kiviharju
24 – LW Andrew Basha
27 – RW Ryder Ritchie
28 – C Luke Misa
29 – RW Maxim Masse
30 – LW Julius Miettinen
31 – D Cole Hutson
32 – C Lucas Pettersson
34 – D Alfons Freij
36 – RW Justin Poirier
37 – LW Jake Battaglia
38 – C Kamil Bednarik
40 – LW Clarke Caswell
That Otten article you linked is really interesting, WELL worth a full read, including the opening where he talks about draft risers in the OHL.
Hope you’re having a nice summer Lowetide.
Today I reset all the rat traps in my back yard.
You might catch Corey Perry! LOL