O’Reilly’s intangibles sold Oilers on trading up to select forward in 1st round

EDMONTON — To call Sam O’Reilly‘s offseason a whirlwind would be an understatement, to say the least.

The Edmonton Oilers weren’t even on the radar of the 18-year-old center for London of the Ontario Hockey League following a season that culminated with an OHL title and a trip to the Memorial Cup final.

After all, entering the 2024 NHL Draft, the Oilers didn’t have a pick in the first round, where O’Reilly was hoping to be selected, but that didn’t stop him from winding up in Edmonton last week after the Oilers traded up to get back into the first round and choose the Toronto native with the No. 32 selection.

“It’s been unreal,” O’Reilly said. “The first couple weeks were a bit stressful leading up to the draft, but now being here, seeing all this, being an Oiler, I couldn’t be happier.”

That last part about being an Oiler is the biggest thing, especially considering this roster includes centers Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but what kind of Oiler will O’Reilly end up being? And when?

O’Reilly (6-foot-1, 183 pounds) didn’t have to wait long after being drafted to begin taking the initial steps toward answering those questions, arriving in Edmonton for the first time as one of 17 prospects reporting for an off-ice development camp at Rogers Place.

“The intangibles, what he brings. We like his size, we like his drive, an extremely competitive kid,” Oilers director of amateur scouting Rick Pracey said. “We think he’s inside and hard skill. We like the way he plays diligently defensively. He’s on the right side of the puck, he wins face-offs, he wins stick battles, he wins takeaways, and he has offensive upside.

“He can shoot the puck, he’s well-rounded, he can play wing, he can play center and grew up playing defense, so from well-rounded to versatile to compete, he’s a very interesting guy.”

And the Oilers weren’t afraid to let him know how they felt about him, either.

“I had good talks with them during the year and seeing them trade, I kind of had a little thought in my head that I’d be going there,” O’Reilly said. “I’m thankful enough that they picked me and I’m very grateful for it.”

Not everyone gets to experience being a first-round NHL draft pick.

“It’s obviously a cool thing to kind of say, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t really mean much after the draft,” O’Reilly said. “All that really matters is what you do after it and how you work toward what you need to be better at and your goals that you need to accomplish.

“And that’s what I’m focusing on right now.”