Edmonton Oilers make late-round splash at NHL Draft

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It was better late than never for the Edmonton Oilers.

And it doesn’t get any later in the first round of the NHL Draft than 32nd overall, but rather than going home from the first day empty handed the Oilers swung a deal and landed a prospect.

Edmonton acquired the last pick of the first round this year in exchange for a conditional first round pick in 2025 (or 2026) and then used it to select forward Sam O’Reilly of the London Knights.

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The organization is quite high on the player, according to CEO of Hockey Operations Jeff Jackson, and when the Oilers saw he was still there they decided to make their move.

“Our staff had him ranked quite a bit higher than where he went,” said Jackson. “Rick (Pracey, Director of Amateur Scouting) felt very strongly we were getting a player who would fit our mould. And we have to get our (prospects) line going.”

O’Reilly jumped from 40th among North American skaters in the NHL Central Scouting mid-term rankings to 24th in the final rankings on the strength of his stretch drive. He is a centre/right winger who finished third among OHL rookies in scoring this year with 56 points in 68 games and then turned it up in the playoffs, where he led all rookies with 12 points in 16 games.

At six-foot-one and 184 pounds he’s described as a competitive, responsible two-way player who embraces the details it takes to win.

With only one pick to go on Day 1, O’Reilly figured he was going to be one of those guys who shows up at the venue only to go home disappointed, but the Oilers gave him a night he’ll never forget.

“I can’t really find words to describe it right now,” he said. “I’m still trying to process it, it’s pretty special.”

E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com

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