Oilers Prospect Report: O'Reilly & Akey Playoff Bound
Beau Akey. (Perry Nelson-Imagn Images)The NHL playoffs don't start for another month, but regular seasons are wrapping up across the rest of the hockey world.
The three Canadian Hockey League playoff tournaments kick off on Thursday, with four Edmonton Oilers prospects beginning their quest for the Memorial Cup in the OHL playoffs.
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Today, we'll examine the seasons authored by Sam O'Reilly and William Nicholl of the London Knights and Beau Akey and Dalyn Wakely of the Barrie Colts and the playoff path ahead of them.
C Sam O'Reilly, London Knights
O'Reilly was one of the most important players on a London Knights team that steamrolled their way to their second consecutive regular season title with an absurd 55-11-2 record. The 2024 first-round pick finished third on the team in points (71) and fourth in goals (28), while his plus/minus of +56 was third leaguewide.
O'Reilly isn't the star in London: Sam Dickinson's 91 points were second among OHL defensemen, and veterans Denver Barkey and Fraser Minten played big roles for Canada at the World Juniors. But that suits O'Reilly just fine; he still profiles as a checking third-line center at the NHL level.
He'll likely be tasked with shutting down the best players in the OHL in the playoffs. If London returns to the Memorial Cup for a second consecutive year, he'll be a big reason why.
C William Nicholl, London Knights
O'Reilly wasn't the only 2024 Oilers draft pick to make a big impact in London this year. Nicholl broke out in his second season in the OHL, jumping from six goals and 20 points to 21 and 57.
Nicholl doesn't profile as much more than a depth player at the NHL level, but that's still a huge win for a seventh-round draft pick. The last Oilers seventh-rounder to make any NHL impact was 2016 pick Vincent Desharnais, and his D+1 year wasn't nearly as successful as Nicholl's.
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RD Beau Akey, Barrie Colts
Akey's Barrie Colts won their first Central Division title since 2017-18, finishing second in the Eastern Conference with a 44-22-2-2 record. The 2023 second-rounder had a tough season in Barrie after missing most of 2023-24 due to injury. He scored six goals and 32 points in 52 games, fewer than he did in his draft year two seasons ago, and struggled to crack Canada's lineup at the World Juniors.
He's joined on the Colts blueline by 2025 top prospects Keyshawn Aitcheson and fellow 2023 second-rounder Tristan Bertucci, who was selected six picks after Akey by the Dallas Stars. Despite his relative struggles this season, Akey will still be relied upon heavily by the Colts against players like 2026 draft prospect Ryan Roobroeck, whose Niagara IceDogs they'll face in the first round.
C Dalyn Wakely, Barrie Colts
How nice of the Oilers to concentrate all their CHL prospects on the same two teams. Wakely's stats took a huge step back in 2024-25, regressing from 104 points with the North Bay Battalion in 2023-24 to 58 with Barrie this season.
Part of that is due to the offensive environment around him: four players on the 23-24 Batallion outscored the leading scorer on this year's Colts, and Canucks prospect Anthony Romani took a similar step back going from North Bay to Barrie (111 points in 23-24, 35 in 35 games this season).
Wakely's 23 goals and 58 points were both third on the Colts this season, and he outscored 2024 first-rounders Cole Beaudoin (24th overall to Utah) and Emil Hemming (29th overall to Dallas). Not bad for a sixth-rounder from the same draft (192nd overall).
The best news for the Oilers is that their most important CHL prospects are all going to the playoffs, and seem poised for long playoff runs. That kind of experience can only be good, especially for O'Reilly and Nicholl as they search for a Memorial Cup on the best team in the CHL.
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