The Edmonton Oilers latest first-round pick is impressing the coaching staff with his performances.
The Edmonton Oilers latest first-round pick is impressing the coaching staff with his performances.
EDMONTON -- There aren't many positives in a blow-out game.
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That was a common refrain that Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch repeated a few times in his post-game comments last night. But when your team loses 6-1 in the pre-season, he's not wrong.
A few young players certainly stood out: Noah Philp and Sam O'Reilly. The latter had an opportunity to center a line with Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark.
"We wanted to see what he could do playing with two regular NHL players," Knoblauch stated. "I thought he did a heck of a job. We rotated lines a bit in the third period, but it was a good test for him."
O'Reilly had a great game. Although he wasn't on the ice for Brown's goal (because of line juggling), the coach clearly trusted him. O'Reilly played 17:46 of last night's game. The only forward who skated more was Brown, with 19:03 time on ice.
"He's an extremely smart player," Knoblauch continued, "he's young. He's only going to get stronger and faster"
"There's so much to like with O'Reilly right now. He's just going to continue to get better and impress us in the future."
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It was clear that the Oilers saw something in O'Reilly when they traded into the first round to select him in this year's entry draft. He will probably not make the Oilers this season, and that's good. He is a player who could work his way into the lineup as an NHL regular in a year to two years' time.
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