Recently acquired and now top Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Sam O'Reilly has been invited to Team Canada's World Junior Summer Showcase camp, but is unable to attend.
At the moment, the reasoning for O'Reilly's absence is unknown, but after playing consecutive long seasons in the OHL, which included championships and trips to the Memorial Cup final, it could be that O'Reilly is nursing some minor injuries.
The 19-year-old plays a sound defensive game and relies on his 6-foot-1 and 190-pound frame to win puck battles along the boards and shut down the opponent's top line. O'Reilly finished his second OHL season with the London Knights, scoring 28 goals and 71 points in 62 games.
Due to his age, size and play style, O'Reilly is a serious candidate to make Team Canada's roster at next year's event. Adding to the reasoning is that Canada's coach at next year's event is Dale Hunter, the coach of the Knights.
The Summer Showcase would have been an excellent opportunity for O'Reilly to show just how impressive a hockey player he has become. Although he may not possess any singular standout offensive trait, there are very few, if any, holes in his game.
Including O'Reilly, there were eight players invited to Canada's camp that could not attend, those being Carter Bear (Detroit Red Wings), Caleb Desnoyers (Utah Mammoth), Liam Greentree (Los Angeles Kings), Tij Iginla (Utah Mammoth), Beckett Sennecke (Anaheim Ducks), Roger McQueen (Anaheim Ducks) and Jett Luchanko (Philadelphia Flyers).
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New Lightning prospect named to Team USA roster for World Junior Summer Showcase
Each summer, USA Hockey hosts the World Junior Summer Showcase, a key evaluation camp for players from the United States, Canada, Sweden, and Finland. Among those named to Team USA’s <a href="https://teamusa.usahockey.com/news_article/show/1342448">roster</a> this year is Tampa Bay Lightning goaltending prospect, Caleb Heil.