paraphrase: The Edmonton Oilers have signed 2024 first-round pick Sam O’Reilly to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced on Monday. Back at the draft in June, the Oilers were without their first-round selection because they traded it during the season to the Anaheim Ducks for Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick. With the first round coming to an end, Edmonton linked up on a deal with the Philadelphia Flyers on the draft floor to acquire the 32nd overall pick, which they used to select O’Reilly from the London Knights. “We like his size, we like his drive.
He’s an extremely competitive kid,” Oilers director of amateur scouting Rick Pracey said when asked about what the team liked about O’Reilly. “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 defence, so from well-rounded to versatile to compete, he’s a very interesting guy.
Playing mostly on the team’s third line, O’Reilly scored 20 goals and 56 points over 68 regular season games for the Knights in his pre-draft season. He added five goals and 12 points in 16 playoff games as London won the OHL Championship. The Knights reached the Memorial Cup Final but got edged out by the Saginaw Spirit, the host team. O’Reilly performed well in Edmonton’s training camp in the fall and scored one goal over four pre-season games with the big-league club. The 18-year-old is off to a slow start with the Knights back in the OHL, with two goals and five points through seven games.
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