Will an NHL team bet high on 2024 draft prospect Sam O’Reilly?

London Knights forward Sam O’Reilly put together a solid 2023-24 campaign that has pushed him up the ranks as one of the more promising forwards who could be taken late in the first round or early second round. O’Reilly is coming off a fresh Memorial Cup tournament that saw him tally four points in four games. Now the Toronto, Ontario native looks ahead to the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas.

Today on Daily Faceoff Live, prospect analyst Steven Ellis talked about why an NHL team could bet high on O’Reilly at the draft and how his play this season drove his draft stock up.

Tyler Yaremchuk: We talk a lot about guys in the first round but are there any players in the second or third rounds that are catching your attention?

Steven Ellis: Well it for sure has to be Sam O’Reilly who we just saw play at the Memorial Cup with the London Knights. Ddint put up a ton of points there, kind of a weird tournament for London in general. It’s kind of like Easton Cowan last year where all it took was a really good second half for scouts to go “Oh yeah there is something here.” He was playing Junior B last year, he didn’t really know what type of role he was going to be playing this year but watching him in the Memorial Cup this year there were only a few guys who I felt were consistently better.

Steven Ellis: For him to go out there and control the puck he knows what he wants to do with it, he can play on any line with any guy whether that be Cowan or Barkey. He’s a guy that some scouts wonder if he is a late riser first-round pick, I think at best we are looking at a second-rounder but he was on nobody’s radar at the start of the season and has been such an important part of London’s championship run this year that I see a team take a chance.