While Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said after Saturday night’s pre-season win over the Seattle Kraken that the next round of cuts wouldn’t come until after Monday’s game, management had other plans.
The #Oilers have also returned forward Sam O'Reilly to the @LondonKnights of @OHLHockey. Best of luck this season, Sam!
Transactions press release ⤵️ https://t.co/P1Ct3AxaRT
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) September 29, 2024
The club announced several moves Sunday afternoon, featuring defencemen Cam Dineen and Connor Carrick being placed on waivers for the purpose of assignment, Seth Griffith being released from a professional tryout, assigned to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors along with Matthew Savoie. At the same time, Sam O’Reilly was sent to the OHL’s London Knights.
There no surprises in any of the moves, as Dineen, Carrick and Griffith were destined for Bakersfield all along. For Savoie, it was always assumed he would begin the year in Southern California, too, getting a chance to play big minutes for the Condors as he acclimates to the pro game. Some felt O’Reilly could’ve been a long shot to make the Oilers with a tremendous training camp and pre-season, but it’s clear he still needs to work on his game.
Savoie was relatively quiet in four pre-season games, scoring an assist while taking seven shots on goal, and generating as many individual scoring chances. However, Oilersnation prospect guru Bruce Curlock wrote Sunday that Savoie’s work along the wall was an impressive part of his game. He didn’t get much chance to play with other high-skill players, but his getting acclimated to the game with a new organization was important.
O’Reilly also drew in for four pre-season games, scoring a goal and taking six shots, also not getting much of a chance to play with other skill players. Instead, like on Saturday, he played with bottom-six grinder types in Vasily Podkolzin and Corey Perry. O’Reilly got a long look with the Oilers, clearly impressing the Oilers with his game after the team traded up to 32nd overall to select him in the first round.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.