While the stat varies slightly from year to year, the number of players drafted from the OHL each year is around 19 percent. So when the Oilers started to go away from the OHL under Ken Holland and Tyler Wright, it was bound to have some impact on the quality of Oiler draft picks. And it did.

It was also quite notable that one of the first things Jeff Jackson did when he was hired was to put in place a new director of amateur scouting, Rick Pracey, who was based in Ontario. The Oilers also staffed the area with more regional scouting resources than had been the case under Holland. While correlation does not necessarily equal causation, in the first draft since this renewed emphasis on Ontario, the Oilers took four of their seven picks from the OHL. While the season is quite young, the returns so far have been very encouraging. More on the revenge of the OHL in Oilersville, Noah Philp and all the news and notes in this week’s Oilers Prospect Report.

It has been a week for Sam O’Reilly, as in three games, he has played centre, right wing and left wing. The changes didn’t seem to bother him, going 2-1—3 in those three games. Most encouraging was O’Reilly adding 14 shots on net. One of the key elements to the development of a player is shot creation. While there are more complicated metrics, shot volume is usually a good sign for a young player. O’Reilly averaged 2.4 shots last season with London. This year he is at 3.6 shots. This should translate into breakout offensive totals in the near future.

This week O’Reilly scored in ways you like from a young player. He spent a lot of his time down around the opposition goalie in areas that are not fun to be in most of the time. It paid off well this week.

In this one, I loved the strength of his edges here to fend off an attacker. O’Reilly is not the fastest skater, but he is a strong skater. Here he shields off a defender and takes the puck right to the low slot before finishing off the play.

Even his assist was the product of a down-low play. Here you get a flash of the very sneaky offensive talent he has with his quick hands. While we don’t see ii near enough from O’Reilly yet, he has very quick hands with the puck. Coming into the season, this was the part of his game I believed would yield scoring totals for O’Reilly.

It’s not clear to me why the shuffle is going on with O’Reilly. Certainly, the Knights are trying to get Denver Barkey going and the emphasis appears to be having him at centre with O’Reilly on his flank. Now O’Reilly does play a lot of centre during the game, but make no mistake, this is a change. Nevertheless, these are good experiences for O’Reilly and he seems to be flourishing in them.

One player who has not be bounced around much is William Nicholl. Nicholl has been a fixture on the right wing for a line that has been relied upon heavily by Dale Hunter lately. Nicholl’s season could not have been scripted better by the Edmonton Oilers themselves: select a very young 18 year old player very late in the draft, a player who was available late because he didn’t get a lot of ice due to the depth of the team he played on, have him come back in his draft plus one and push his way up the line-up by getting results. That’s been William Nicholls first 11 games of the year.

He is 4-6—10 in those games which is good for second on the team in scoring. He too has improved his shooting clip to just over 2 shots per game. This is a healthy raise from last year when he only averaged 0.7 shots per game. The most important development for Nicholl is that he has the trust of the coaching staff. Here is a clip that exemplifies this development. The Knights are about to start 3v3 overtime. They have forwards like Cowan, O’Reilly, Jacob Julien and Evan Van Gorp who could start. Instead, who gets the spot beside Denver Barkey, William Nicholl. You can see why in the clip. William Nicholl is two things: a brilliant skater and a very smart hockey player.

He didn’t end up with an assist, but it was the most telling shift he had all week for me. This coaching staff trusts me in very important situations. That is a very good development.

Nicholl also showcased his speed in 5v5 situations. Watch this beautiful play from deep in his own zone. You can tell right away he spaces much more like a center than a winger. Watch him drop down and pick up the short pass with all manner of chaos around him. He makes a cheeky backhand pass through a tight window to start the attack. Now watch the end of the shift and see how much ground he has covered. He is literally right there with the goal scorer despite having started down at his own face-off dot.

William Nicholl is a player on the rise amongst Oiler prospects. There is no question, the scouting staff was hoping for this type of story to unfold with William Nicholl. So far, the new emphasis on both analytics and Ontario are paying dividends.

Philp continues to ply his craft in the AHL. The big center had another solid week scoring two goals in three games. Philp continues to be relied upon as the first line centre who plays all of the high-leverage minutes. I have spoken a lot about his defensive game, but this week there was some hints of what he can do offensively. Both goals were goal scorer goals. Here is the first one that exemplifies his very heavy shot.

I would really love to see Noah Philp use his shot more. It is very heavy and very accurate. It will beat NHL goalies no question.b/r

His other goal this week was a really heads-up goal scorer’s goal. Watch him receive the pass in the slot and make just the slightest move to get the goalie into motion. As soon as that happens, Philp finds the hole and puts the puck home.

This was a very savvy play by Philp. Philp only has three points in the six games he has played. However, the chances are there and his play is improving each game. I would expect those totals to continue to climb as he continues to find his game after a year away from hockey.

I really don’t know what the Oilers will do with Maxim Beryozkin, but someone in the NHL is going to look at this player. He remains the team leading scorer for the top team in the Western Division of the KHL. His point totals of 6-10-16 have him tied for 5th in league scoring. His plus 12 is also tops on the team and in the top five in the KHL. Each game he is a consistent factor for Lokomotiv. His offensive skills and size are really appealing to me as a prospect. In addition, his skating, which I deemed average, looks better this year. He appears quicker off the standing start and gets to a top speed much better than last year. Watch this goal here as an example.

The skating still isn’t pretty, but it gets him from point A to point B and I think would be fine in the NHL. He’s at least worth a look when his contract expires at the end of the season. Whether that is in Edmonton is not certain.

We mentioned at the top, the OHL was having a strong impact on Oiler prospect results. Beau Akey and Dalyn Wakely were also a part of that this week. Akey finally appears to be getting his timing back after missing most of the year. Akey registered two points in three games this week and started to find the range with his shot. While I think this recovery will take some time, Akey appears to be coming around.

Wakely just keeps proving that last season was no fluke. This week he added three assists to his season totals. He has nine points in his first seven games in Barrie. He’s a hard nosed right shot center who could surprise in the years to come if his skating continues to develop.

Roby Jarventie was finally cleared to play and was sent to Bakersfield this week. The Condors next game is on November 1 and hopefully he will be on the roster.

Matthew Savoie took a spin at center last night. While it was his natural position in junior hockey, I would not expect him to play much of it professionally. That said, he looked pretty good in the game contributing an assist and holding his own defensively. Savoie will likely return to wing when Lane Pederson returns to the line-up.

James Hamblin took a tough fall and injured his league on Friday. While nothing official, there is lots of rumble that Hamblin will miss significant time. Too bad as I am certain Hamblin was at the top of the list for call-ups to the Oilers.

That’s it for this week’s Oilers Prospect Report. Yell at me here or to @bcurlock over on the X. Have a great week everyone.

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