On August 26, 2024, I lost my Mom. Yesterday, myself and a couple hundred family and friends got to celebrate her life. We got to share great memories. We got laugh and cry about all those times together. We got to remember what a great lady this world lost. For me, many of my memories were around sports. My Mom was a great athlete growing up.

In her adult years, she became a keen watcher of all things hockey. When she and Dad retired, they became season ticket holders of the Red Deer Rebels. She watched Dion Phaneuf, James Reimer, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Matt Dumba, to name a few. There is no question my passion to watch young men try to make their way to the NHL came from my Mom.

So today’s Oilers Prospect Report, I dedicate it to her.

Nicholl finally relinquished his hold on second place in London Knights scoring to Easton Cowan this week. However, that doesn’t mean he had a bad week — as a matter of fact, Nicholl had a tremendous week. Nicholl continues to outperform his draft position by leaps and bounds.

This week he went 1-1—2 in two games, but his overperformance is more about his role with the team. Nicholl has clearly earned the coaching staff’s trust. He is playing in the top six on a line with Sam O’Reilly, is consistently on the the second powerplay unit and is taking a very regular shift on the Knights penalty kill. The Knights are trusting him late in games and in overtime. It has been a tremendous start to the season.

Nicholl’s season totals are 5-10—15 in 16 games with a very good plus five rating. This week we saw a little bit of everything this week from Nicholl. The first clip I want to show was a brilliant powerplay shift by Nicholl. Watch him win the face-off and then take command of the powerplay from the top of the zone. Then I want you to watch his footwork. His skating is really something to behold.

The lateral work while holding on to the puck allows Nicholl to see the whole ice and, more importantly, make plays in multiple directions. This is very hard to defend. In addition, his confidence right now is sky-high and you can see that in the clip.

There is another clip that shows this level of confidence. It is the type of play that Nicholl makes every game. He just has this knack to get around the puck and make plays from nothing. This one starts in the defensive zone. Nicholl races up the ice and ends up gathering in a puck. Then watch the great little backhand pass he makes followed by him going to the net for a return pass.

But for a great save, Nicholl would have scored twice this week. However, again, you can see how his skating helps him retrieve pucks and then he has a really strong understanding of what to do when he gets the puck.

Nicholl also scored a beautiful goal this week. Off a face-off win by Sam O’Reilly, Nicholl flared out into the open creating a nice lane from the Knights defenceman. Nicholl gets the pass and finishes the play.

This is a skill Nicholl needs to use more. His shot is not elite, but it is good. Furthermore, he is constantly in good positions to shoot it and often defers, but he only has 26 shots in 16 games. That makes for a great shooting percentage, but I would prefer to see the percentage lower while averaging three shots per game or more.

Nicholl’s breakout season continues and for the Oilers, this is great early-season news.

Nicholl’s teammate and linemate, Sam O’Reilly also had a strong week. O’Reilly is playing on a top-six line with Nicholl and Evan Van Gorp. Like Nicholl, O’Reilly is seeing serious time on the penalty kill, and is also on the first powerplay. He’s been counted on in all high-leverage minutes thanks to his strong face-off and defensive ability. O’Reilly had three assists this week in two games. Some of it was pretty simple effort plays to get the puck going in transition like this shorthanded assist.

Some of it was due to his down-low presence on the powerplay creating opportunities for himself and his teammates.

O’Reilly’s season success will be defined by how well he improves his offence. His defence and face-offs are there and has a solid plus-six rating this year and is working on a 58 percent face-off percentage, but it’s the offence that will be the focus. Right now, he is slightly ahead of last year’s points-per-game average at .86 pts/g compared to .82 pts/g last year.

More noticeable is his shooting. Last year he was around 2.4 shots per game. This year he is up to 3.4 shots per game or about one shot more per game. This is a great sign and will lead to increased point totals. In addition, O’Reilly shows almost every game that he has a quick decision-making process in the offensive zone. Watch this little pass he makes after William Nicholl gets in on the forecheck and gets the puck to him.

O’Reilly has started the season solid. The Oilers success in this draft to a large degree will fall on the shoulders of the player, and the early returns are positive.

The big German defender is having a very nice senior year in Vermont. His 2-1—3 in seven games is dramatically more offence than he has created in his collegiate career as he is only two points from his season total high of five points set in his sophomore year. This is an important year for Munzenberger, as the Oilers will need to make a decision on signing him.

The organization certainly has needs on the left side of the defence and he certainly fills that need — he just needs to perform. So far, so good.

Munzenberger makes a lot of simple plays that lead to good things. He is a brilliant skater for a big man and carries the puck quite well. Here was an example from this week.

Munzenberger is still unsure of what to do when he is in the offensive zone, but he can get their with ease.

Here is another clip with a couple of simple plays that led to a goal. The first part of this clip is quite indicative of Munzenberger. He is coming on the ice from a change and is caught flatfooted by two attackers who are in full flight. It isn’t pretty, but Munzenberger is able to get up to speed and turn with the puck carrier to keep him outside. He doesn’t deny the pass, but his partner needed to be in a better spot to contain the situation. All in all, a good recovery. The play continues around the other side and Munzenberger closes up the gap on the puck and ends up retrieving it. He then makes a very heady play advancing the puck on a great little backhand pass to his teammate whose in a position to attack.

If Munzenberger waits one more beat before making his pass, the play is almost certainly shut down. Instead, he makes a great little read and off his team goes to score.

The final clip is another set of simple plays by Munzenberger. First, he defends a play in the zone. Now, you do not want to defend like this too often. Munzenberger has his hips and feet pointing in the wrong direction as the attacker moves in on him. It is his reach that saves him on this play. Nevertheless, he makes the play and the team goes back up the ice.

Once in the zone, watch Munzenberger step up when the puck comes around his side. Initially, he starts back, but realizes he has help in the middle of the ice, so makes a play on the puck, then he sends a wrist shot to the net. In it goes. No question, the goal needs to stop that, but they all count.

Again, there is nothing spectacular in this clip. Munzenberger just making simple plays that lead to good results. This week was encouraging for the prospect of Munzenberger with the Oilers. The team needs left shot defenceman and he could be a good one.

Lachance likely knows what a yo-yo feels like. He’s been on the first line, the fourth line, then back to the first, and back to the fourth. If you are wondering why Lachance has been moved around, it has nothing to do with his offence.

He has four goals and five assists in nine games. His point per game average is a substantive increase over his .68 pts/g from last year when he largely played with Macklin Celibrini. He is also shooting more this year averaging three shots per game which is more than half a shot per game higher than last year. This week he scored two typical goals for Lachance. He used a combination of size and hand-eye coordination.

No question, Lachance has high-end offensive skills, especially for someone who is 6’5″ and 220 pounds.

What has caused Lachance some grief this year is risk-taking play. Here is a clip from this week that shows exactly what is giving the coaching staff heartburn.

Lachance is being counted on in a lot of situations. However, his care of the puck and his defensive game have forced his coaches to move him around the line-up to avoid stiff competition. That needs to change. This is the first time in his career that Lachance is being relied upon in situations that are far from the opposition net. It is an opportunity for growth and one that needs to happen. NHL coaches have even less patience with players who do not take care of the puck.

Roby Jarventie was injured in his second game of the season and missed both games in Calgary this week as well as the first in Abbotsford. It sounds not serious, but the Oilers organization has never been very transparent with the gravity of injuries, so we wait.

Maxim Beryozkin had a chance to tie a KHL club record scoring a point in twelve consecutive games. He didn’t get it done, but has still had a great start to the season. His 20 points in 25 games is tied for the club lead. This is a player to watch next spring when his contract expires.

Eemil Vinni is really being slow-played on his return. He has only played two games this season for the U20 HIIFK team. His first was on October 17 and the second was on November 2. Now the team doesn’t play a lot, but I presume given Vinni is signed to a SM-Liiga contract with HIIFK, Vinni will start to see more time quite soon.

That’s it for the Oilers Prospect Report this week. Thank you for reading. Thank you Mom. Have a great week.

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist, making up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.