Oilers First Round Prospect Surging Without Teammate Easton Cowan

The Edmonton Oilers clearly saw something in Sam O'Reilly when they traded into the first round of last year's draft to select him.

Easton Cowan suffered an injury in early December then left to the World Juniors, giving O'Reilly 12 games of more ice time and powerplay opportunities. He's making great on the opportunity, with 9 goals and 19 points in that time.

O'Reilly wasn't an exceptionally high scoring talent, which led to some confusion as to why the Oilers reached to take him in the draft.

However, he hadn't ever had much opportunity on a stacked London Knights team. If O'Reilly can continue his scoring with the increase in ice time, he'll look like a very exciting prospect.

In 34 games now with the London Knights this season, Sam O'Reilly has 15 goals and 35 points total.

He impressed Oilers executives and media at training camp this year, even being considered as a dark horse for the fourth line center job.

O'Reilly's known for playing a mature 200 foot game, and he showcased a game that looks like it would translate perfectly to the NHL.

At the same time, Leafs prospect Easton Cowan is taking plenty of heat for his performance for Team Canada at the World Juniors.

In this time without a star player in the lineup, it's great that O'Reilly can get this extra ice time and it's even better that he's seizing the moment.