The Red Wings have something of a “wild card” of a prospect in Ryan O’Reilly. The 22-year-old Arizona State University junior has a big puck-lugging sniper’s pedigree, but the 6’4,” 205-pound right wing hasn’t been able to find his form at the NCAA Division 1 level yet.
Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff profiles O’Reilly this evening, and, as Duff notes, this season is a big one for both O’Reilly and fellow Wings prospect Robert Mastrosimone:
The Arizona State Sun Devils will go two deep in Red Wings prospects and it’s going to be a big proving season for both players. Forward Robert Mastrosimone is transferring to Arizona State from the Boston Terriers for his senior season. O’Reilly is about to begin his junior campaign with the Sun Devils.
Last season, O’Reilly’s goal output doubled from three to six. However, his points total slipped from 13 to 11. He’s a far cry from the 21 goals he counted for the USHL’s Madison Capitals in 2017-18, or the 17 he scored for the Green Bay Gamblers in 2019-20.
If O’Reilly wants there to be a future for him in Detroit, he’ll be needing to display some significant forward strides during the 2022-23 NCAA season. At 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, he certainly displays NHL size
“I definitely need to work on my skating,” O’Reilly admitted. “The game is really fast, especially in the NHL. You never get fast enough.”
Continued; O’Reilly and defenseman Antti Tuomisto were the two biggest-name prospects who didn’t take part in the Wings’ 2022 summer development camp, and what I’ve seen of O’Reilly’s goal-scoring potential is impressive…
But he’s not put the disparate parts of his game together on a consistent basis yet, like so many of the Wings’ prospects.
