Sam O’Reilly will get his first real chance to show Tampa Bay what he can do when Lightning training camp opens in September, and the buzz around him is easy to understand.
He is the organization’s lone first-round pick, and even after missing full participation at development camp in July while recovering from an injury, he stayed involved and worked with the team through the summer. The expectation is that the 20-year-old will be ready to take part in everything once camp begins.
O’Reilly says he knows exactly what he needs to do.
“I’m just trying to bring my best game and put my best foot forward,” O’Reilly said of preparing for the Lightning’s upcoming training camp. “Obviously I’m trying to make a push for it, and coming in the best shape I can. This is a big summer, and I’m looking forward to making that push.”
That confidence is backed by a huge 2025-26 season with the Kitchener Rangers. O’Reilly helped them win the OHL championship and became the first player in league history to appear in four straight championship series. His playoff run was even better on an individual level: 17 goals and 11 assists in 18 games, enough to earn the Wayne Gretzky ‘99’ Award as the most valuable player of the 2026 OHL playoffs.
Tampa Bay’s decision to land O’Reilly came last offseason in a deal with the Edmonton Oilers that sent top prospect Isaac Howard the other way. After years of pouring into Howard’s development, the Lightning ended up with a different kind of young player in O’Reilly, one who has already turned heads for his maturity, versatility and two-way presence.
The prospect himself has been clear about how he views the next step. Back in May, he told TSN, “Obviously, the NHL is where you want to play, but I think whatever they think is best for me is where I’ll be playing,” O’Reilly told TSN back in May.
“It’s not my decision. I think all I can do is go in there, work hard and learn from those guys over there.
Wherever I am will be the best thing for me.”
Julien BriseBois sounds optimistic about what O’Reilly can bring. The Lightning general manager said the young forward’s game already looks close to pro-ready.
“The way he plays the game already, even a small sample we got in training camp, tells me he probably won’t need that much time in order to be able to come here and contribute, because he already plays a pro-style game,” BriseBois said at the end of last season.
“If he can adjust to the pace and the physicality, as soon as he’s got that figured out, I think his game is already so textbook in how he plays,” BriseBois added. “He’s got a really mature game that he carries in every night for his junior team or even the national team.”
Tampa Bay leaned on its Syracuse Crunch pipeline a lot last season as injuries opened doors for younger players in NHL roles. That makes September an especially important checkpoint for O’Reilly, because it will be the first real look at how close he is to taking the next step.
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Lightning May Have Found The Physical Piece Fans Wanted
The Lightning spent the opening day of free agency looking for a different kind of addition, and they may have found it in Jeff Viel. The 29-year-old forward comes with a reputation for physical play and a track record from stops with the Bruins and Ducks, giving Tampa Bay a bottom-six option built more on edge, energy and versatility than flash.
Julien BriseBois believes Viel can fit the mold of the players who quietly change the feel of a roster, the kind who make a team harder to play against while filling whatever role the staff asks of them. For a Lightning group that has long valued balance as much as skill, the question now is how quickly Viel turns that profile into a meaningful piece of the lineup. [Read more 🡒]