Sam O'reilly Wins Red Tilson Trophy After 43-Point Kitchener Run
sam o'reilly won this season’s Red Tilson Trophy after splitting his year between London and Kitchener, finishing with 43 points in his final 28 regular-season games for the Rangers. The award goes to the OHL’s most outstanding player, and his season now sits on top of a rare run that included four straight championship-series appearances.
O’Reilly’s path changed in January, when London sent him and Jared Woolley to Kitchener for 10 draft picks. He had opened the year with the Knights, posting 12 goals and 28 points in 28 games before leaving for Team Canada at the World Juniors, then arrived in Kitchener and kept producing at a higher rate.
Kitchener Rangers and the Red Tilson
With Kitchener, the Tampa Bay Lightning prospect scored 17 goals and totaled 43 points over his final 28 regular-season games. The Rangers finished 47-14-7 and earned the No. 1 seed in the West, giving his late-season numbers real weight in a team that stayed near the top after the trade.
That jump in production after the move is the clearest reason his season ended with the Red Tilson Trophy. He was effective in London, but the Kitchener stretch turned a strong year into an award-winning one.
London Knights leadership
Before the trade, O’Reilly had already been named the 54th captain in London Knights history to start the 2025-26 season. He had spent his first three OHL seasons with the Knights, who reached three straight finals from 2023 to 2025 and won back-to-back championships in 2024 and 2025.
London also won the Memorial Cup last year by defeating the Medicine Hat Tigers, so O’Reilly’s season was tied to a program that had already built a heavy championship resume. He said, “It was a privilege to wear the ‘C’ for the time that I did,” and added, “I learned from some amazing captains in my time in London like Denver Barkey, George Diaco, Sean McGurn, and all those older guys. They kind of helped me embrace the role and I keep trying to help my younger guys out as I get older.”
A rare OHL track
O’Reilly is the first player in Ontario Hockey League history to appear in four straight championship series. He can also become the second player since 1980 to win three consecutive titles, a run that now spans two teams, a midseason trade, and two different roles within the same season.
He called the move to Kitchener unusual, saying, “It was obviously kind of weird coming here,” but noted, “It’s not something a lot of guys do, but I got to come with my best buddy in Woolley. All the great things we heard about Kitchener made it a lot easier.” He also said, “I think it was pretty easy [to adjust to the new system]. I’d like to say with all the older teams I was on in London helped me learn what it took [to adjust]. The guys did a great job bringing us in, and I’ve just been trying to be a guy that others can come up to and talk to and be a good teammate.”
The Rangers got the scoring surge they wanted after the January deal, and O’Reilly’s award gives them another marker from a season that already ended with the West’s top seed.
