EDMONTON, AB – Goals, goals, goals.
Oilers 2022 first-round pick Reid Schaefer continued his torrid start on one half of the score sheet, picking up his seventh goal of the Western Hockey League season on Friday against the Edmonton Oil Kings.
The 32nd overall pick now has seven goals and no assists in his first five games of the season with the Seattle Thunderbirds, trailing only top-prospect Connor Bedard (who has played double the game) for the WHL goal scoring lead.
Schaefer is coming off a strong season ’21-22 junior season, scoring 32 goals and 26 assists in 66 games last season for Seattle. The 19-year-old’s dynamite performance carried on into the WHL playoffs where he added 21 points in 25 postseason games as the Thunderbirds lost in the Ed Chynoweth Cup against the Oil Kings.
The 6-foot-3 power forward has shown the ability to light the lamp and play a powerful game over the course of his short Junior Hockey career, and the arrow continues to point up with Schaefer’s hot start to his post-draft season.
“He’s a young man and a little bit of a late bloomer, but he had a tremendous year,” Oilers Director of Amateur Scouting Tyler Wright said after the draft. “At the end of the day, it’s not all about toughness. He can play with the puck, he’s got a really good shot and release, he puts himself in good positions, and he goes to the hard areas and stays there.”
Video: Reid Schaefer calls Wayne Gretzky