Prospect Watch: Brian O’Neill
RinkRoyalty will be reviewing the progress of Los Angeles Kings prospects every Wednesday as the season continues into full swing.
This week’s edition of Prospect Watch takes a look at forward Brian O’Neill.
Brian O’Neill is a 26-year-old, 5’8, 170 pound player from Yardley, Pennslyvania. At a young age O’Neill attended Germantown Acadmeny in Fort Washington, Pennslyvania. Germantown Academy is a private school that caters to grades Pre-Kindergarten through 12th, or Senior year of high school. Germantown Acadmeny is the oldest nonsectarian academy in the United States. Other notable Germantown Academy alumni include, the actor Bradly Cooper, and former New York Rangers goaltender Mike Richter.
After high-school O’Neill joined the United States Hockey League’s Chicago Steel. The USHL is an amateur junior hockey league for players under 20 years of age. After one season, O’Neill made his way to NCAA Division I hockey. O’Neill began his collegiate career at Yale University in 2008, at the age of 20.
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O’Neill went on to play four years for the Yale Bulldogs in Division I’s Eastern College Athletic Conference. After finishing his fourth year playing for Yale, O’Neill signed a one-year entry-level contract with the Los Angeles Kings in March of 2012. There were a number of different teams interested in signing O’Neill, but he chose the Kings because they had shown interest in him the previous summer, offering him a similiar contract before his senior year. Ultimately O’Neill elected to return to Yale for one last chance to win a National Championship. He would miss by one year. While O’Neill was embarking on his American Hockey League career with the Manchester Monarchs, Yale would go on to win the Men’s Hockey National Title in 2013.
O’Neill finished his collegiate career second on Yale’s all-time scoring list, with a total of 69 goals, 94 assists, and 163 points in 138 games.
Last year was a career year for O’Neill despite an injury that ended his regular season early. In his second full season with the Monarchs O’Neill put up career highs in goals-26, assists-21, and points-47. O’Neill’s 2013-2014 season also included a massive, team-leading +31 in the +/- category.
More recently, O’Neill resigned a two-year extension with the Kings on May 1st, of 2014. O’Neill attended the Kings 2014 training camp and registered an assist in a preseason shootout loss to the Arizona Coyotes. O’Neill was placed on waivers on September 26th, after the Kings made their second round of cuts. Luckily for Manchester O’Neill cleared waivers and rejoined the team for the beginning of the Monarch’s training camp.
O’Neill’s dominance with the Monarchs continues. In Manchester’s season opener on Sunday, October 12th in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton against the Penguins, O’Neill scored a goal and an assist. He also registered 3 shots and a +1 rating in the 4-1 Monarch victory. O’Neill has registered a point in his last five regular season games, going back to last season. Over that span O’Neill has two goals and four assists.
Despite his smaller frame O’Neill continues to produce at hockey’s highest levels. He’s tenacious and tough; even willing to drop the gloves and muck it up with the opposition. Some consider his game to be comparable to NHL star Martin St. Louis, who also came into the NHL through the NCAA ranks.
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O’Neill’s major drawback is age. Time isn’t on his side. He is at the upper limit age of Kings prospects. He is currently the fourth oldest prospect the Kings have, and only four months younger than the Kings oldest prospect defensemen Andrew Campbell. The other drawback is his size. The Kings play a physical brand of hockey, so it’s hard to find room for a small forward. However, O’Neill does have grit. Small physical players like Mike Richards make it work. If he keeps up his production perhaps Brian O’Neill can too.
We’ll continue to watch. Perhaps O’Neill will lead the Monarchs in scoring again. That’s sure to keep the Kings interested in his services.
Manchester’s next game is Friday, October 17th at Norfolk Admirals. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EST.