With significant roster turnover, are the new-look London Knights positioned to compete in 2025-26? Or even defend their back-to-back OHL titles?
It’s a changing of the guard for the London Knights, as they open up a new OHL regular season without several key players from the last couple of seasons — including last year’s Memorial Cup-winning juggernaut of a squad.
Core players for multiple seasons, including London’s back-to-back OHL championship teams, have graduated from junior hockey and moved on to the next step in their hockey careers.
That list incudes star players and key cogs like Easton Cowan, Denver Barkey, Oliver Bonk, Landon Sim, Kasper Halttunen, Jacob Julien, Jesse Nurmi, Blake Montgomery, and Cam Allen. Sam Dickinson could be included in that list as well. Despite being eligible to return for a third season as a Knight, the talented defenseman will get every opportunity to make the San Jose Sharks.
That core group won’t easily be replaced this year. Those 10 players combined for 178 goals and 556 points during the regular season last year — not to mention the many contributions that don’t show up on the stat sheet.
But the Knights are the Knights, and the organization is perpetually finding and recruiting talent. Meanwhile, Rob Simpson, the team’s associate general manager, says the squad has plenty of returning players looking to play bigger roles with the team this year.
“The guys that have waited their turn and wanted to be in key spots and be go-to players for our team are now going to be given the opportunity to show they can do that,” Simpson told Gameday London.
Despite the turnover, London starts the season with seven NHL prospects on their roster, including goaltender Aleksei Medvedev (Vancouver), defensemen Jared Woolley (Los Angeles), Linus Funck (Colorado) and Henry Brzustewicz (Los Angeles), and forwards Noah Read (Anaheim), Will Nicholl (Edmonton) and Sam O’Reilly (Tampa Bay).
Medvedev will be the go-to guy in net following the graduation of Austin Elliott. The pair split duties during the regular season last year before Elliott took over full starting duties in the playoffs. Now, it’s the Vancouver Canucks prospect’s turn in the starters role. He’ll have 19-year-old Sebastain Gatto as a backup.
It was a unique offseason, as new guidelines from the NCAA now allow OHL players to maintain their college eligibility. The rule took effect during the season last year, so this was the first offseason where OHL teams navigated the new junior hockey landscape.
“The start of the year will be interesting, seeing how all the teams stack up over the first six to eight weeks and which players can come in and adapt to the league right away,” Simpson told Gameday London. “It’s going to be fun to see the league’s transformation from last year to this year.”
Much like other teams around the league, the Knights took advantage of the new rules and brought in some older players who will be getting their first experience in the OHL at 18, 19, and even 20 years old. London’s two overagers fit into that category, as neither Braiden Clark nor Kaeden Hawkins have played an OHL game.
“Bringing in these guys, who had their focus on the NCAA but now have the opportunity to come over here, really allowed us to rebuild the team with some age and experience,” said Simpson. “That will give our younger guys more time to develop at the right pace as we bring them along.”
Julian Brown, Ben Wilmott, Brody Cook and goaltender Gatto are others who are joining the Knights as older first-year players. Meanwhile, there’s another logistical change this season: teams are now allowed three import players, one more than previously granted.
Along with Sam Dickinson, the Knights will also start the season without Will Nicholl, who underwent successful upper body surgery over the summer. He’s expected to miss the first couple months of the season.
London made a few transactions over the summer, including sending a fan favourite, Ryder Boulton, to Brantford. They also traded defenseman Liam Spencer to Niagara. In a separate trade with the IceDogs, they acquired 17-year-old forward Max Crete.
The rafters at Canada Life Place will get a bit more crowded Friday night when the Knights raise their Memorial Cup and J. Robertson Cup championship banners before they drop the puck on a new season against the Owen Sound Attack.
Fans may also notice some new equipment details across the league this year, as Under Armour released new jerseys for each team — although the colour schemes remain the same for most. Also, Bauer is the new equipment manufacturer for the CHL (it had previously been CCM).
UPCOMING GAMEDAYS
Friday (Sept. 19, 7:00pm) vs. Owen Sound
The Knights hoist their Memorial Cup and OHL Championship banners as they open the season against Owen Sound, a team they beat in the first round of last year’s playoffs. The Attack will be without Carter George to start the season while he attends training camp with the Los Angeles Kings. That’s a good break for London, as George is widely considered one of the top junior hockey goaltenders in the country. New Jersey Devils prospect Trenten Bennett will likely get the bulk of the opportunities in George’s absence, Komoka’s Matthew Koprowski won eight games with the Attack last season. Pierce Mbuyi had the most points among returning players with 29 goals and 52 points as a 16-year-old.
Saturday (Sept. 20, 7:05pm) at Windsor
This will be a good early test for the Knights against what should be one of the top teams in the Western Conference. A couple of local Carters are in the Spits’ lineup to start the season. Carter Hicks seems set for a breakout sophomore season after posting 16 points from the blue line last year. Thorndale’s Carter Froggett is also battling for playing time in net behind starter Joey Costanzo. Captain Liam Greentree will likely still be at camp with the Los Angeles Kings. He’s coming off an impressive 49-goal, 119-point season. Also keep an eye out for former first overall OHL pick Ethan Belchetz, who is eligible for the upcoming NHL draft. The Preseason CHL Top 10 Rankings have the Spitfires in 5th position to start the season, one of four OHL teams to crack the list.
