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After a rare season that saw them sell at the trade deadline, the London Knights are back with big aspirations in 2026-27. They’re looking to get back to the top — with plenty of new faces and some key returnees.
Following a string of championship seasons, including a Memorial Cup win two years ago, the London Knights are coming off a rare rebuilding year which saw them in the middle of the pack of the standings rather than their usual spot at or near the top. But with a new season on the horizon, they now look poised to reenter the conversation among contenders once again.
Despite the so-called ‘off year,’ the Knights still managed to win 40 games for the fourth straight season — although they did see their string of Midwest Division titles end at six, and they bowed out in the playoffs to the eventual Memorial Cup champs in Kitchener.
The Knights made a handful of moves prior to the season as they tweaked their roster, including adding Carson Harmer from Saginaw in a trade that sent forward Brady Wassilyn to Michigan. Rene Van Bommel, Linus Funck and Brody Cook were also traded in three separate moves with North Bay, Oshawa, and Kingston, respectively.
Meanwhile, London added Marcus Nordmark, a first-round pick of Anaheim, as well as Luca Santala and Kane Barch, both of whom are expected to be selected in next spring’s NHL draft. Barch is the son of former Knight Krys Barch. Ryan Beaulieau and Anthony Thomas Maroon will also make their Knights debuts this season, following the footsteps of their own dads who also played their junior hockey careers in London.
Assistant coach Dylan Hunter says that since the Knights, as an organization, rely heavily on their systems, they’ve been getting everyone up to speed right from the start of training camp.
“We want to see early how guys adjust. Some of the guys may be familiar, and for others it’s an entirely new system,” Hunter told Gameday London. “So, we try to see how quickly guys take to it, and what adjustments need to be made.”
One question mark to start the season is Henry Brzustewicz, who is eligible to return to London and would be one of the league’s top defencemen. But as a first-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings, he’s eligible to play in the AHL this season if he doesn’t make the Kings’ lineup.
Knowing the type of player Brzustewicz is, Hunter expects he’ll get a good long look.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes it. He did that at 16 with us. He found a way to find minutes. Guys with high hockey IQ like that can, so I know he’ll give them a lot to chew on over there.”
London had a pair of players selected in the first round of the most recent NHL draft. Jaxon Cover scored 20 goals as a rookie and is coming off an impressive showing at rookie camp with the Ottawa Senators. Maksim Sokolovskii, meanwhile, is expected to be a dominant force on London’s blueline. He was one of the most improved Knights throughout last season, and was selected 27th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers.
Last year’s leading scorer, Ryan Brown, is a key returnee as well. He was acquired from Sarnia last December and went on to score 16 goals and 40 points in 33 regular season games with London.
Evan Van Gorp returns as one of London’s three overage players. Geno Carcone and Thomas Zocco, who both played in the USHL last year, round out that list. Zocco is committed to Quinnipiac University for next season, while Van Gorp had previously committed to the University of New Hampshire.
“Evan will be one of our leaders playing against the top guys, and we’ll be relying on him both ends of the ice,” said Hunter. “For a guy who was a free agent walk on, and grew up in the area, he bleeds this team, and the guys really look up to him.”
After splitting goaltending duties over the last two seasons, look for Aleksei Medvedev to handle a bulk of the workload in net. Brian Cooke will likely start the season as the backup. He was selected in the third round of the most recent OHL draft despite turning 18 in April. Charlie Weiss and Kobe Nadalin, both 17 years old, are on the team’s radar as well. They’ll likely spend the majority of the year playing junior B locally.
On that note, the Knights, as they often do, have a handful of players who spent most of last year in junior B and who are now ready to make the jump to the bright lights of the OHL.
Jake Ritson, who scored a pair of goals during the pre-season, is coming off a year with the Strathroy Rockets where he was one of the GOHL’s top point producers as a 16-year-old. Owen Miniotas and Jacob Vandeven, who spent last year with the Komoka Kings, are also expected to be with the Knights this season. Vandeven played with London in the playoffs and was selected in the NHL draft by the Boston Bruins.
Eloan Le Gallic played with the St. Thomas Stars last year, he’ll have a good opportunity to play with the Knights this season. As will Cody Woods, Cooper McAslan and Alex Campeau. All three spent last year primarily with the London Nationals.
These players will hope to follow success stories of those who took similar routes through the GOHL on to OHL stardom, like Easton Cowan, Oliver Bonk, and Sam O’Reilly. Hunter says the junior B ranks give young players an opportunity to play more meaningful minutes than they would in the OHL at such a young age.
“I know everyone comes in at 16 and wants to make the OHL, but it’s good for the guys who can still practice with us, play a couple games, and then go down to junior B and dominate,” Hunter said. “It allows them to get a bit more ice time, play the half wall on the power play. It helps them get used to playing with older guys and learn how to adjust their game accordingly.”
There was something a little different about training camp this season, as the Knights travelled out west for a pair of games against the WHL’s Victoria Royals. It’s something Hunter says got the competitive juices flowing.
“We had a great time out there. Obviously, Victoria is beautiful. It was good for everybody, staff included, to get a little early season bonding before we get going. For a lot of them, it was their first time flying out west.”
London opens the season Friday, Sept. 18 when they host the Windsor Spitfires for the first half of a home-and-home series. The Knights will play five of their first six games on home ice.
