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Despite being ‘sellers’ at the trade deadline, the Knights gelled well and pushed their way to fourth place in the Western Conference, offering a glimpse of a return to contention in 2026-27.
The London Knights’ season ended following a first-round playoff loss to the Soo Greyhounds.
After three straight OHL Championship appearances, and back-to-back trips to the Memorial Cup, it was an earlier exit than the team has grown accustomed to.
And although expectations were much lower this spring, with the team having shifted to a rebuild mode at the trade deadline, the loss still hurt.
“The boys are heartbroken,” an emotional Henry Brzustewicz said following last Friday’s deciding Game 5 at Canada Life Place. “We want to win in London. That’s our goal. Anything short of that is not what we want.”
The Knights officially signalled their rebuild at the trade deadline, parting ways with captain Sam O’Reilly and Jared Woolley in an effort to replenish some draft picks and build towards next season.
Despite this shift, the Knights had a strong second half of the season and were able to surpass the Soo Greyhounds for fourth place in the Western Conference on the final day of the regular campaign, giving them home ice advantage in their first round series.
That effort was not lost on the Knights’ coaching staff.
“When you trade two of your best players, we could have just rolled (over), but they banded together and made it us versus the world,” assistant coach Dylan Hunter said. “I give them credit, battling right down to the final game to get home ice, through two overtime losses, and winning a big game on the road to extend the series.”
Following the departure of O’Reilly, their captain, Brzustewicz stepped into that main leadership role and the team rallied along with him, winning seven of their final 10 games of the season to secure home ice advantage.
Along with the rest of the leadership group, Brzustewicz said they tried to instill a winning culture in the new players, the way the previous group did to him.
“I hope we did a good enough job at passing that on to those guys so they can do the same thing we did,” he said.
Brzustewicz signed his entry-level deal with the Los Angeles Kings. Last Friday, after a season-ending loss, he reflected on his time in London.
“Won two championships and a Memorial Cup, too. It’s great to be a London Knight. I hope I get another chance to keep playing. It’s a fun group to be around.”
Sebastian Gatto, who was London’s go-to goalie down the stretch, opened the series for London against the Soo. But he was injured in a Game 3 road loss that went to double overtime. The Knights then turned to Aleksei Medvedev, who made 25 saves in his first start in over a month.
Hunter says that battling through injuries is all part of the postseason.
“Meds came in cold and played a hell of a game for us,” the coach said. “You don’t go through playoffs without someone getting injured and some adversity. It’s about having that next man up mentality.”
Those injuries allowed Cooper McAslan an opportunity to dress in four games, even seeing some time on London’s second powerplay unit. Alex Campeau, the Knights’ first-round pick in the 2025 draft, also suited up for one game. Both played this season with the GOHL’s London Nationals and are slated to be full-time fixtures in the Knights lineup next year.
Although their season on the ice is over, Knights management and scouting staff continue their preperations ahead of the OHL Priority Selection on June 12-13, which will be an in-person draft for the first time in 25 years.
London holds the 14th overall selection this year, their highest first-round pick since selecting future team captain Luke Evangelista 14th overall in the 2018 draft.
