Will Knights enter holidays on a high?

Knight Watch: London won two of three last weekend without its stars; Big trade brings key defenceman to the Forest City; Goaltending duo continues to shine; It’s Erie Wednesday, Sarnia at home Friday …

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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It was a big week for the London Knights, as they picked up a couple of big wins — and then made a trade to help bolster a potentially lengthy playoff run.

The Knights took four out of a possible six points last weekend against two of the top teams in the Western Conference. They first split a home-and-home against the Windsor Spitfires, and then rounded out the weekend with a 3-2 victory Sunday over the Kitchener Rangers.

A pretty good result for a team that was missing some of its biggest contributors.

Sam Dickinson, Easton Cowan and Oliver Bonk were absent from the lineup for all three games as the trio continues its time with Team Canada’s World Junior squad. Denver Barkey returned to the Knights’ lineup Sunday after being released from Canada’s camp for the second straight year. London will now see the departures of Jesse Nurmi and Kasper Halttunen, as the pair head to Finland’s World Junior camp.

But some relief is on the way, as the Knights acquired from the Guelph Storm defenceman Cam Allen, a Washington Capitals prospect. Going the other way in the trade is Ilderton’s Noah Jenken, along with seven draft picks.

With less than a month until the OHL trade deadline, Rob Simpson, the Knights’ associate general manager, says it’s a good opportunity for the team to see what they have — and perhaps more importantly, assess what they need.

“It’s a good time for us as management to assess where the young players are, who’s ready to play more often and who maybe needs a bit more development,” Simpson told Gameday London.

Last year with players away at the World Junior tournament, the Knights used the opportunity to kickstart a streak that saw them go 23 straight games without a regulation loss.

Simpson says the way the team played during December last year showed the front office that they didn’t need to make any major moves at last year’s deadline.

The Knights traded Noah Jenken, along with seven draft picks, to the Guelph Storm for defenceman Cam Allen. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

“We believe that you don’t have to make five or six trades to improve your team if you’re already having success,” the associate GM said. “It’s about looking at what specifically you think needs to be added.

“The last couple of years we really haven’t done much at the deadline, and that’s just because we felt really confident with the players we had in our organization. We felt they could do the job we needed in the playoffs.”

Over the weekend, Jacob Julien, William Nicholl and Sam O’Reilly each accrued multiple points, while Jared Wooley handled some big minutes on the blueline. Those four, among others, will carry the bulk of the workload over the next couple of weeks.

Between the pipes, Aleksei Medvedev and Austin Elliott are among the OHL’s top goaltending duos, as both rank in the top five in both goals-against average and save percentage.

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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UPCOMING GAMEDAYS

Wednesday (Dec. 18, 7:00pm) @ Erie Otters (16-9-3-1, 4th in Western Conference)

The Knights face a dangerous Otters team in a midweek matchup in Erie. The Otters will be without draft-eligible defenseman Matthew Schaefer, who is with Canada’s World Junior team, but they still have a very dangerous lineup. The trio of Sam Alfano, Malcolm Spence, and Pano Fimis each have 37 points. Fimis is the older brother of newly acquired Knights defenceman Andonis Fimis. Noah Erliden is capable of stealing a game in net, and former first overall pick in the CHL Import Draft, Martin Misiak, is coming off a three-point game. Callum Hughes, who has three goals in his last three games, signed with the Otters as a free agent in November and has a commitment in place to Boston University.

Friday (Dec. 20, 7:00pm) vs. Sarnia Sting (10-17-2-5, 8th in Western Conference)

It has been a dreadful last month and a half for the Sarnia Sting, but things look to finally be heading in the right direction for the team, as they picked up five out of a possible six points last weekend. Before that, they’d lost 18 of their previous 20 games. Luke Beamish is the reigning Rookie of the Week. He had four goals and seven points in three games. Captain Lukas Fischer missed just over a month to injury, but he’s back in the lineup and had a pair of goals last weekend. His impact can’t be overstated. The St. Louis Blues prospect contributes in all three zones and eats up a lot of minutes on a young blueline. Komoka’s Beckham Edwards has 13 goals in his rookie season, one of which came against London in their first meeting.

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

KNIGHTS BY THE NUMBERS

7 - The Knights have scored the second most shorthanded goals this season (only Erie has scored more with eight).

117 - Five Knights players will play in the World Junior Championship — Sam Dickinson, Oliver Bonk and Easton Cowan with Canada, and Kasper Halttunen and Jesse Nurmi with Finland. The quintet have combined for 117 points so far this season. 

317 - Make it a baker’s dozen for Austin Elliott. He improved to a perfect 13-0-0-0 in a Knights uniform last weekend. He’s turned aside 317 shots so far during his tenure with the team.

50 - With a 25-6-0-0 record, the Knights are the first team to hit 50 points this season. The last time the Knights had 50 points heading into the holiday break was the 2015-16 season.

A LOOK AT THE LOCALS

- Former London Junior Knight Jett Luchanko is one of 14 OHLers named to Canada’s roster for the World Juniors. The Philadelphia Flyers prospect started the year with the NHL club, and he has 20 points through 16 games since returning to the Guelph Storm.

- Ryan Roobroeck is the OHL Player of the Week. The Niagara IceDogs forward had four goals and nine points through three games last weekend. The former London Junior Knight has scored the third most goals in the OHL this season.

AROUND THE OHL

- The Guelph Storm traded Swedish forward Vilmer Alriksson to the Brampton Steelheads for a pair of third-round picks and a second-round pick.

- Sarnia Sting overage forward Tyson Doucette has signed a commitment to play at Colgate University. He’s the latest OHLer to take advantage of the NCAA ruling that grants players eligibility at U.S. colleges.

- What a story the IceDogs have been in Niagara. They just won their 20th game of the season, something they’ve only done once since 2019 when they won the Central Division with 44 wins and 95 points. They’re currently tied for the division lead with Barrie.