Knight Watch: Diaco comes home; Tough weekend test ahead

The 0-3 Knights made a pair of trades this week, including adding local player George Diaco, who should help with the team’s early scoring woes. Columnist Jake Jeffrey has all the latest Knights news & notes …

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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Scoring struggles have been the main culprit in a rare 0-3 start for the London Knights this season, who have scored just four goals in their first three games of the 2022-23 campaign — with only two of those coming from forwards (Sean McGurn, Easton Cowan).

But some help is on the way. This week, in a trade with the Hamilton Bulldogs, the Knights brought in some local talent with a knack for scoring: George Diaco. The former London Jr. Knight had 27 goals and 70 points with the OHL champs last season, and he’d produced two goals and four points in a pair of games to kick things off this year for the Bulldogs.

The addition may be just what the doctor ordered for a team with loads of young talent up front, but one that lacks a bonafide point-per-game producer that it can rely on.

The trade, which sent a pair of draft picks (3rd Round in 2023; 2nd Rd in 2024) to Hamilton, added another overager to the Knights’ roster, prompting the team to make a corresponding trade with Niagara that sent 20-year-old defenseman Gerard Keane to the IceDogs. Coming to London in that deal is defenseman Alec Leonard, whose presence adds to an even deeper defensive unit.

Logan Mailloux is expected back from the Montreal Canadiens and should help the team’s offence from the blue line once he’s cleared to play. He had three goals and nine points in a dozen games last season, and his return will provide an immediate boost to London’s powerplay, which has just one goal in 11 opportunities thus far.

Mailloux’s return would give London nine defensemen, and although depth is never a bad thing, there won’t be enough ice time for everyone. That said, this does give London a couple of different options if they’re looking to move one or more players for some additional offensive help.

Looking to the weekend, the Knights will have their hands full as they get set to face a pair of Eastern Conference foes. Both Mississauga and Hamilton are off to 3-1 starts, the latter the defending OHL champs, and the former looking to make that type of run this season.

This weekend also marks the return of cross-conference play in the OHL. With the exception of a London game against Barrie last season, there has been no cross-conference regular season games since before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

San Jose Sharks prospect Max McCue will be absent from both games this weekend as he serves a two-game suspension for instigating a fight late in London’s last game against Erie.

George Diaco, shown here at last year’s OHL Outdoor Showcase, was acquired by the London Knights this week from the Hamilton Bulldogs, where he tallied 27 goals and 70 points in 2021-22 — and won an OHL championship. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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UPCOMING GAMEDAYS

Friday (Oct. 14, 7:00pm) vs. Mississauga Steelheads (3-1-0-0)

It’s been awhile since the Steelheads have played at Budweiser Gardens, but they’ll make the trip for the first time since January 2020 on Friday with the return of cross-conference play this year. Zakary Lavoie has four goals in four games to start the season, while Luca Del Bel Belluz and James Hardie are also players to keep an eye on for their offensive prowess. Chas Sharpe and Ethan Del Mastro lead things on the back end, while Alessio Beglieri is the reigning OHL goaltender of the week.

Sunday (Oct. 16, 2:00pm) @ Hamilton Bulldogs (3-1-0-0) (Hamilton plays Kingston Friday)

George Diaco will get an immediate opportunity to face his former team when the Knights visit the Bulldogs Sunday. The defending OHL champs still pack quite the punch this season, led offensively by Logan Morrison and Avery Hayes, who have combined for six goals and 14 points in Hamilton’s first four games. The Bulldogs could have a pair of local Noahs in the lineup, with Belmont’s Noah VandenBrink and London’s Noah Nelson on the roster.

A LOOK AT THE LOCALS

Brady Stonehouse scored a pair of goals in Ottawa’s 5-3 win over Kitchener, giving the Belmont native three goals on the young season.

Michael Simpson made 26 saves to help Peterborough blank Barrie 5-0, recording his second career OHL shutout. The former London Jr. Knight netminder improves to 3-1 on the season for the Petes.

Dylan Roebroek has found an early groove with his new team, tallying three assists in Oshawa’s win over Niagara. He had points in the first four games of the season before being held off the scoresheet Saturday.

KNIGHTS BY THE NUMBERS

1 - London has scored just one powerplay goal on 11 chances, but they’ve also only surrendered a single powerplay goal against, killing off 14 successfully.

4 - The number of goals London has scored through their first three games — six fewer than the next-lowest team.

9 - On the flip side, London’s nine goals against are the lowest among all OHL teams. Playing just three games so far certainly helps, but their three goals allowed per game average matches Windsor for tops in the Western Conference through action Wednesday.

6 - With Logan Mailloux expected to return from the Montreal Canadiens this week, it will give the Knights six players in their lineup that have been drafted into the NHL.

3 - Three straight losses to open the season, something that hasn’t been done by a London team since 2007-08 when they started the year with six straight losses. That team, led by future Stanley Cup champion Patrick Maroon, still managed to finish fourth in the Western Conference with 38 wins and 82 points, but they ended up losing to the Guelph Storm in the first round of the playoffs.