The London Knights (55–11–2–0) captured it all last season, returning to the Memorial Cup final for the second straight year – this time bringing the trophy home. However, the conclusion of the 2024-25 season also marked the end of an era for the club, with core players such as Easton Cowan, Denver Barkey, Oliver Bonk, Landon Sim, and Kasper Halttunen all moving on.
Still, London is rarely out of the conversation. The perennial powerhouse will lean on its recent draft picks and signings, while handing the crease to Aleksei Medvedev, who steps into the starting role after the graduation of overager Austin Elliot. With their track record of developing talent and retooling on the fly, the Knights will once again set their sights on finishing atop the OHL, for what would be a third straight season.
Recent Transactions
*- denotes conditional draft pick
| DATE | TEAM | TRANSF. | TO | TEAM | TRANSF. |
| Jun. 26 | LDN | Ryder Boulton | BFD | KIT 7 2026 | |
| Jun. 19 | NIAG | Max Crete | LDN | Jacob Monks
LDN 9 2028 |
Futures Watch – a list of some of the new faces fans should be keeping an eye on as the team prepares for the upcoming campaign.
Five Questions Heading Into 2025-26
As the London Knights prepare to chase a third straight OHL crown, we posed five key questions about the upcoming season to media members who cover the team closely. Here’s what they had to say:
1. Who is your breakout candidate?
Greg Sloan (Play-by-play, Rogers TV): Logan Hawery
Rick Doyle (Colour commentator, Rogers TV): Jaxon Cover
Ryan Pyette (The London Free Press): Aleksei Medvedev. He may not go 55-3 like Austin Elliott did last year, but if he is one of the best goalies in the league, the Knights are in business.
Mike Stubbs (Play-by-play, AM 980 CFPL): Henry Brzustewicz – It’s going to be hard to call a first-round pick in the NHL a “Breakout Candidate,” but talk about the Knights’ defence for the past two seasons has often centred on Oliver Bonk, Sam Dickinson and Jared Woolley. Since entering the league, Brzustewicz has placed a strong emphasis on the defensive side of his game, but he began to show what he could do offensively as the year progressed. He scored a goal in the Memorial Cup round-robin, and his pass to Jacob Julien led to the first goal of the Memorial Cup final. Look for big plays at both ends of the ice that move Brzustewicz into every conversation about top defencemen in the league.
Jim Van Horne (Colour commentator, AM 980 CFPL): Logan Hawery. He has all the tools to take the jump to elite OHL scorer, eventually. Twenty-five goals and 60 points are realistic – a future captain.
2. What’s the Knights’ biggest question mark entering 2025-26?
Sloan: Replacing the veteran goal production from last year. Specifically, Cowan, Barkey, Halttunen and possibly Dickinson.
Doyle: Who will provide the offence?
Pyette: Their scoring. You lose Cowan, Barkey, Sim and Halttunen, that’s not easy offence to replace.
Stubbs: It’s a fairly easy one. How do you replace the offence lost to graduation? Out of 325 goals scored last season, 154 were scored by players who will not be on the roster this year. If Sam Dickinson makes the San Jose Sharks as a 19-year-old, that number grows to 183 or 56.3% of the team’s offence. London will also be without 21-goal scorer Will Nicholl to begin the year after he had off-season surgery.
Van Horne: Replacing Dickinson/Bonk high leverage minutes (assuming Dickinson sticks with the Sharks). The backbone of the league’s best defence was key to success.
3. Who will the Knights’ top NHL Draft prospect be by the end of the season?
Sloan: Logan Hawery
Doyle: Logan Hawery
Pyette: Logan Hawery, their first-round pick in 2024. The Barrie native may keep London’s NHL first-round run rolling.
Stubbs: Logan Hawery will get a great deal of attention for his ability to score goals. His release and accuracy are outstanding, and he plays the game very well in all zones. Hawery played in 33 games last season, but if you pro-rate his goals over an entire year, he was third among rookies.
Van Horne: Jaxon Cover. Skill, size and smarts are intriguing. Don’t sleep on Hawery, either. He’ll be hard to ignore.
4. Which new addition are you most excited to see?
Sloan: Jaxon Cover
Doyle: Maksim Sokolovskii
Pyette: Jaxon Cover is still learning the game and gets better every day. The St. Andrew’s College product grew up playing roller hockey in the Cayman Islands and has all the tools to be great.
Stubbs: Jaxon Cover. Jaxon grew up in the Cayman Islands playing roller hockey. This will be his fifth year of ice hockey, but he is a dynamite player and prospect. He can make highlight reel plays and goes hard into every area every time he is on the ice.
Van Horne: Max Crete. Pick-up from Niagara can really make a difference with his skill.
5. Who will the Knights’ MVP be in 2025-26?
Sloan: Sam O’Reilly
Doyle: Aleksei Medvedev
Pyette: Sam O’Reilly. He is already one of the best two-way players in the league.
Stubbs: Sam O’Reilly. Sam plays every game the same way – hard and honest. He is the kind of player who can do anything you need him to on the ice, and his preparation and IQ for the game put him in an elite class. There is a reason that he was traded one-for-one for Hobey Baker winner Ike Howard this summer. If Sam Dickinson is returned to the London Knights by San Jose, then this will turn into a Sam and Sam award in 2025-26
Van Horne: Aleksei Medvedev. Ready to be the number one goalie.
