The London Knights are now stacked with NHL first-round picks and ready to make a serious push for the championship again.
The addition of Finnish defenseman Juho Piiparinen from the Vegas camp solidifies London’s status as one of the Ontario Hockey League’s elite teams in the early part of this season. The 18-year-old Golden Knights prospect joins Marcus Nordmark (Ducks), Maksim Sokolovskii (Flyers), and Jaxon Cover (Senators) on a Knights roster that’s geared up for another title chase.
“It takes a full team to win, but you still need stars,” said London associate GM Rob Simpson. “You need players when the pressure mounts in the playoffs – like Easton Cowan, Denver Barkey, Oliver Bonk, and Sam Dickinson did (in 2024-25) – they make special plays at crucial moments.”
“We’re hoping for big things from these guys, but we believe we have a strong team overall. We like the direction we’re heading right now.”
To create room on the roster for Piiparinen, the Knights traded Finnish forward Luca Santala to the Kitchener Rangers on Thursday in exchange for second-, third-, fourth-, and eighth-round picks in the 2030 OHL priority selection. Additionally, London received a Rangers first-round import pick in 2027 by giving up a third-rounder in that same draft.
Santala, who is considered a top prospect for 2027 NHL draft, made his OHL debut with London last Friday but sat out during Saturday’s rematch in Windsor. He practiced this week with the Knights.
London’s recent roster moves are reminiscent of late first-round selections from the 2026 NHL draft held in Buffalo last June. Sokolovskii (No. 27), Nordmark (No. 28), and Piiparinen (No. 29) were picked back-to-back while Cover was selected as the final pick (No. 32) of that round.
“We’re really excited to add Juho,” Simpson stated. “He had an outstanding NHL camp and looked great during his exhibition game. He has size, agility, and served as captain on multiple teams back home. We’re grateful to Vegas for trusting us with his development.”
“He’s going to be another player who brings excitement to our fans and building.”
Piiparinen represented a bold move by Mark Hunter and his scouting team. After drafting promising Finnish forward Luca Santala over the summer, there was already congestion among imports with Linus Funck, Sokolovskii, and Nordmark already signed.
According to new import rules, if they chose again in round two (at No. 101 overall), they would have had to select an NHL first-rounder.
“We took a chance knowing Nordmark hadn’t confirmed coming here,” Simpson explained. “In that situation while drafting Luca, we picked Piiparinen so we could immediately place him on our frozen list for imports right away. It wasn’t part of our original plan that either player would show up; it was somewhat uncertain based on our understanding of what we could do under those rules.”
“It turned out well for us this year.”
London Knights Ryan Brown, left, and Aleksei Medvedev (Postmedia file photos)
CAVALRY COMING: More skilled players are making their way back home.
Veteran forward Ryan Brown returned to London after attending training camp with Dallas while goaltender Aleksei Medvedev is back following his time with Vancouver Canucks.
The only remaining player from last year’s squad is Cover, who had an impressive rookie tournament with Ottawa. He dealt with a lower-body injury during main camp but is still currently staying in Ottawa.
While he’s out, over-ager Evan Van Gorp has had an excellent start scoring two goals and five points across two games so far. The Knights will rely on this experienced Watford native as he enters his fourth year in OHL play for leadership.
“Van Gorp has been part of our group for quite some time,” GM Mark Hunter noted. “So has Medvedev; they know what needs doing to ensure our team acts cohesively like one family – everyone gets along while working together effectively.”
“We have a solid core here.”
LUCKY LEAGUE: The OHL is quite fortunate that the Knights won their home opener last week against Windsor after overtime drama.
That thrilling finish led to league officials addressing issues after London received an incorrect delay-of-game penalty due to a challenge regarding Windsor’s controversial tying goal scored less than 14 seconds before regulation ended. They also confirmed Spitfires coach Greg Walters’ statement regarding video review being unavailable throughout most of that game-yet it somehow worked when London challenged late into third period action.
Essentially , the Knights shouldn’t have been penalized because goals scored within final minutes or overtime should automatically be reviewed according to league rules. Fortunately , London managed through killing off that delay-of-game call and clinched victory thanks to Cooper Mc Aslan’s dramatic late play.
In terms of video review technology , there can be hiccups occasionally which can’t always be avoided. A better guideline might be setting forth that if review systems aren’t functional at beginning periods , they shouldn’t function at all until those periods conclude.
That would address many concerns raised by Walters understandably regarding officiating decisions made during games.
“The OHL acknowledges both procedural plus technical challenges seen during Friday’s match-up taking place here,” stated league officials via communication sent earlier today addressed toward The Free Press newspaper.” These matters have been discussed internally along-side representatives representing both franchises involved ; additionally efforts are underway ensuring any ongoing technical difficulties get resolved prior ahead upcoming contests scheduled later this week.”
The initial step begins simply acknowledging existence underlying problem mentioned previously observed earlier before debate arises concerning whether Windsor’s tying shot counted validly versus potential goaltender interference causing disallowed attempt instead entirely…AROUND THE RINK: Knights’ second-rounder Jack Samek found success netting hat trick alongside six-point performance contributing towards dominating victory against La Salle Vipers winning emphatically eight-one Wednesday night within Western Fair facility preceding junior b matchup commencing onward facing Stratford come Friday evening.. Former Knight Landon Sim engaged physically dropping gloves versus ex-Kitchener Ranger Matt Andonovski occurring recently witnessed Toronto-Ottawa exhibition clash earning takedown victory showcasing skill-set displayed prominently illustrating two former Memorial Cup champions competing fiercely amid contest ! Lastly watch closely unbeaten St Thomas Stars playing brilliantly showcasing talent featured prominently involving several talented prospects including Ryker Kesler currently participating enjoying strong performances thus far.
Ryan Pyette joined The in twenty-oh-one having spent majority career covering local national sports stories originating mainly from Sault Ste Marie area earning awards throughout journalism industry involving numerous Olympics memorial cups world championships international sporting events !
rpyette@postmedia. com
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KNIGHTSWATCH
Friday : vs Owen Sound , seven PM at Canada Life Place. The Attack split meetings occurring previously opening weekend season schedule.
Ryan Pyette joined The in twenty-oh-one having spent majority career covering local national sports stories originating mainly from Sault Ste Marie area earning awards throughout journalism industry involving numerous Olympics memorial cups world championships international sporting events !
rpyette@postmedia. comSource link
