When you get a chance to impress someone you need to take advantage.
Four players have agreed to OHL Scholarship and Development Agreements with four players who attended the London Knights 2023 training camp.
Defencemen Henry Brzustewicz and Jared Woolley and forwards Evan Van Gorp and Ryder Boulton are now officially a part of the Knights family.
Going into the 2023-24 season, London was going to have a deep roster. The only players definitely not returning from the team that went all the way to the OHL Championship were the three graduating overagers in goaltender Brett Brochu and co-captains Sean McGurn and George Diaco and defenceman Logan Mailloux.
Mailloux will begin his pro career in the Montreal Canadiens organization, Brochu is with the Fort Wayne Komets of the ECHL, George Diaco is in Sweden with Tranas AIF and McGurn is with the University of New Brunswick.
That made training camp extra competitive but as Knights associate general manager Rob Simpson pointed out at the start of camp, “We’ve had success in the past of signing free agents or having someone pop up in camp who has gotten a lot better,” said Simpson.
Here is a closer look at the four newest London players:
Ryder Boulton – Forward – Atlanta
Boulton provides a great six degrees of separation story, Joining the Knights brings his family full-circle. Boulton, father Eric played 654 games in the National Hockey League with the Buffalo Sabres, Atlanta Thrashers, New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders.
Eric Boulton also played for Mark Hunter in 1995 and 1996 when Hunter was the head coach of the Sarnia Sting. Ryder is the kind of player who you can’t help but notice on the ice because he seems to be involved in everything going on all of the time.
Evan Van Gorp – Forward – Watford, Ont.
Van Gorp was one of the true feel good stories of London’s 2023 training camp. He attended as a free agent after playing his minor hockey in Lambton and with the Elgin-Middlesex Canucks and impressed with his ability to make plays at high speed.
Van Gorp scored the game-winning goal in overtime in the annual Green and Gold game.
Jared Woolley – Defenceman – Port Hope, Ont.
Wooley was the Knights’ sixth round pick in 2022. The 17-year old brings excellent size at six-feet-three-inches and 190 pounds. He can play physical and does a good job moving the puck out of his own zone.
Wolley played last season with the Quinte Red Devils U18 AAA team.
Henry Brzustewicz – Defenceman – Washington, Mich.
Brzustewicz was acquired from the Ottawa 67’s on Sept. 1 for two second-round picks and a third-round pick. He is a 16-year old who brings a real presence to the ice for a young player. Brzustewicz is very good in his own end and possesses an excellent shot. Brzustewicz’s brother Hunter is a member of the Kitchener Rangers.
London will open the 2023 pre-season against the Sarnia Sting on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 4 p.m. at Budweiser Gardens.
The Knights and the Sting will play again in Sarnia, Ont., on Sept. 10 at 2 p.m.
Both games can be heard at 980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.