OHL West is a wild open race
Call it the Wild West. While there are many who are of the notion that the Saginaw Spirit is the presumptive choice to finish atop the West Division of the Ontario Hockey League in ’26-27 there does not appear to be a clear cut difference between the other four teams, namely the Soo Greyhounds, Windsor Spitfires, Flint Firebirds and Sarnia Sting.
At any rate, what we have written just ahead of the start of the ’26-27 OHL regular season includes names and notables among the five teams of the OHL West. Teams are listed in a projected order of finish that is more about creating conversation than it is about anything concrete.
Saginaw. The Spirit should have no problem putting pucks past goalies led by captain Dima Zhilkin, recently acquired Braidy Wassilyn (from the London Knights) and ’25-26 scoring champion and rookie of the year Nikita Klepov. Defenseman Levi Harper should further shine after a sensational rookie season and the Spirit is more than set in the net with Stepan Shurygin and Brady Knowling. On the bench, former Greyhound assistant Brendan Taylor takes the helm as the careful, calculated choice of general manager Dave Drinkill.
Sault Ste. Marie. The Greyhounds finally have a good head coach again as world class junior level instructor Drew Bannister returns to the Soo bench following a successful seven year run in the pro ranks. The Hounds have plenty of scoring sizzle sparked by seasoned skaters Jordan Charron, Travis Hayes, Jeremy Martin, Quinn McKenzie and Colin Fitzgerald. The blue line has depth backed by Lukas Moore (an off season acquisition from the Kingston Frontenacs), Callum Croskery and Harris Pangretitsch. With three good size goalies in overage Landon Miller, import David Vermirovsky and William Camputaro, general manager Kyle Raftis is holding a trade chip.
Windsor. This is my pick as the sleeper team of the West as gunslinger general manager Billy Bowler is coming off of a tireless off season in which he signed several incoming players from various OHL and import drafts. All in all, the list of newcomers includes forwards Ty Bergeron, Michal Svrcek, Bogdan Yakushevsky and 2026 first rounder Lauchlan Whelan along with defensemen Grady Spicer, Jesse Debruyn, Sam Wathier and Drake Gram and backup goalie Jake Windbiel. An under-rated list of returnees includes forwards Anthony Cristoforo, Ethan Garden, Caden Harvey, Beksultan Makysh, Johnny McLaughlin and Max Brocklehurst, defensemen Conor Walton, Andrew Robinson and Jonathan Brown and goalie Michael Newlove. Behind the bench, long-time OHL head coach Greg Walters is known for getting the most out of his players.
Flint. Prime forwards include captain Jimmy Lombardi, Charlie Murata and Darian Anderson and a there is a solid blue line brigade that features Dryden Allen, Luka Graziano, Rylan Fellinger and newcomer Nick Bogas. The Firebirds have net worth with youthful returnee Mason Courville and 6 foot 8 overage Trenten Bennett, formerly of the Owen Sound Attack. Flint is well coached by Paul Flache and well managed by Dave McParlan.
Sarnia. The Sting has missed the playoffs three years in a row and getting back in this season is not a given. Sarnia does have some good returnees up front including captain Alessandro Di Iorio and pure goal scorer Easton Walos. On the back end, there are Cole Emmerton, formerly of the Barrie Colts, and 2026 first rounder Adrian Sgro, who both are expected to play a lot in front of incoming import goalie Ivan Tkach-Tkachenko.
feature photo of Bogdan Yakushevsky of Windsor and Callum Croskery of the Soo by Bob Davies
