Plum players in Brantford
A flock of frenzied fans who follow the Brantford Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League figure to focus on a freight full of National Hockey League draft picks come the ’25-26 season.
The print out of NHL prospects who are projected to play prominent positions for the Bulldogs in ’25-26 include forwards Marek Vanacker (first round, Chicago Blackhawks, 2024), Jake O’Brien (first round, Seattle Kraken, 2025), Adam Benak (fourth round, Minnesota Wild, 2025) and Sam McCue (seventh round, Toronto Maple Leafs, 2024), defensemen Owen Protz (fourth round, Montreal Canadiens, 2024) and Edison Engle (sixth round, Winnipeg Jets, 2025) and goalie Ryerson Leenders (seventh round, Buffalo Sabres, 2024.)
Overall, Brantford is making no secret that it has intentions of Eastern Conference supremacy in ’25-26 under fresh ownership led by Stuart Hyman and his sons Zach Hyman (of Edmonton Oilers, NHL fame) and Spencer Hyman.
Spencer Hyman, who will be the first year GM at age 31 after a decade of apprenticeship in the junior A ranks, not only inherits a good group of Bulldogs from ’24-25 but he himself has had a fine summer on the player acquisition front.
Besides the overage McCue, who was obtained in an off season trade with the Flint Firebirds, Hyman as the GM also traded for fibrous forward Ryder Boulton from the London Knights.
Meanwhile, in addition to the aforementioned NHL draft picks, the Bulldogs also have rising, younger players such as 2008 birth year forwards — and soon to be second year skaters — Aiden O’Donnell and Nik Rossetto. (Rossetto, it should be noted, is recovering from off season shoulder surgery.)
All in all, the Brantford Civic Centre — aka the 58-year old Mad House on Market St. that routinely plays to capacity crowds of 3,000 plus — is setting up for what could be a banner style season in ’25-26.