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The retooling of the London Knights roster has been in full throttle throughout August. GM Mark Hunter has been actively signing free agents with valuable junior-level experience. Additionally, through the import draft, the team has acquired a large right-shot defenseman who was selected by the Colorado Avalanche in this past June's draft.

On Monday, the Knights organization announced the signing of Swedish blueliner Linus Funck to an OHL Scholarship and Development Agreement. London used their first-round selection (58th overall) in the 2025 CHL Import Draft to take Funck. He is the 13th player from the first round of the draft to sign in the OHL for the upcoming season. 

We've signed @Avalanche prospect Linus Funck to an OHL Scholarship & Development Agreement.

DETAILS: https://t.co/2gTiBb6xevpic.twitter.com/J5FZup0BJu

— London Knights (@LondonKnights) August 18, 2025

Funck, 18, was taken 118th overall in the fourth round of the 2025 NHL Draft by the Avalanche. He played in Sweden’s top junior league (J20 Nationell) for the Lulea HF organization. Funck led his team in scoring amongst defensemen with 28 points (5 goals, 23 assists) in 48 games. Also, he wasn’t afraid to mix it up from time to time, a trait the Hunter brothers will adore, recording 59 penalty minutes. 

London Knights Bolster Lineup With Latest Two SigningsThere’s one thing that the London Knights don’t do: rebuild. Fresh off back-to-back OHL Championships, and several of their star players leaving the team due to graduating to the professional level or aging out of the league, don’t expect the Hunter brothers to stay quiet.

“Defensively, Funck shows good awareness and positioning within his own end. He’s quick on puck retrievals and shows great intensity when battling for the puck in the corners and down low. He anticipates and kills plays very well and does a great job of quickly transitioning to offense. While he has some bite, if he adds a little more strength to his game, he could become even more of a threat on the backend.” 

Peter Baracchini, a writer for The Hockey Writers, wrote a draft profile for Funck. The above quote is just a snippet describing Funck’s value on the defensive side of the puck. In his article, he mentions that the Swede is a pass-first kind of player, but does a good job at walking the blueline to find open shooting lanes. 

The Hunter brothers love size on their blueline. Funck stands at 6-foot-3 and 183 pounds. Pair that with his fluid mobility and you have a right-shot defenseman who can shut down attacks swiftly with his feet and reach. 

London has had one of the best bluelines in the OHL for a few years now. Their depth was unmatched. However, Oliver Bonk, Cam Allen, and most likely Sam Dickinson, won’t be back. The opportunity for Colorado’s fourth-rounder to play top-four minutes is there, as the Knights arguably only have one right-shot defenseman — Henry Brzustewicz — capable of handling those minutes. 

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Latest OHL News:

Top NHL Draft Prospect Adam Valentini Not To Honor OHL Commitment With KitchenerSour news hit the Kitchener Rangers organization, losing a high-end player just before training camp starts.  Kingston Frontenacs Bolster Blueline With Top-Four Defenseman Jack Brauti We are just under two weeks away from the start of the 2025 OHL preseason. Training camps are just around the corner, and the Kingston Frontenacs recognized the need to add a top-four defenseman to their lineup ahead of the 2025-26 season.  Peterborough Petes Sign Leon Kolarik; Import Roster CompleteThe Peterborough Petes have finalized their import roster for the upcoming 2025-26 season. The club will have three brand new imports who will get their first taste of CHL action in just a few weeks. And interestingly enough, all three are eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft. 

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby may be entering his 21st NHL season, but he is still a legitimate superstar. He had another fantastic season in 2024-25 for the Penguins, as he recorded 33 goals, 58 assists, and 91 points in 80 games. This was the 20th season in a row that Crosby produced at an over a point per game pace, which is an NHL record.

With Crosby once again being one of the NHL's most dominant players in 2024-25, he has rightfully made the NHL Network's latest Top 20 Centers Right Now list.

Crosby earned the No. 5 spot on the NHL Network's list, ranking ahead of other star centers like Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, and Brayden Point. Crosby also moved up, as he was No. 6 on the NHL Network's list last year. 

Our Top 20 Centers Right Now list has a total of:
• 12 Stanley Cups
• 5 Conn Smythe Trophies
• 10 Ted Lindsay Awards
• 8 Hart Trophies
• 8 Art Ross Trophies
• 7 Maurice Richard Trophies
• 3 Selke Trophies

What do you think of our list?@NHL | #NHLTopPlayerspic.twitter.com/7xSsx0hpuh

— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) August 20, 2025

While Crosby is now 38 years old, he has not shown any signs of slowing down. He is easily still one of the NHL's best players, and it will be fascinating to see what kind of year he can have with the Penguins in 2025-26 from here. 

Report: Former Penguins Defender Heading OverseasFormer Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Jan Rutta has reportedly found his new home and will be taking his talents overseas.

For a third year, Montreal Canadiens player Juraj Slafkovsky was named the hockey player of the year in his native Slovakia. The 21-year-old might not have met his expectations in the last season, but he did well enough to catch the eye of the voters. The title is awarded each year through a voting process by the Slovak Hockey Association.

He had already won the distinction in 2022 and in 2024 when he cleaned up at the Slovakia Hockey gala, winning the Best Under 20 Player and the Best Forward award as well.

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In his third NHL season, the left winger managed to score 51 points, a one-point improvement over his second season output. The power forward spent most of the season on Nick Suzuki’s wing alongside Cole Caufield, but once again had a slow start. His play picked up later in the season as he started playing a more physical game.

In a recent interview, he mentioned that he would be satisfied if he managed to score between 65 and 70 points. This would be quite an improvement, but given the fact that the Canadiens should have a more menacing top six this season, which should take some of the pressure away from the top line, it might just be doable.

The youngster also said that he needs to stop talking about what he must do and start doing it on the ice, echoing the statements of many fans on social media. Ivan Demidov’s presence should bring some much-needed internal competition for the top line role on the left. If Slafkovsky falters, the young Russian will be ready and willing to step into the role.

In February, the winger will be heading to Milano-Cortina to represent Slovakia in the Olympics. This should be great motivation for the player, who was a standout performer at the 2022 games, having picked up seven goals in as many matches, which led his country to a bronze medal. It was that performance that caught the eye of the hockey world and helped make him the first-overall selection at the 2022 draft. The Slovaks will be hoping for another medal finish this time around, but with the NHL players being back in the fold, powerhouses like Canada and the USA should find their way back to the podium, making their task much harder.

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Recently, the NHL's official Facebook account shared their top six projections for each club in the Central Division. For the Chicago Blackhawks, they went with an interesting group of forwards. 

For the Blackhawks' first line, the NHL's account naturally has Connor Bedard at the center spot. As for the wingers, they see Ryan Donato and Teuvo Teravainen playing with Bedard next season. This trio would make a lot of sense, as they are all skilled offensive players who made up the top three in points on the Blackhawks last season. 

As for the Blackhawks' second line, NHL's account has Frank Nazar at center, with Tyler Bertuzzi and newcomer Andre Burakovsky as his wingers. Nazar being the club's 2C is expected, as he is a young forward who has the potential to become a big part of their roster. Having Nazar play with two veterans who can score like Bertuzzi and Burakovsky could certainly benefit his development. 

One Blackhawk who could also earn a spot in Chicago's top six who did not make the NHL account's projection is Ilya Mikheyev. The 30-year-old forward is coming off a strong season with the Blackhawks, posting 20 goals and a career-high 34 points in 80 games.

Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see what the Blackhawks' top six ends up looking like at the start of the season from here. 

Former Blackhawks Prospect Joins New TeamA former Chicago Blackhawks defenseman is officially staying in the KHL. 

One of the biggest moves of the Anaheim Ducks' 2025 offseason, perhaps the biggest move, was the hiring of Joel Quenneville as the 12th head coach in franchise history.

Quenneville (66) has a sparkling resume as the second-winningest coach in NHL history and has his name engraved on the Stanley Cup three times as the head coach of the 2010, 2013, and 2015 Chicago Blackhawks.

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He hasn’t coached an NHL game since he resigned from his job as head coach of the Florida Panthers on Oct. 28, 2021, following a meeting with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman regarding his involvement in the 2010 Blackhawks' sexual abuse case.

The NHL reinstated Quenneville, along with Stan Bowman and Al McIsaac, on July 1, 2024. He was hired by Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek on May 8, 2025, after parting ways with Greg Cronin on April 19.

As expected, the hiring faced and will likely continue to face pushback from those in the community who support the Ducks, as well as from fans around the league.

Initial criticism has seemingly dulled with time, and especially after Quenneville’s introductory press conference, where, paired with Verbeek and ownership’s (Henry Samueli) insistence upon having done due diligence, Quenneville arrived with a lengthy list of names to whom he had reached out and been educated by over the last four years regarding his missteps from 15 years ago and his continued journey of growth.

Quenneville has precedented success in his last two stops with teams in similar situations to the 2025-26 Anaheim Ducks, looking to turn the corner on their rebuild and open their playoff contention window. He took over as the head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks early in the 2008-09 season, a season in which they ended their five-season playoff drought and reached the Western Conference final. The next season (2009-10), they won their first of three Stanley Cups in six years, forming the only modern-day NHL dynasty.

He was hired as the head coach of the Florida Panthers ahead of the 2019-20 season and built the foundation of today’s iteration of the organization that has been to three consecutive Stanley Cup finals and won two.

On paper, the hiring is more than logical, but Quenneville’s past has the potential to become a distraction if not properly addressed.

The other factor to consider is how NHL styles and tactics have evolved in the four years since he was last behind a bench, begging the question of whether, at 67 years old (by the start of the 2025-26 season) if the game may have passed him by.

Quenneville has stated he’s watched and studied NHL hockey every day since he was last involved in the game and has since put together one of the most elite coaching staffs with the hirings of Jay Woodcroft, Ryan McGill, and Andrew Brewer. Judging from his previous position with the Florida Panthers and how he led his staff, consisting of Andrew Brunette, Derek MacKenzie, and Ulf Samuelsson, he delegates much of the tactics and systems to his assistants. So that area may not be of much concern.

In an offseason where nine NHL coaching jobs were vacant and a wide spectrum of qualified candidates were available on the market, including Woodcroft, Rick Tocchet, Mike Sullivan, and David Carle (all of whom the Ducks at least expressed peripheral interest in), the hiring of Quenneville is bold, but has the potential for the greatest reward, so much so that the Ducks were willing to withstand any amount of backlash, completely confident in Quenneville’s growth and their process of due diligence.

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On Wednesday night, NHL Network revealed its list of the top 20 centers in the game today. The list included many of the usual suspects, particularly in the top 15. However, there is one name on the list combined with one omission that may interest Blackhawks fans.  

San Jose Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini made the list at number 19. Meanwhile, Chicago Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard was missing. The 2024 first overall pick made it, but the 2023 first overall pick fell off after appearing at number 13 last summer. 

NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) on XNot bad, kid! Macklin Celebrini makes his Top 20 Centers Right Now debut! @SanJoseSharks | #NHLTopPlayers

Celebrini, in his first season, had 25 goals and 38 assists for 63 points in 70 games played on a lousy Sharks team. That earned him a third-place finish in the Calder Trophy voting for the league's top rookie. 

As for Bedard, in his second season, he had 23 goals, 44 assists, and 67 points in 82 games played. This was his second straight 20-goal - 60-point campaign to begin his NHL career. He won the Calder Trophy for his outstanding performance during his rookie 2023-2024 season. 

It is interesting to see the love that Celebrini gets, which is well deserved, compared to the oversight that Connor Bedard gets. They are equally as productive at this stage of their careers, and neither of them is on a winning team yet. 

The guy who rounded out the top-20 list, Sam Bennett, won the Conn Smythe Trophy and a back-to-back Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers.

NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) on XThe 2025 Conn Smythe Trophy winner kicks off our Top 20 Centers Right Now list! @FlaPanthers | #NHLTopPlayers

Right now, the NHL Network believes that Celebrini is better than Bennett, which is an incredible compliment. How long before Bedard is seen as such? 

The ironic part is that Bedard and Celebrini have been skating together this summer. Lots of videos have surfaced throughout the off-season of the two practicing, looking better than ever. 

Both of them are primed to break out in the coming years. Chicago and San Jose may even be forced rivals because of these two, once they reach their peak. By then, both of these stars will be staples on this list of top 20 centers. 

Another layer to this is the Olympics. Neither Bedard nor Celebrini made it to the 4-Nations Face-Off with Team Canada, but they were both invited to Hockey Canada's Olympic Orientation Camp. They are seen as bubble players at this time, but big starts to the 2025-26 NHL season could change all of that. 

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