Some top young OHLers now have a gold medal start to their 2026-27 season.
The 2026 Hlinka-Gretzky Cup has come and gone, with a dominant performance crowning a loaded Canadian team as gold medalists in Edmonton.
There were eight OHL talents on this roster, playing in different roles from offensive scorers to key identity line pieces to depth.
Jaakko Wycisk had as good of a tournament as any OHLer, serving as a key member of Canada's identity line alongside Newfoundland's Benjamin Veitch and Edmonton's Kayden Stroeder.
Guelph forward Jaakko Wycisk's 10 points were tied for the tournament lead. (Photo: Terry Wilson/OHL Images)His 10 points, including a bunch in the medal round games, were tied for the tournament lead in scoring, and the pace he played at was fantastic.
Cam Warren got a very fun role to play, riding shotgun with offensive dynamos Liam Pue and Maddox Schultz.
Warren showed his speed and offensive ability on the wing, as the Battalion forward ended the tournament with seven points in five games.
Kingston's Matt Henderson and London's Cooper McAslan played a defensive role as Canada's shutdown third pair, and did a good job at that.
The pair both possess good skating ability, can shut down opponents off the rush and win battles down low, and made some nice plays on the breakout.
Flint's Charlie Murata, Ottawa's Brock Chitaroni and Niagara's Ryerson Edgar all played as complementary forwards, and did a good job setting the tone shift after shift with the pace and energy Canada wanted to play at.
All of these players are responsible all over the ice, can lay hits and still drive offence at five-on-five.
Aleks Kulemin typically served as the 13th forward, but the Frontenacs forward was relied upon in some defensive-zone situations at times.
Windsor's Ty Bergeron, Peterborough's Gerry DiCunzolo, Kingston's Nolan Snyder, Niagara's Michael Tang, Flint's Mason Courville and Saginaw's Sawyer Schmidt all picked up silver for the Americans in the tournament as well.
Some other OHL standouts include London's Luca Santala, who scored a big goal in the third period as Finland came back to win bronze; Brantford's Adam Nemec, who played hard captaining the Czechs; and Kitchener's Jiri Gombar, who played big minutes on the Czech blue line.
Never want to miss out on any OHL news? Make sure to bookmark THN's OHL site.
Also follow @roryyarthur and @AustinReporting on X/Twitter for more updates.
Read more
