The Ukranian forward will head to the NCAA for the 2027-28 season.
It's the time of the year for NCAA commitments, and the second one in the past couple days for Guelph Storm players has arrived.
This time, it's Ukraine-born forward Illia Shybinskyi, who announced on his Instagram he'll be heading to St. Lawrence University for the 2027-28 season.
Shybinskyi, 19, put up 44 (19+25) points in 60 games in the 2025-26 season, his rookie year with the Storm. He really came along as the year went on, working his way onto the top line near the end of the campaign.
Illia Shybinskyi with the Guelph Storm. (Photo: Terry Wilson/OHL Images)The 5-foot-10 winger grew up in the Ldinka Kyiv youth system, before moving to Canada to join the Toronto Titans U18 program. After some success there and an appearance internationally at the U18 level with his native Ukraine, he moved to the Toronto Jr. Canadiens of the OJHL for a season.
From there, Guelph took him in the fifth round of the 2025 OHL draft, and he has grown with the team since in his rookie year.
Now, as the Storm prepare to host the 2027 Memorial Cup, Shybinskyi can play one more OHL season on a team that will be adding a lot to try and contend, and then leave for college the year after that.
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