The 2024 second overall pick, Alessandro Di Iorio, had been sidelined to start the season with an elbow injury. He’s entering his all-important NHL draft season and is regarded by many scouts as a potential late first-rounder. 

On Sunday, the 6-foot-1, 188-pound centerman made his season debut with Sarnia, and his presence on the ice had an immediate impact for a Sting team who have had a disappointing start to the season. 

Heading into Sunday’s match against the North Bay Battalion, Sarnia had just five wins in its opening 17 games. Their start against North Bay had a similar disappointing feel to it, as they were down 2-0 less than two minutes in off goals by Lirim Amidovski and Evgeny Dubrovtsev. 

The Sting woke up after that slow start, taking advantage on the power play, scoring three unanswered on the man advantage. Ben Pickell scored five minutes into the third, and Sarnia all of a sudden had a cushiony 4-2 lead over the Battalion. 

However, less than a minute after Pickell’s sixth of the season, Florida Panthers prospect Shamar Moses rifled the puck over the shoulder of his former Battalion teammate Charlie Larocque, and North Bay was within one. 

Now it was time for Di Iorio to get involved. The Vaughan, Ontario, native gathered the puck at center ice, beat one man walking into the Battalion zone, and quickly snapped the puck through the legs of his defender and past Mike McIvor for his first goal of the season. 

In the dying minutes of the game, trailing by two again, North Bay was given a gift, a rare 6-on-3 opportunity, and Lirim Amidovski scored his second of the night to bring his team within one. The Battalion pulled their goalie again, and it was Ihnat Pazii who pounced on a loose puck in the slot and fired his wrister past Larocque with 13 seconds left to tie the game up and send it to overtime.

Sarnia’s ‘Dynamic Duo’ of Beckham Edwards and Alessandro Di Iorio were incredible last year during their rookie season. The Sting faithful have not been able to watch their two young stars play with each other because of Di Iorio’s injury. 

In the extra frame, the dynamic duo played crisscross at the top of the Battalion zone. Di Iorio wheeled towards the right-side faceoff circle, and with one swift curl-and-drag, fired the puck under the blocker of McIvor, scoring his second of the night and getting the Sarnia fans out of their seat for the team’s sixth win of the season. 

Di Iorio scored twice, was a +1, recorded four shots on net, and went 6/10 on the draws in his season debut. Needless to say, the Sting missed their star centerman, and maybe so did the scouts. 

Di Iorio was given an “A” grade by NHL Central Scouting in their 2026 preliminary watch list. Along with a successful showing in his rookie campaign, the two-way center played for Team Canada at the 2025 U18 Men’s World Championship as an underage player, recording two goals and three points while achieving a gold medal. He was also an assistant captain for Canada at this past summer’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup tournament, capturing a bronze medal. 

Di Iorio isn’t the most explosive skater, but he already possesses a sturdy frame that allows him to hang on to pucks for extended periods of time through contact. He plays a full 200-foot game and doesn’t have many miscues with his defensive assignments. He was a second-overall pick in the OHL draft for a reason. While he brings a strong two-way game, he still has the offensive skill to make plays and contribute in the offensive end. 

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