With four players selected in 2026 The NHL draft, Knights of London puts an exclamation point on a run approaching six decades.
At least one player has been selected from the Knights’ roster dating back to 1969. It’s a streak that reached 58 years when the Philadelphia Flyers drafted Maksim Sokolovskii at No. 27 overall on June 26 in Buffalo, NY
Sokolovski was later joined by Jaxon Cover, who was also a first-round pick and was selected by the Ottawa Senators 32nd overall.
The Dallas Stars selected Ryan Brown in the fifth round and just two picks later Jacob Vandeven went to the Boston Bruins.
Vandeven is from Komoka, Ont., and joined Beckham Edwards (5th round – Detroit) and Londoners Ryan Roobroeck (2nd round – Chicago) and Eric Frossard (5th round – Anaheim) to provide some big days for area links.
Former London Knight Ben Wilmott was selected in the third round by the Stanley Cup runner-up Vegas Golden Knights.
Get daily national news
Get Canada’s daily news delivered to your inbox so you never miss the top news of the day.
Wilmott was traded to the Barrie Colts just before the 2026 OHL Trade Deadline and helped Barrie to a runner-up finish in the Ontario Hockey Championship Series against the Kitchener Rangers.
Sokolovskii and Cover were two of seven OHL draft picks in the opening round.
Caleb Malhotra was the highest pick at third overall. He joined the team now coached by his father Manny Malhotra.
Manny is a former member of the Guelph Storm.
Chase Reid (Seattle), Nikita Klepov (Anaheim), Ethan Belchetz (Utah) and Adam Novotny (Vancouver) were the other first-round picks.
London’s draft selection streak is the longest in the Ontario Hockey League.
The Ottawa Senators are next in 24 years after taking four of their players in the 2026 Draft.
The Knights also had four players selected from their team since the streak began in 1969.
Gilles Gilbert (Minnesota), Bert Wilson (New York Rangers), Guy Delparte (Montreal) and Neil Nicholson (Oakland) were named in a very different format that was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.
No players were drafted in 1969.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
