17 Hounds Graduates named to NHL Opening Night rosters for 2023-24 season

Toronto, Ont. – A total of 197 OHL graduates have been included on NHL Opening Night rosters to begin the 2023-24 regular season.

The schedule opened on Tuesday with three games getting the campaign underway. Some notables included on this year’s season-opening rosters include 2004-born Guelph Storm forward Matthew Poitras, a second round pick by the Boston Bruins in 2022 who has earned a roster spot following an impressive training camp and preseason.

A number of OHL graduates are chasing the 1,000 game milestone entering the season including Ryan O’Reilly (Nashville/Erie), Cal Clutterbuck (NY Islanders/Oshawa), Matt Duchene (Brampton/Dallas), Alex Pietrangelo (Vegas/Barrie/Niagara), Jeff Skinner (Buffalo/Kitchener), John Carlson (Washington/London) and Logan Couture (San Jose/Ottawa).

Additionally, Connor McDavid (Edmonton/Erie) could join fellow CHL graduates Mario Lemieux and Phil Esposito as just the third player in NHL history to reach the 900-and 1000-point milestones in the same season. He currently sits 50 points shy of 900 in his career and 150 shy of 1,000.

A total of eight OHL graduates enter the season as captain of their respective NHL team including Jordan Staal (Carolina/Peterborough), Gabriel Landeskog (Colorado/Kitchener), Boone Jenner (Columbus/Oshawa), Connor McDavid (Edmonton/Erie), Nick Suzuki (Montreal/Owen Sound/Guelph), Logan Couture (San Jose/Ottawa), Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay/Sarnia) and John Tavares (Toronto/Oshawa/London).

An additional 10 NHL head coaches have OHL ties including Andre Tourigny (Arizona/Ottawa), Luke Richardson (Chicago.Peterborough), Peter DeBoer (Dallas/Windsor/Detroit/Plymouth/Kitchener), Paul Maurice (Florida/Windsor/Detroit), Andrew Brunette (Nashville/Owen Sound), D.J. Smith (Ottawa/Windsor/Oshawa), Sheldon Keefe (Toronto/Toronto/Barrie/Soo), Rick Tocchet (Vancouver/Soo), Bruce Cassidy (Vegas/Ottawa/Kingston) and Spencer Carbery (Washington/Saginaw).

Complete list of OHL Alumni on NHL Opening Night rosters

* denotes player who is injured and/or non-roster

Anaheim Ducks
Sam Carrick (Brampton), Jamie Drysdale (Erie), Cam Fowler (Windsor), John Gibson (Kitchener), Adam Henrique (Windsor), Max Jones (London/Kingston), Brock McGinn (Guelph), Mason McTavish (Peterborough/Hamilton), Pavel Mintyukov (Saginaw/Ottawa), Ryan Strome (Barrie/Niagara)

Arizona Coyotes (1)
Josh Brown (Oshawa), Lawson Crouse (Kingston), Travis Dermott (Erie), Sean Durzi (Owen Sound/Guelph), Barrett Hayton (Soo), Bryan Little (Barrie)*, Anson Thornton (Sarnia/Barrie)*

Boston Bruins
Matthew Poitras (Guelph), Pavel Zacha (Sarnia)

Buffalo Sabres
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Sudbury), Jack Quinn (Ottawa)*, Jeff Skinner (Kitchener)

Calgary Flames
Rasmus Andersson (Barrie), Nazem Kadri (Kitchener/London), Andrew Mangiapane (Barrie), Adam Ruzicka (Sudbury/Sarnia), Nikita Zadorov (London)

Carolina Hurricanes (2)
Michael Bunting (Soo), Brent Burns (Brampton), Jalen Chatfield (Windsor), Tony DeAngelo (Sarnia/Soo), Brendan Lemieux (Barrie/Windsor), Stefan Noesen (Plymouth), Jordan Staal (Peterborough), Ryan Suzuki (Barrie/Saginaw)*, Andrei Svechnikov (Barrie)*

Chicago Blackhawks (2)
Andreas Athanasiou (London/Barrie), Jason Dickinson (Guelph), MacKenzie Entwistle (Hamilton/Guelph), Nick Foligno (Sudbury), Taylor Hall (Windsor), Boris Katchouk (Soo), Petr Mrazek (Ottawa), Connor Murphy (Sarnia), Corey Perry (London), Taylor Raddysh (Erie/Soo), Jarred Tinordi (London)

Colorado Avalanche
Jean-Luc Foudy (Windsor)*, Gabriel Landeskog (Kitchener)*, Kurtis MacDermid (Owen Sound/Erie), Ivan Prosvetov (Saginaw)

Columbus Blue Jackets
Adam Boqvist (London), Cameron Butler (Peterborough/Niagara/Oshawa)*, Liam Foudy (London), Erik Gudbranson (Kingston), Boone Jenner (Oshawa), Spencer Martin (Mississauga)

Dallas Stars
Ty Dellandrea (Flint), Matt Duchene (Brampton), Radek Faksa (Kitchener/Sudbury), Thomas Harley (Mississauga), Wyatt Johnston (Windsor), Mason Marchment (Erie/Hamilton/Mississauga), Jason Robertson (Kingston/Niagara), Tyler Seguin (Plymouth), Scott Wedgewood (Plymouth)

Detroit Red Wings
Ben Chiarot (Guelph/Sudbury/Saginaw), Alex DeBrincat (Erie), Robby Fabbri (Guelph), Christian Fischer (Windsor), Matt Luff (Belleville/Hamilton)*, Olli Maatta (London)

Edmonton Oilers (2)
Evan Bouchard (London), Connor Brown (Erie), Jack Campbell (Windsor/Soo), Cody Ceci (Ottawa/Owen Sound), Warren Foegele (Kingston/Erie), Connor McDavid (Erie), Ryan McLeod (Mississauga/Saginaw), Markus Niemelainen (Saginaw), Darnell Nurse (Soo)

Florida Panthers (1)
Sam Bennett (Kingston), Nick Cousins (Soo), Aaron Ekblad (Barrie)*, Steven Lorentz (Peterborough), Anthony Stolarz (London), Matthew Tkachuk (London), Carter Verhaeghe (Niagara)

Los Angeles Kings
Quinton Byfield (Sudbury), Drew Doughty (Guelph), Trevor Lewis (Owen Sound)

Minnesota Wild
Marcus Foligno (Sudbury), Ryan Hartman (Plymouth), Pat Maroon (London), Jacob Middleton (Owen Sound/Ottawa), Marco Rossi (Ottawa)

Montreal Canadiens
Josh Anderson (London), Christian Dvorak (London)*, Sean Monahan (Ottawa), Tanner Pearson (Barrie), Michael Pezzetta (Sudbury/Sarnia), Nick Suzuki (Owen Sound/Guelph), Arber Xhekaj (Kitchener/Hamilton)

Nashville Predators
Egor Afanasyev (Windsor)*, Luke Evangelista (London), Michael McCarron (London/Oshawa), Ryan O’Reilly (Erie), Philip Tomasino (Niagara/Oshawa)

New Jersey Devils (1)
Kevin Bahl (Ottawa), Nathan Bastian (Mississauga), Nico Daws (Guelph)*, Dougie Hamilton (Niagara), Michael McLeod (Mississauga), Colin Miller (Soo), Chris Tierney (London), Tyler Toffoli (Ottawa).

New York Islanders
Casey Cizikas (Mississauga), Cal Clutterbuck (Toronto/Oshawa), Bo Horvat (London), Matt Martin (Sarnia), Adam Pelech (Erie)

New York Rangers
Will Cuylle (Windsor), Barclay Goodrow (Brampton/North Bay), Vincent Trocheck (Saginaw/Plymouth)

Ottawa Senators
Jakob Chychrun (Sarnia), Dominik Kubalik (Sudbury/Kitchener)

Philadelphia Flyers (1)
J.R. Avon (Peterborough)*, Ryan Ellis (Windsor)*, Tyson Foerster (Barrie), Morgan Frost (Soo), Travis Konecny (Ottawa/Sarnia), Scott Laughton (Oshawa), Marc Staal (Sudbury), Owen Tippett (Mississauga/Saginaw)

Pittsburgh Penguins (1)
Jeff Carter (Soo), Alex Nedeljkovic (Plymouth/Flint/Niagara), Rickard Rakell (Plymouth)

San Jose Sharks
Mackenzie Blackwood (Barrie), Logan Couture (Ottawa)*, Kevin Labanc (Barrie), Nikita Okhotiuk (Ottawa)*, Mitchell Russell (Owen Sound/North Bay)*, Givani Smith (Barrie/Guelph/Kitchener)

Seattle Kraken (2)
Andre Burakovsky (Erie), Vince Dunn (Niagara), Philipp Grubauer (Belleville/Windsor/Kingston), Tye Kartye (Soo), Jared McCann (Soo), Jamie Oleksiak (Saginaw/Niagara)

St. Louis Blues
Jordan Binnington (Owen Sound), Robert Bortuzzo (Kitchener), Josh Jacobs (Sarnia)*, Jordan Kyrou (Sarnia), Brandon Saad (Saginaw), Robert Thomas (London/Hamilton), Alexei Toropchenko (Guelph), Tyler Tucker (Barrie/Flint)

Tampa Bay Lightning
Logan Brown (Windsor/Kitchener)*, Erik Cernak (Erie), Anthony Cirelli (Oshawa/Erie), Calvin de Haan (Oshawa), Nick Paul (Brampton/North Bay), Darren Raddysh (Erie), Roman Schmidt (Kitchener)*, Mikhail Sergachev (Windsor), Steven Stamkos (Sarnia), Austin Watson (Peterborough/Windsor/London)

Toronto Maple Leafs (2)
Tyler Bertuzzi (Guelph), T.J. Brodie (Saginaw/Barrie), Max Domi (London), Mark Giordano (Owen Sound), Mitchell Marner (London), Matt Murray (Soo)*, John Tavares (Oshawa/London), Conor Timmins (Soo)*

Vancouver Canucks
Filip Hronek (Saginaw), J.T. Miller (Plymouth), Pius Suter (Guelph)

Vegas Golden Knights (1)
Michael Amadio (Brampton/North Bay), Paul Cotter (London), Nicolas Hague (Mississauga), Robin Lehner (Soo)*, Alex Pietrangelo (Mississauga/Niagara/Barrie)

Washington Capitals (1)
John Carlson (London), Sonny Milano (Plymouth), Rasmus Sandin (Soo), Dylan Strome (Erie), Tom Wilson (Plymouth)

Winnipeg Jets
Declan Chisholm (Peterborough), Dylan DeMelo (Mississauga), Vladislav Namestnikov (London), Cole Perfetti (Saginaw), Mark Scheifele (Barrie), Logan Stanley (Windsor/Kitchener), Gabriel Vilardi (Windsor/Kingston)