2025-26 Season Preview: Ottawa 67’s

The Ottawa 67’s (24–34–4–6) enter the 2025–26 season looking to replace the offensive firepower lost with the departures of Luca Pinelli and Will Gerrior, but a promising mix of returning talent and fresh faces offers reason for optimism. Leading the charge is breakout candidate Filip Ekberg, coming off a 45-point rookie campaign and a dominant MVP performance at the U18s, where he tallied 18 points in seven games. He’ll be joined by top NHL Draft hopefuls Nathan Amidovski and Thomas Vandenberg, both expected to take on larger roles, while newcomers Brock Chitaroni and Finnish import Jasper Kuhta bring speed, skill, and the potential to make an immediate impact. Defenceman Kohyn Eshkawkogan, fresh off an impressive rookie season, is poised to quarterback the power play and contribute in all situations.

The biggest question marks lie in special teams and secondary scoring – last year’s power play loses 28 goals from Pinelli and Gerrior, while the penalty kill finished last in the league. With only 157 career goals returning to the roster, the 67’s will need multiple players to step up offensively. If Ekberg delivers on his star potential, the new additions adapt quickly, and the special teams improve, Ottawa could emerge as a more skilled and dangerous contender in the Eastern Conference race.

 

Futures Watch – a list of some of the new faces fans should be keeping an eye on as the team prepares for the upcoming campaign.

 

Five Questions Heading Into 2025-26:

After missing the playoffs last season, the Ottawa 67’s enter 2025–26 with a young core and plenty of intrigue about what lies ahead. To get a sense of the biggest storylines, we asked two media members who cover the team closely to share their thoughts on what to expect this year.

 

1. Who is your breakout candidate?

Colin Zappia (Colour commentator, RogersTV): Filip Ekberg – After a pretty solid rookie season with 45 points in 53 games, he was a star at the U18 tournament this past spring scoring 10 goals and adding 8 assists in only 7 games en route to winning the tournament MVP. He’ll be counted on to provide the offense they’ll miss this year with the departures of Luca Pinelli and Will Gerrior. I can see him being top 15 in OHL scoring this year.

 

Kenny Walls (Play-by-play, TSN 1200): Filip Ekberg – Had a fantastic finish to the end of last season, ended the year on an 11 game point streak and continued it on into the U18’s.  Should be more talent around Ekberg this season and I’d expect a big boost to his 45 points last season.

 

2. What’s the 67’s biggest question mark entering 2025-26?

Zappia: Special teams – Their power play finished in the top 10 last year but you lose Pinelli and Gerrior who put up 28 of the team’s 54 PP goals. On the other side, they finished last in the penalty killing department so that needs to be better this year. The opportunity is there for a number of players to take advantage of more time on the PP and PK so we’ll have to see how it plays out.

 

Walls: Where is the scoring coming from? – As with every OHL team, players graduate and others have to step up, the 67’s are losing the 37 goals that Luca Pinelli put up last season.  Coming into the year have only scored 157 career goals with Cooper Foster scoring 59 of those.  I believe it is a more skilled 67’s team than last season, but until the players do it at this level it’s still an unknown.

 

3. Who will the 67’s top NHL Draft prospect be by the end of the season?

Zappia: Nathan Amidovski – He’s got the size, he’s got the skill, and he should get the ice time this year to showcase his game to the scouts. He didn’t have a great offensive season last year but I think he’s another guy due for a breakout year. I think we’ll see him on the second line and second PP unit which should allow him to display the goal scoring prowess he showed in both his U16 and U14 seasons in Barrie.

 

Walls: Thomas Vandenberg

 

4. Which new addition are you most excited to see?

Zappia: They have some pretty good talent coming in this year and they’re quite happy with how these kids have fit in, how their work ethic has been so far, and the results they’ve seen on the ice in pre-season. To me, Brock Chitaroni is the one to watch. He can skate like the wind. Really fast first few strides and he’s off to the races. Put up great numbers in his minor hockey career and hopefully will do so in the OHL. Ironically, my dad coached his uncle, Mario, in Italy back in the early 90’s.

 

Walls: Jasper Kuhta – With plenty of new players on the roster, there is an abundance of choices, but I’m going with 19 year old Finnish import pick Jasper Kuhta.  He has the ability to step into a feature role with the 67’s this season.

 

5. Who will the 67’s MVP be in 2025-26?

Zappia: Filip Ekberg – He will lead the way all year long for the 67’s and he’s my choice to be their MVP.

Walls: Kohyn Eshkawkogan – Had a wonderful first season in the OHL, I would expect him to run the 67’s PP and get all sorts of opportunities in a variety of roles. He’s going to be great this season.