By Joelle Wood
A total of 19 Ontario Hockey League alumni will look to hoist hockey’s ultimate prize in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final that gets underway between the Edmonton Oilers and host Florida Panthers on Saturday.
The 19 alumni split between the Oilers (11) and Panthers (8) represent 12 OHL member clubs. Leading the way are the London Knights with five OHL graduates on Stanley Cup Final rosters, followed by the Soo Greyhounds, Kingston Frontenacs, and Erie Otters with two each.
Both of the teams’ Head Coaches have left significant marks on the OHL, with Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice and Oilers Head Coach Kris Knoblauch, having previously coached in the League.
List of the 19 OHL alumni competing in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final
Players are listed alongside the OHL club they’ve played the most games with.
Edmonton Oilers (11)
Evan Bouchard (London Knights), Connor Brown (Erie Otters), Sam Carrick (Brampton Battalion), Cody Ceci (Ottawa 67’s), Warren Foegele (Kingston Frontenacs), Sam Gagner (London Knights), Adam Henrique (Windsor Spitfires), Connor McDavid (Erie Otters), Ryan McLeod (Mississauga Steelheads), Darnell Nurse (Soo Greyhounds), Corey Perry (London Knights)
Florida Panthers (8)
Sam Bennett (Kingston Frontenacs), Nick Cousins (Soo Greyhounds), Aaron Ekblad (Barrie Colts), Jonah Gadjovich (Owen Sound Attack), Steven Lorentz (Peterborough Petes), Anthony Stolarz (London Knights), Matthew Tkachuk (London Knights), Carter Verhaeghe (Niagara IceDogs)
Former Otters first overall pick and exceptional status player Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers) leads the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 31 points (5-26-31) in 18 games. Oilers teammate and former Knights defenceman Evan Bouchard closely follows, ranking third among all point-getters with 27 points (6-21-27).
Last year, four OHL grads including Alex Pietrangelo, Mike Amadio, Nicolas Hague and Paul Cotter hoisted the Stanley Cup as players with the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas also featured former OHL defenceman and Head Coach Bruce Cassidy behind the bench along with assistant coaches John Stevens, Misha Donskov and a number of other hockey operations staff with OHL connections.
