It’s been a busy week for the Kitchener Rangers after the holiday break.
We have seen them play three games, announce a trade, address injuries, and discuss players they are interested in adding.
We’ve also been watching Rangers’ captain Cameron Reid and goaltender Christian Kirsch display their talent at the 2026 World Junior Championship (WJC).
With so much going on around Ranger Nation, I’ve put together a notebook of thoughts from their games and the news that has broken since they returned to action.
Firsts for Two Rangers vs. Erie Otters
Just before the holiday break, the Rangers announced a trade with the Otters, which sent overage forward Dylan Edwards to Kitchener and Evan Headrick, the Rangers’ 2024 first-round pick, back to Erie.
Edwards played in two games with the Rangers before the holidays, and while he did not appear on the scoresheet, he showed flashes of the offensive talent he can bring.
In the Rangers’ first game back from the break against his former team, Edwards recorded a primary assist on Jack Pridham’s goal, which opened the scoring.
Edwards then scored the game-winning goal for the Rangers before hitting the Superman celebration, showing off the new logo he’s wearing on his chest.
The other first in this game was Ian Robinson, the Rangers’ third-round pick in the 2025 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Selection Priority. He has spent the first part of his season with the Port Colborne Sailors in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) at the Junior B level, where he has 16 goals and 28 points in 29 games and was also recently named the GOJHL prospect of the week.
With the Rangers battling injuries up front, Robinson has now suited up for three-straight games for the Blueshirts and has been highly effective in his first taste of OHL action.
Mason Hriczov OHL Debut
With Rangers’ starting goaltender Christian Kirsch gone at the WJC in Minnesota, Mason Hriczov was recalled to back up Jason Schaubel, as he did to start the season when Kirsch was gone at San Jose Sharks training camp.
The Rangers had back-to-back games on their schedule Tuesday and Wednesday against the Sudbury Wolves and North Bay Battalion. Head coach Jussi Ahokas opted to give Hriczov the start against the Wolves, a probably smart decision that let him get his feet wet with a rested team in front of him.
In his debut, the Rangers lost 4-3. Hriczov did give up three goals in the first period, but I just can’t get myself to the point where these were attributed to first-game jitters.
Every shot that beat Hriczov in this game was a quality chance, with the shooter having far too much time to pick his spot. I thought he looked the part and did his job keeping the Rangers in the game once they tightened up defensively.
Rangers Add Gabriel Chiarot From Brampton Steelheads
Sticking with the theme of Ranger firsts and debuts, Gabriel Chiarot played his first game in the blue and red on Tuesday night.
The Rangers acquired him in a trade with the Brampton Steelheads in exchange for a plethora of draft picks. In 31 games with the Steelheads this season, the 19-year-old scored 15 goals and had 25 points.
His debut wasn’t exactly one to remember, being held off the scoresheet and having a couple of trips to the penalty box. But he looked much more dangerous on Wednesday against the Battalion, despite not getting on the scoresheet.
He has slotted in on a line with Luca Romano and Tanner Lam. Both these guys are phenomenal with the puck on the perimeter, and once Chiarot gets comfortable, his skills around the net and speed on the forecheck make him the perfect piece to pair with Romano and Lam, who have been a duo all season.
Jack Pridham Magic
Before the Rangers’ season kicked off, in the OHL’s season preview of the team, Rangers media almost unanimously selected Jack Pridham to be team’s most valuable player.
It was for good reason as the Chicago Blackhawks‘ third-round pick from 2024 had 27 goals and 54 points in 48 OHL games after starting the season with the West Kelowna Warriors of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL).
Pridham has definitely led the way offensively, leading the team with 23 goals in 35 games. But at times, and maybe this is because expectations were too high, it has felt like Pridham has more to give.
Well, we’re starting to see what he is truly capable of since the holiday break and even slightly before. In the Rangers’ first game back against the Otters, he recorded his second hat trick of the season and second in December. He followed that up with two more goals against the Wolves on Tuesday and another goal against the Battalion on Wednesday.
He now has six goals in his last three games, and barring one empty-netter, the rest have been true goal-scorer’s goals where he has just flat-out beaten goaltenders who were square to the shot.
Edwards is being added to this line with Pridham, Christian Humphreys is bringing out the best in Pridham, and the three look to be building some special chemistry.
Cameron Reid & Christian Kirsch WJC Round Robin Recap
The Rangers have been shorthanded since mid-December with Reid and Kirsch heading off to join their national teams for the WJC in Minnesota.
Related: Guide to the 2026 World Junior Championship
It was widely expected that Kirsch would tend the crease for Switzerland after he started 11 games for them across two international tournaments last season, including the WJC.
This time around at the biggest tournament in junior hockey, Kirsch started two games in the round robin portion of the tournament. He leads all goalies with a .950 save percentage, a 1.01 goals-against-average, and is one of two netminders to record a shutout at the tournament.
He continues to be nails as he has been for the Rangers all season.
As for their captain, Reid has been playing a big role on Team Canada’s blue line. He has slotted in alongside the ultra-talented Zayne Parekh and played the third-most minutes among Canada’s defensemen through the first three games and played the second most, cracking 20 minutes in their fourth game against Finland.
Through their four round-robin games, Reid has only one assist to his name, which is a little uncharacteristic of him when you look at his numbers with the Rangers. However, in this pairing with Parekh, he is the safety valve rather than the guy looking to jump in the rush, as he does consistently with the Rangers.
While he has not shown off his full offensive capabilities so far, he has done a good job showing he brings value in a lot of other areas in the defensive zone and moving pucks, and that’s evidenced by the coaching staff continuing to trust him with big minutes.
Oscar Hemming Off to School
A bit of old news at this point, but Oscar Hemming has finally found a way to get on the ice after dealing with a dispute between his Finnish team and the Rangers over the termination of his contract, which Oscar’s brother, Emil Hemming, a Dallas Stars prospect, said, “You know, that’s all about money.”
Oscar has now enrolled at Boston College, and has two assists in two games for the Eagles in the NCAA. Hemming came into this season highly touted as a potential first-round pick. It doesn’t feel like this dispute has hurt his stock much, but if it went on any longer, scouts wouldn’t have much to look at before making their selections in June.
While he would have been valuable to the Rangers if they could have gotten him on the ice, it wasn’t going to be fair to Hemming to make him wait for a resolution, and I just want to echo his brother’s sentiments: I couldn’t be happier that Hemming has found a way back on the ice.
One final thing to close the book on Hemming’s chapter in Kitchener for now was his brother’s glowing remarks about the organization, saying, “I’m super grateful for the Kitchener Rangers, and the way the teammates have handled him and taken care of him. Like, I just want to hug all of them to say thank you for how they’ve treated him.”
Luke Ellinas Out Indefinitely
This was supposed to be Ellinas’ third season with the Rangers after scoring 16 goals in 67 games in his rookie season, then getting up to 20 last season in 50 games.
He started the season rehabbing an injury and did not make his season debut until Nov. 11. He played six games total and scored three goals for the Rangers before coming out of the lineup with another injury.
Recently, Josh Brown of the Waterloo Region Record reported that the 19-year-old Ottawa Senators prospect would be out four-to-six months after having surgery to repair a dislocated shoulder.
When asked about his potential return, Rangers’ general manager (GM) Mike McKenzie said, “The longer we play, the more chances he has of rejoining the team,” which suggests there is a slim chance we see Ellinas again this season (Kitchener Rangers veteran Luke Ellinas out 4-6 months, Waterloo Region Record, December 30, 2025).
It’s a truly unfortunate loss for someone who could have been the final piece to an elite offence after the team’s recent additions up front.
Rangers Eyeing Import Tomas Chrenko
The Rangers have only used two of the three import spots they’re allowed to use all season, as they hoped to keep Hemming in Kitchener as their third import.
However, with that now out of the picture, Brown of the Record also reported that Kitchener has their eyes on Tomas Chrenko, who they selected in the 2024 Canadian Hockey League import draft.
Chrenko started his season with HK Nitra in Slovakia at the under-20 level, where he put up 10 points in four games before elevating to Nitra’s professional team, where he has 17 points in 27 games. He is currently representing Slovakia at the WJC. Through the round robin stage, he has five goals and eight points in four games as an 18-year-old.
Chrenko has been ranked as a first-round prospect in many 2026 NHL Entry Draft prospect rankings. It could be great for his draft stock to come finish the season in North America, and would be another talented option at the Rangers’ disposal as they continue to battle injuries.
Rangers Trade Deadline Plans
We have already seen and talked about the two moves the Rangers have made to bolster their top-six forwards and improve their offensive production.
But, in another piece by Brown of the Record, he reported that McKenzie “doesn’t see any immediate needs for his club, he has several wants, though he’s keeping them secret ahead of the league’s trade deadline” (The future is now for the Kitchener Rangers, Waterloo Region Record, December 30, 2025).
This is interesting, as to me, the additions of Edwards and Chiarot put the Rangers back in the conversation with the best teams in the OHL. They have an elite defensive core, two excellent goaltenders, and the offense has been much better recently.
But, to play armchair GM for a second, the only thing this team is lacking is a little bit of size and a little bit of nastiness. After watching the Rangers battle with the Battalion on Wednesday, my ‘want’ for this team would be Ethan Procyszyn, a 19-year-old, who was drafted in the third round by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.
He is having a down season with the troops in North Bay, with only 10 goals and 23 points in 33 games. However, he is turning his season around, having three multi-point games in his last four outings. He is also an incredibly physical player, with a big frame standing at six-foot-three. He is not afraid of anyone, as we saw him antagonizing Matthew Hlacar following a whistle in Wednesday’s contest.
It may be a bit of a pipe dream with the Battalion comfortably in a playoff spot and having a young team developing behind him, who could make some noise next season with him as an overage player. However, to me, this is the only type of player the Rangers are missing. Whether it’s him or someone else, a player like this would give the Rangers three elite forward lines they could roll out nightly.
The Rangers will be back in action on Friday night at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium against a short-handed Barrie Colts team, who are also missing key players to the WJC.
