Back in September, which somehow feels like yesterday and a decade ago at the same time, the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) published the Kitchener Rangers’ 2025-26 season preview. The piece asked Rangers media members to predict the answers to four questions that could only be answered at the end of the season.
Now that the end is here, I want to look back on a few of these questions, review the actual results, share my opinions on each, and assess how well the members of one of the league’s best media teams answered them.
Let’s get into it.
Best Breakout Season: Alexander Bilecki
In the OHL’s season preview, the Rangers media had three votes for Tanner Lam and one for New York Islanders prospect Luca Romano.
At the time, I would have agreed with either choice, with Lam being one of the most skilled players in the league that didn’t hear his name called in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, and Romano, who was expected to make big improvements after being selected in the third round and getting to experience NHL prospect and training camps for the first time.
However, the breakout season never amounted to either player. For Romano, near the start of the season, it felt like he was being held back by a lack of offensive talent around him on the Rangers’ second line. This was no longer a concern around the trade deadline. But an injury kept him out for almost all of February, and since then, he has struggled to get back on the stat sheet.
Lam had another productive season. He is ultra-talented and a great skater, but, to me, his breakout season was prevented by his lack of size. He struggles to get inside and find space in the high-danger areas of the ice because of how small he is. When teams weren’t allowing him to beat them with speed or his flashy moves, his production got inconsistent.
The best breakout season from a Ranger this season came from Alexander Bilecki, who projects to be an early-to-mid round pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft coming up in June.
Last season, he totaled three goals and 11 assists for 14 points in 45 games. This season, he improved to nine goals and 20 assists for 29 points in 66 games, matching his totals from both of his seasons in a bottom-pair role.
Not only did the production improve, but the underlying numbers were also incredible, with Bilecki ranking in Puck Preps’ top 10 defenseman in the OHL through February with a 95 overall defensive rating and 92 overall offensive rating. Long story short, when number 89 was on the ice for the Rangers this season, basically only good things happened (from ‘Player Cards’, Puck Preps, March 26, 2026).
Very Honourable Mentions: Cameron Arquette, Haeden Ellis
Most Exciting New Addition: Alex Forrest
Well, this is a hard one to look back on. Before the Rangers’ season, three of the media members said they were most excited to see Oscar Hemming, who at the time and still is, a lock as first-round pick in June. One of the media members mentioned Jacob Xu, who was a part of the package that the Rangers sent to the London Knights in exchange for Tampa Bay Lightning prospect, Sam O’Reilly. and Los Angeles Kings prospect Jared Woolley.
I think it’s safe to say, with Hemming having eight points in 19 games with Boston College at the NCAA level, he was going to be the frontrunner for this award. With his size and skill, he would have dominated the OHL. But alas, that never came to fruition with a stupid dispute over international transfer rules.
Then, with Xu now in London, it didn’t leave many newcomers in this lineup. If you exclude all the acquisitions at the deadline, which I will for the sake of having a unique opinion here rather than trying to split hairs between which of O’Reilly, Edwards, or Woolley has been most impactful.
It feels somewhat wrong to overlook Avry Anstis’ 20 points over 62 games in a fourth-line role, with only one game of OHL experience and 31 junior hockey games under his belt before this season. However, Alex Forrest, the Rangers’ second-round pick from the 2025 OHL priority selection, caught my eye in all nine games he played this season.
The 16-year-old showed his versatility playing minutes on the wing and on the blue line, where he is most comfortable. He registered three points, with two of those coming in the Rangers’ final game of the season, which contributed to a near five-goal third-period comeback against the Owen Sound Attack.
Seeing the way Forrest skates, his ability to create offence and see the ice, it’s hard not to compare him to the likes of Cameron Reid and Bilecki when you see them taking shifts one after another. After dominating the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) with 52 points in 35 games as a defenseman, I think Forrest is the future piece Rangers’ fans should be most excited about.
Honourable Mention: Avry Anstis
Top NHL Prospects: Alexander Bilecki & Dylan Edwards
More often than not, when thinking about which OHL players will be the next NHL top prospects, one typically thinks of entry-draft candidates in their first year of eligibility, like Bilecki.
However, for some of these guys, the pro dream doesn’t have to end if they’re passed over in the draft. Dylan Edwards may be the prime candidate for that. The overage forward and now Quinnipiac University commit totalled 40 goals and 87 points this season, which made him a top-five goal scorer and top-10 point getter in the OHL.
The biggest knock on Edwards is his size, which would have written him off in many scouts’ rankings during his draft years. However, the talent on the offensive end is undeniable. He sees the ice well, and personally, I think he is the best quick decision maker with the puck the Rangers have.
He’s a dynamic, dual-threat with the puck in his hands capable of beating defenders with speed and skill, but will always find the open lane to a teammate if it’s given up. Edwards may be undersized, but his skill and hockey IQ make up for his lack of physical intangibles. If he keeps developing at the NCAA level, I could see NHL teams being interested in him as a free-agent signing a couple of years down the road.
As far as draft prospects go, the Rangers did not have many highly-touted players after Adam Valentini opted to attend Michigan State University just before training camp, and Hemming was pretty much forced to leave for Boston College to get on the ice after the international dispute between his Finnish team and the Rangers remained unresolved.
It left the Rangers with Bilecki, now London Knight and Harvard University commit Xu, and goaltender Jason Schaubel as the players ranked in the NHL Central Scouting‘s first rankings of the season.
Throughout the season, I think the name that gained the most traction was Bilecki for everything mentioned above. He is just one of those guys who catches your eye every time he’s on the ice, being active in all three zones. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him gain even more traction with a strong playoff run.
Rangers’ Team MVP: Too Many Good Options
It might come off as fence-sitting, but I truly don’t understand how you pick a winner for this award. Initially, you’d think of Jack Pridham and his 46 goals and team-leading 90 points. But I don’t think his season is as impressive without his duo, Christian Humphreys, who was voted the best playmaker in the OHL’s coaches poll.
These two were carrying this team offensively, well before they had enough offensive firepower to truly be a contender in the OHL. However, that train of thought led me to the goaltending and Christian Kirsch, who, according to the OHL, led the league with 25.7 goals saved above expected (GSAx), which was 10.6 GSAx more than Oshawa Generals’ Matthew Humphries, who finished second.
But Kirsch’s success this season would not be possible without the Rangers’ defensive structure and tenacity, which I think deserve the most credit for their low goals-against and shots-against totals.
Other names that come to mind are Edwards and O’Reilly. While the Rangers made a number of acquisitions at the deadline, to me, the trade with the Erie Otters for the overage forward was what started lifting this group into the contender conversation.
Related: Kitchener Rangers Acquire Dylan Edwards From Erie Otters
To me, he was the missing offensive piece the Rangers needed; everything that game after was a luxury. Since making his Rangers debut, the team has gone 28-4-1-2 and has routinely blown out opponents, something they struggled to do earlier in the season without him. Edwards’ 17 multi-point games in the 35 he played with Kitchener this season were among the biggest reasons for that.
Then there’s O’Reilly, the Rangers’ Red Tilson Trophy nominee. For the whole body of work on the season, it’s understandable. There isn’t a more complete player in the OHL, and I would be shocked to see him not at least get a chance in an NHL uniform next season.
However, I don’t think this team is anywhere close to as good as it is now without any of these players, and if we’re talking about who brought the most value to the Rangers themselves for the entire season, I don’t know how you split hairs to make that decision.
I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this in the comments, to help me make up my mind.
It was an incredible season for so many different Rangers and the team as a whole. We’ll see if the several players who stood out can continue to stand out when the playoffs begin Friday night against the Saginaw Spirit at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.
