OHL-leading London Knights bolster blue-line with major trade

The Ontario Hockey League-leading London Knights just got better, again.

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The No. 3-overall pick in the 2021 draft, defenceman Cam Allen, was dealt from the Guelph Storm to the Knights on Tuesday in exchange for defenceman Noah Jenken and seven draft picks: Two second-rounders in 2026 that originally belonged to North Bay and Niagara, along with two third-rounders, two fourth-rounders and a fifth-rounder spread across 2025, 2027 and 2028.

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Allen, 19, is a 2023 fifth-round pick of the Washington Capitals who is originally from Toronto. So far this season in Guelph, he has seven goals and 18 assists for 25 points in 27 games. The Knights note he recently returned from tryouts for Canada’s world junior team.

Jenken, an Ilderton native, was a fourth-round pick to the Knights in 2023. He’s played 30 games this season and has recorded seven assists.

The acquisition of Allen isn’t the first time London has grabbed a top-flight blue-liner who was a high draft pick to Guelph. First-overall pick Ryan Merkley was dealt by the Storm to Peterborough and then acquired by the Knights in 2019. He put up 76 points in 60 games in London that season.

The Allen move comes about one week after the Knights added blue-liner Andoni Fimis, a University of Vermont commit who became available after NCAA rule changes that now make OHL graduates eligible for U.S. college scholarships.

The Knights are in Erie Wednesday night to play the Otters and will play host to Sarnia on Friday night. They sit No. 1 in the OHL with 50 points, three points clear of second-place Windsor, and appear poised for a run at a second straight Memorial Cup berth.

After Friday’s game against Sarnia, the Knights are in Flint on Sunday before the league-wide Christmas break begins. They won’t play again until New Year’s Eve, at home against Sarnia.

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