Taking an Early Look at Where the Hounds Could Land When the Regular Season Ends
The 2026-27 Ontario Hockey League season is only a few weeks old, but already there is plenty to talk about when it comes to the Soo Greyhounds.
After finishing fifth in the Western Conference last season with a 39-23-1-5 record, the Greyhounds enter this season with expectations of once again being a playoff team. Last year’s club swept the London Knights in the opening round before falling to the eventual OHL champion Kitchener Rangers in five games in the Western Conference semifinals.
But this year’s team is different.
Gone are several major contributors from last year’s squad, including goaltender Carter George and defenceman Chase Reid, while Brady Martin is also no longer part of the forward group. At the same time, General Manager Kyle Raftis has assembled a roster with plenty of young talent, returning experience and players who could take significant steps forward.
So the question becomes:
Where will the Soo Greyhounds finish when the 2026-27 regular season comes to an end?
A Strong Start in the Soo
Through the opening four games of the season, the Greyhounds have given fans plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
Soo opened the regular season with a loss to Saginaw but responded with three straight victories, including wins over Brampton and North Bay. The Greyhounds enter the final week of September with a 3-1-0 record and sit 12th in the OHL’s latest power rankings.
The most recent win, a 5-4 victory over North Bay, showed some of the characteristics that could define this team.
The Greyhounds received goals from Ryan Kaczynski, Cam Anderson, Quinn McKenzie, Noah Laus and Brady Smith, while rookie goaltender William Camputaro stopped 28 shots in his OHL debut. Smith’s shorthanded goal early in the third period proved to be the difference.
It wasn’t perfect.
But it was the kind of game a team needs to win during an OHL season.
The Travis Hayes Factor
If there is one player who could have a major impact on where the Greyhounds finish, it is captain Travis Hayes.
Hayes enters his fourth season in Sault Ste. Marie and is approaching 200 career regular-season games with the Greyhounds. He finished last season with 16 goals and 40 points in 63 games and now takes on an even larger leadership role.
The Pittsburgh Penguins prospect was officially named captain on September 25, with Spencer Evans, Quinn McKenzie, Jordan Charron and Callum Croskery also forming the team’s leadership group.
Hayes has already shown that he can contribute offensively.
Now the challenge is consistency.
If he can establish himself as a dependable offensive leader while helping the younger players around him develop, the Greyhounds could have one of the more balanced forward groups in the Western Conference.
The Young Players Could Change Everything
One of the biggest reasons not to underestimate the Greyhounds is the number of young players who could make significant jumps during the season.
Noah Laus enters his second OHL season after scoring 12 goals and 29 points as a rookie. Ryan Kaczynski also returns after recording 10 points in 47 games last season.
The organization expects both players to take on greater responsibility.
Kaczynski has already provided an early indication that he could be ready for that opportunity. The 2026-27 OHL power rankings noted that he was leading the league with six goals through four games.
Then there is Cam Anderson.
The 2009-born forward brings size and skill and is another player who could become increasingly important as the season progresses.
The Greyhounds don’t necessarily need one player to replace everything lost from last season.
They need several young players to collectively take another step.
If that happens, the lineup could become much deeper by February than it is today.
The Blue Line Will Be Under the Microscope
Defensively, there are questions.
Chase Reid’s departure leaves a major hole after he was named to the CHL Second All-Star Team following the 2025-26 season.
The Greyhounds will be looking for Callum Croskery, Harris Pangretitsch, Charlie Ashcroft, Jakub Winkelhofer and the rest of the defensive group to take on increased responsibilities.
Croskery is particularly intriguing.
After missing the beginning of last season because of injury, he finished with 18 points in 43 games and represented Canada at the 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship.
Pangretitsch is another player worth watching. He played all but one game last season, earned the Greyhounds’ Most Improved Player award and was selected by the Ottawa Senators in the 2026 NHL Draft.
If those players continue to develop, the loss of Reid could become less damaging as the season moves along.
And Then There Is Goaltending
Perhaps the biggest question surrounding the Greyhounds entering the season was goaltending.
Carter George was a major part of last year’s playoff run, and replacing an established goaltender is never easy.
The Greyhounds entered the season with three goaltenders:
Landon Miller, William Camputaro and David Vermirovsky.
Miller brings OHL experience, while Camputaro and Vermirovsky are younger options looking to establish themselves.
Vermirovsky arrives from Czechia after playing for HC Dynamo Pardubice’s U20 team, while Camputaro made his OHL debut against North Bay and delivered a 28-save performance.
Goaltending could ultimately be the biggest determining factor in where the Greyhounds finish.
If the position becomes a strength, the Hounds could climb.
If it becomes inconsistent, the Western Conference standings could become a much tougher climb.
Drew Bannister’s Return
Another major storyline is behind the bench.
Drew Bannister is back as Greyhounds head coach after previously leading the organization from 2015 through 2018.
Bannister knows Sault Ste. Marie, knows the OHL and has experience coaching at the professional and international levels.
He also understands that this year’s Greyhounds aren’t simply going to duplicate last year’s team.
They have to develop.
They have to find new offensive contributors.
They have to establish a new defensive identity.
And they have to determine who can handle pressure in the crease.
The early signs have been encouraging.
After the 5-4 win over North Bay, Bannister described it as the best game the team had played through its first four contests and praised the group for pulling in the same direction.
That may ultimately be the identity of this year’s Greyhounds.
So Where Do the Greyhounds Finish?
This is where things get interesting.
The Western Conference is not going to make things easy.
There are several teams capable of challenging for playoff positioning, and the Greyhounds will have to navigate 68 regular-season games before the postseason picture becomes clear.
The schedule runs through March 21, 2027, with all 20 OHL clubs playing 68 games.
Based on the roster, the returning talent, the young players available for bigger roles and the early-season results, a reasonable projection is that the Soo Greyhounds finish somewhere between fourth and sixth in the Western Conference.
For this prediction, I’ll put them at:
- 5th Place — Western Conference
- Projected Record: 39-24-2-3
- Projected Points: 83
That would essentially put the Greyhounds in the same general territory as last season, while giving the younger players another year of development and experience.
But there is an important difference.
The ceiling could be higher.
Why Fifth?
The argument for fifth is pretty simple.
The Greyhounds have enough offensive talent to score goals.
Hayes, McKenzie and Charron provide experience and NHL-drafted talent. Kaczynski, Laus and Anderson represent young players who could provide an offensive boost.
The defence has questions, but there are players capable of taking significant steps.
And goaltending remains the wild card.
If the goaltending settles quickly and the young players develop as expected, the Greyhounds could push their way into the top four.
If injuries hit or the young players struggle to handle increased responsibility, the Hounds could find themselves fighting for playoff positioning late into the season.
That’s what makes this team so difficult to predict.
The Trade Deadline Could Change Everything
There is also another factor that cannot be ignored.
The OHL trade deadline.
If the Greyhounds find themselves firmly in the playoff picture around January, Raftis could have a decision to make.
Does the organization add?
Or does it continue building for the future?
Last season, the Greyhounds made a significant push and ultimately faced Kitchener in the second round.
This year’s team could once again put management in a position where adding one or two pieces could change the playoff outlook.
The answer may depend on where the Hounds sit in the standings at the beginning of January.
The Final Prediction
If we were writing this story on March 21, 2027, what would the standings look like?
Our projection has the Soo Greyhounds finishing:
- 5th in the Western Conference
- 39-24-2-3
- 83 points
And, most importantly, back in the OHL playoffs.
But the final position may not tell the entire story.
The 2026-27 Greyhounds are a team that could look very different in March than they do in September.
The young players should be better.
The defensive group should be more experienced.
The goaltending situation should be settled.
And Bannister’s system should be fully established.
If those things happen, the Greyhounds could enter the playoffs as a team nobody wants to face.
Last season proved that.
Soo finished fifth, swept London and pushed eventual champion Kitchener before losing the Western Conference semifinal in five games.
Now the challenge is doing it again with a new group.
The road to the 2027 OHL playoffs is long.
There will be injuries, winning streaks, losing streaks, trades, prospects emerging, players struggling and perhaps a few surprises along the way.
But if the early-season signs are any indication, the Soo Greyhounds should be right in the middle of the Western Conference playoff race when the calendar turns to 2027.
Projected finish: Fifth in the Western Conference.
And if the young Hounds develop the way the organization hopes they will, fifth may be the floor rather than the ceiling.
