The field is set for the 2026 Memorial Cup with the host Kelowna Rockets being joined by the WHL’s Everett Silvertips, the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers and the QMJHL’s Chicoutimi Saguenéens to compete for the Canadian Hockey League’s top prize.
The Silvertips lost just two games during the entire WHL playoffs, which included dispatching Kelowna in five games, as they captured the Ed Chynoweth Cup for the first time in franchise history. This will be Everett’s first-ever appearance in the Memorial Cup.
Kitchener had a similar dominant march through the OHL playoffs, dropping only two games and sweeping the Barrie Colts in the final.
Chicoutimi started the QMJHL playoffs with back-to-back sweeps of Halifax and Quebec and then edged out the reigning league champion Moncton Wildcats in six games for the QMJHL title. This is the Saguenéens’ first appearance in the national championship since 1997.
Kitchener last won a Memorial Cup title in 2003 while Kelowna won its one and only CHL championship in 2004.
Here are 10 players to watch in the upcoming Memorial Cup as action gets underway on Friday.
F Tij Iginla - Kelowna Rockets
After missing most of the 2024-25 season due to double hip surgery, Iginla bounced back with a big year.
The 19-year-old scored 41 goals with 90 points in 48 regular-season games before adding seven goals and 12 points in nine playoff contests as the Rockets were eliminated in the second round by the Silvertips.
Iginla, who was the first pick by the Utah Mammoth in franchise history at sixth overall in 2024, outscored his next-closest teammate on Kelowna by 18 points, as San Jose Sharks prospect forward Carson Wetsch had 72 points.
“I think he’s the best NHL prospect outside the NHL,” said TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button. “I think he’s a tour de force. He’s so skilled, competitive, and he’s wired to be a difference maker.”
Three host teams have won the Memorial Cup (Windsor in 2017, Saint John in 2022 and Saginaw in 2024) in the past 10 years, and all three entered the tournament having not won their respective leagues.
F Vojtech Cihar – Kelowna Rockets
After helping lead Czechia to silver at the World Juniors and winning tournament MVP, Cihar joined the Rockets for the second half of the WHL regular season, putting up 12 goals and 31 points in 31 games.
Cihar had the most points for Kelowna in the postseason with 13, edging out Iginla by one.
A second-round pick (59th overall) by Los Angeles in 2025, the 19-year-old winger signed his three-year, entry-level contract with the Kings on Dec. 10.
“Excellent skater,” said Button of Cihar. “He wants to drive the net. He wants to play what I call inside hockey. He’s not interested in playing where it doesn’t matter. He’s not a bird watcher; he’s a bird slayer.”
D Landon DuPont – Everett Silvertips
One of the top prospects available for the 2027 NHL Draft, DuPont was a critical piece in Everett winning the WHL title for the first time in franchise history.
In his second season since being granted exceptional status to enter the league as a 15-year-old in 2024, DuPont scored 18 goals with 73 points in 63 regular-season games.
In the playoffs, DuPont finished fifth in the WHL with 23 points in 18 games.
“A phenomenal player,” said Button. “His brain processes at high rates and at a speed that is unbelievable. He sees the game, [has] deception and initiative, he’s two steps ahead.”
DuPont will turn 17 during the Memorial Cup on May 28.
F Julius Miettinen – Everett Silvertips
The WHL’s leading goal scorer (14) and point-getter (27) in the playoffs, Miettinen is one of Everett’s pillars as they play in the Memorial Cup for the first time in team history.
Miettinen, who captured WHL Playoff MVP honours, had a career season in 2025-26, scoring 35 goals with 76 points in 52 regular-season games.
“He’s a horse, he’s a bull,” said Button. “He’s such a complete two-way player.
“He’s excellent with and without the puck. Excellent in open ice and in close quarters. He is a handful to play against. I think he is a terrific player. He asserts and imposes himself on the game and on opponents.”
The Helsinki native was drafted in the second round (40th overall) by Seattle in 2024 and is eligible to turn pro next season.
F Carter Bear – Everett Silvertips
Bear’s 2024-25 season ended last March after a lacerated Achilles tendon that required surgery, but it didn’t stop the Detroit Red Wings from taking him 13th overall in the draft.
The Winnipeg native bounced back from the injury this season with 36 goals and 77 points in 53 games and then added 22 points in 18 postseason contests.
“Carter has what I call that quick-strike offence ability,” said Button. “He can do it with his shot, and he can also do it with his playmaking. I’m not so sure Carter gets enough credit for being a really terrific playmaker and I think his playmaking opens up so much of his goal-scoring ability.
“He is that player that is always in rhythm, he’s not waiting for the next play, he’s already in the next play.”
F Sam O’Reilly – Kitchener Rangers
It has been an historic run this postseason for O’Reilly.
O’Reilly and Rangers teammate Jared Woolley became the second and third players in OHL history to capture three consecutive OHL titles. Both players previously won two league championships with the London Knights as well as the Memorial Cup in 2025.
The two started the 2025-26 season with the Knights but were both dealt to the Rangers at the trade deadline in January.
In 56 regular-season games split between London and Kitchener, O’Reilly scored 29 goals and 71 points and was awarded the Red Tilson Trophy as the OHL’s Most Outstanding Player.
He took it to a new level in the playoffs, where he led the OHL in goals with 17 as he took home the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as playoff MVP.
“Whatever needs to be done at the most important times, Sam does them,” said Button.
Originally drafted 32nd overall by the Edmonton Oilers in 2024, O’Reilly’s rights were dealt to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for prospect Isaac Howard.
F Jack Pridham – Kitchener Rangers
Pridham is coming off a big first full season in the OHL.
The 20-year-old finished second in goals (46) and fifth in points (90) with Kitchener in the regular season, capturing the Leo Lalonde Trophy as the OHL’s Overage Player of the Year.
In the playoffs, he had two goals with 17 points in 18 games.
“He hasn’t scored as much in these playoffs, but he keeps getting better and better as time goes on. I think that, as an older player, I’d love his maturity to understand that, ‘Okay, I’m not scoring but I’m not going to let other areas of my game drop off,’” said Button of Pridham.
A third-round pick (92nd overall) by Chicago in 2024, Pridham has yet to ink an entry-level contract with the Blackhawks.
D Cameron Reid – Kitchener Rangers
It was a big season for defenceman Cameron Reid in his first season as Rangers captain.
He averaged nearly a point per game this season with Kitchener, scoring 15 goals with 56 points in 57 games and then in the postseason, he scored two goals with 14 points in 18 games.
“Cameron is their blueline general,” said Button of Reid. “He’s going to play big, hard defensive minutes. He’s going to play important offensive minutes. The player that can match up against anybody, shut opponents down, transition the game. He is such a well-round defenceman.”
He was drafted 21st overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2025 draft.
F Maxim Massé – Chicoutimi Saguenéens
Massé is coming off a career season with Chicoutimi.
The 20-year-old captured the Michel-Briere Trophy as QMJHL MVP this season after leading the league with 51 goals and 102 points in 63 games in the regular season.
In the QMJHL playoffs, he had six goals with 24 points in 20 games.
“He has just settled in to be the player that he knows he can be,” said Button. “He’s smart, drives to the net, gets involved in the guts of the action, he plays along the boards, in traffic and he can score goals.”
A third-round pick (66th overall) by Anaheim in 2024, Massé is committed to the University of Massachusetts for the 2026-27 season.
D Jordan Tourigny – Chicoutimi Saguenéens
Tourigny is looking to cap his fifth and final QMJHL season with a Memorial Cup title.
Tourigny, who won a QMJHL title with Shawinigan in 2022, joined Chicoutimi via trade in late December. In 29 games with the Saguenéens, he scored eight goals with 32 points.
He was also big offensively in the playoffs, scoring eight goals with 16 points in 20 games.
“Chicoutimi needed Jordan Tourigny,” said Button. “They needed that maturity on their blueline. I think Jordan has learned to play the game the right way for him, which extends to the right way for the team.”
An undrafted free agent, Tourigny is committed to attend Northeastern University next season.
Watch the entire Memorial Cup tournament starting on Friday, May 22 LIVE on TSN, TSN.ca and the TSN App.
