The London Knights’ first-round pick is already part of the family – London

As selections began to be made in the first in-person OHL Priority Selection since 2000, the Beaulieu family began to wonder if Ryan Beaulieu might join the team whose father won the Memorial Cup in 2005.

On pick number 14, they found out.

Knights general manager Mark Hunter took to the podium in Kingston, Ont., and made defenseman Ryan Beaulieu London’s first choice in 2026.

“By the eighth or ninth pick I started to wonder if that was possible,” Ryan admitted. “I started thinking how great it would be to stay home and play for Mark and Dale Hunter and follow in my dad’s footsteps.”

Josh Beaulieu was a second-round pick of the Knights in 2003 and later a fifth-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers.

“I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason,” says Josh. “We are so grateful and now a new journey begins for him and our family and we are very excited.”

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Josh Beaulieu is also one of a handful of London Knights players to score five goals in one game.

“That was his favorite story,” Ryan said with a laugh. “Me and my dad have a good relationship. He has experience and he knows what it takes to play for the Knights.”

Ryan spent last season playing for one of Josh’s Team of the Century teammates in Danny Syvret with U16 AAA London Jr. Knights. He was one of the best defenders in the Alliance and was named to the All OHL Cup team after helping Jr. Knights into the top four of the U16 tournament.

Ryan was full of praise for what Syret was able to convey to him.

“He knows the game, he knows what I have to do and he passes it on to all of us.”

A back-to-back Alliance champion who says he models his game after the LA Kings’ Drew Doughty, Ryan is taking the next step in his career with the help and support of people in his life who know what it means to wear a London Knights uniform.

The last time Mark Hunter threw a first round pick in the same way he called Rick Nash’s name.

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