The London Knights are the premier recruiting machine in junior hockey.
But there are still question marks and last-minute hopes and dreams of getting players onto the Canada Life Place stage. That was the case in the wooing of Swedish forward Marcus Nordmark, the Anaheim first-rounder who will wear the green-and-gold for the first time Friday against Owen Sound.
“It’s been an ongoing process where Marcus dropped out of the sky here,” Knights GM Mark Hunter said. “One time, he wasn’t coming and now he is. It’s a positive. I played with (his dad) Robert Nordmark in St. Louis. There’s a bond relationship there. It’s special where I can see a young man, part of Robert’s family, here and it will be exciting to watch him grow and get better as a hockey player.”
Hunter and Robert Nordmark also worked together with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Marcus Nordmark’s father vouched for the well-proven Hunter system of hockey development.
“He was telling me Mark is a great person,” the 18-year-old Marcus said. “I’m really happy I get a chance to play here in London. I know it’s a great team and the Hunters are doing a great job. I know they can probably take me to the NHL in a couple of years here.
“I’m excited to be here and it’s going to be a fun season.”
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That’s the plan. Nordmark spent the past week-and-a-half at Ducks camp adjusting to the smaller North American ice and playing against older players.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder has a personal goal of winning a world junior gold medal with Sweden but counts a Memorial Cup as his one true wish for this season. He wants to lift it the way Matthew Tkachuk – the Florida Panthers star he models his game after – did a decade ago as a London legend.
“That’s a player you want to play like and have on your team,” Nordmark said. “He’s always backing up people and I try to play like him. Sometimes, I can be hard on people and try to hit some guys. Brady and Matthew (Tkachuk), they’re always fighting in the corners.
“They’re so good.”
Both he and the Knights acknowledge there will be a learning curve. That’s standard for all import players and Nordmark joins Russian Maksim Sokolovskii (Flyers) and 2027 NHL draft prospect Luca Santala of Finland as London’s European players at the moment.
“We have to be patient,” Mark Hunter said. “He’s coming from a big ice surface and a different style of game. It’ll be good for him and that’s why he’s here. I talked to (Anaheim GM) Pat Verbeek a few times and he wants him here coached by Dale and Dylan (Hunter) and Ricky (Steadman) and the rest of our staff to understand what he needs to do to become a professional hockey player.”
Nordmark knows Swedish defenceman Linus Funck, who was traded to Oshawa to make room for his London arrival. He is familiar with a few Knights already, which helps.
“I met (Senators first-rounder) Jaxon Cover and Maksim Sokolovskii and talked to them at the NHL draft combine,” he said. “I didn’t know I was going to play for London at the time. I don’t know so much (about the OHL) but I know it’s a tough league and you have to be ready.
“It can take some time. I’m just trying to do my best and am glad to be here.”
Ryan Pyette joined The London Free Press in 2001 and has spent most of his career covering local and national sports. From Sault Ste. Marie, he is an award-winning journalist who has been to multiple Olympics, Memorial Cups, world championships and international sporting events.
rpyette@postmedia.com