Miami (Ohio) Professional Athletes

Miami (Ohio) has always quietly stocked the NHL with reliable, skilled players, and the 2026-27 season's opening week offered a fresh reminder. Two RedHawks alumni — Jack Roslovic in Toronto and Kiefer Sherwood in San Jose — delivered early moments that suggest both are ready to make real contributions for their new teams.

Roslovic Announces Himself in Toronto

Jack Roslovic didn't take long to introduce himself to Maple Leafs fans. The Oxford product, one of Toronto's marquee offseason additions alongside Kirill Marchenko and Sergei Bobrovsky, scored his first goal as a Maple Leaf in one of the week's most dramatic games — a 5-4 overtime win over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.

The goal itself was vintage Roslovic: a slick sequence in front of the net, a couple of sharp dekes, and a roofed finish that had Sportsnet's cameras rolling. It was exactly the kind of high-skill, tight-space play Toronto is counting on from him in the middle of the lineup.

The win itself was a statement. The Maple Leafs dug out of a three-goal hole before Auston Matthews — who finished with three assists in regulation — sealed it with an OT winner with 14 seconds remaining. Roslovic's goal was a key piece of that comeback, and it arrived in front of a home crowd that needed to believe in this revamped roster. Roslovic was one of four goal-scorers for Toronto that night, sharing the sheet with Matthews, John Tavares, and No. 1 overall pick Gavin McKenna, who netted his first professional goal.

Saturday's outing against Colorado (a 6-3 loss) was a rougher night — Roslovic finished at minus-2 — but early-season turbulence is expected. The Tuesday performance is the more telling data point.

Sherwood Settling In With the Sharks

Out in San Jose, Kiefer Sherwood is doing what the Sharks needed when they traded for him ahead of this season: playing with an edge and a purpose that a rebuilding team can rally around.

Sherwood's NHL career has taken him through Anaheim, Colorado, Nashville, and Vancouver — the kind of journeyman résumé that often signals a player who hasn't found his footing. But according to Heavy Sports, a specific play in Saturday's game against the Oilers illustrated exactly why San Jose pulled the trigger on the deal. The Sharks dropped that one 3-1, but Sherwood's presence — physical, direct, and impactful — was already drawing notice.

For a Sharks team in the middle of a long rebuild, character and compete level matter as much as production in October. Sherwood, who played his college hockey at Miami (Ohio), brings both.

The RedHawks Footprint

Roslovic and Sherwood aren't the only Miami alumni in the league — Blake Coleman logged a plus-1 Saturday in Minnesota's 4-1 win over Florida — but they're the week's headliners. For a mid-major program in Oxford, Ohio, that's quietly developed NHL talent for decades, it's another reminder that the RedHawks pipeline remains very much open for business.

Miami (Ohio) has long been a quiet factory for NHL talent, and the opening week of the 2026–27 season offered a vivid reminder. Two RedHawks alumni — Jack Roslovic and Blake Coleman — stepped into new chapters with new teams and made immediate impressions.

Roslovic Debuts in Blue and White

Jack Roslovic suited up for the Toronto Maple Leafs in one of the NHL's most scrutinized opening nights, a Tuesday clash against the Montreal Canadiens. Toronto's offseason overhaul drew enormous attention, and Roslovic was among the new faces under the microscope. Per Sportsnet's Justin Bourne, the new guys were a "mixed bag" — not exactly a ringing endorsement, but for a player still finding his footing in a high-expectation market, surviving opening night in Toronto without a disaster is its own form of progress.

Off the ice, Roslovic has already been building connections. The former Columbus Blue Jacket spoke warmly about reuniting with Kirill Marchenko, his ex-teammate now also with the Leafs, calling him a player of elite caliber and a genuinely good person away from the rink. That kind of chemistry-building matters on a Toronto roster where cohesion has historically been as big a challenge as talent acquisition.

Coleman Opens His Wild Account Immediately

If Roslovic's debut was measured, Blake Coleman's was emphatic. The veteran winger, acquired by Minnesota in the offseason, scored in his very first game as a Wild forward — a clinical strike in a 3–1 win over the Nashville Predators. Coleman found the net in the first period alongside Nick Foligno, helping stake Minnesota to an early lead that Kirill Kaprizov sealed in the third.

Coleman's signing was always about more than goals — his three Stanley Cup rings make him exactly the kind of veteran presence a Wild team with championship aspirations covets. But scoring on debut has a way of fast-tracking a new player's relationship with the fanbase, and Coleman did exactly that in Minnesota.

The Miami (Ohio) Pipeline

Roslovic and Coleman aren't anomalies — they're the latest proof that Oxford, Ohio quietly produces durable NHL contributors. The RedHawks currently have ten alumni on active NHL rosters, from Reilly Smith in Vegas to Alec Martinez in Chicago to Sean Kuraly in Boston. It's a roster that spans defensive stalwarts, grinders, and skilled forwards across nearly every conference.

This opening week belonged to Roslovic and Coleman, but with ten former RedHawks in the league, there's no shortage of storylines to track through the fall.

Jack Roslovic is making an early case that his move to Toronto was one of the quieter steals of the offseason.

The Miami (Ohio) product has earned a spot on the Maple Leafs' top power-play unit heading into the 2026–27 season — a decision notable enough to turn heads around the league, given that it pushed highly touted prospects Matthew Knies and Gavin McKenna to the second group. Sportsnet's Luke Fox reported that Toronto unveiled the arrangement Saturday, with Roslovic slotting into a loaded first unit that underscores just how quickly he's integrated himself into the Leafs' core plans.

That trust extends to five-on-five play as well. Roslovic has been skating alongside captain Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies on what figures to be Toronto's most dangerous line. Matthews has been candid about his enthusiasm for the pairing, telling Sportsnet it's been "cool" to reunite with Roslovic — the two have history together — and singling out the center's game as a natural fit alongside him on the wing. When a franchise player of Matthews' caliber goes out of his way to publicly vouch for a linemate during training camp, it tends to mean something.

For RedHawk faithful, Roslovic's trajectory is worth appreciating in full context. He's gone from a productive but under-the-radar contributor to a player now trusted with top-unit power-play reps next to one of the NHL's elite scorers. The Maple Leafs clearly see him as more than depth — they're betting he can help unlock their offense at the league's most important moments.

No other Miami (Ohio) alumni generated significant headlines during the September 13–19 window, though the program continues to maintain an impressive NHL footprint: Reilly Smith (Golden Knights), Blake Coleman (Wild), Sean Kuraly (Bruins), Alec Martinez (Blackhawks), and Kiefer Sherwood (Sharks) are among the ten-plus former RedHawks active across the league heading into the new season.

But this week belongs to Roslovic. A spot on the Leafs' top power play isn't handed out as a courtesy — it's earned. And right now, one of Oxford's own is in the most prominent position of his NHL career.