Three new linespersons will be joining the National Hockey League officiating team for the start of the 2025-26 season. Linespersons Dylan Blujus, Jeremy Faucher, and Shawn Oliver have been hired by the NHL.
Dylan Blujus – Buffalo, New York
The former defenseman played four seasons with the OHL’s Brampton Battalion, relocating with them to North Bay in his final season; there, he was teammates with Barclay Goodrow, Nick Paul, and Michael Amadio.
Blujus, 31, was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, 40th overall, ahead of current NHLers Jake McCabe, Anthony Stolarz, Colton Sissons, Chris Tierney, Damon Severson, Esa Lindell, Chandler Stephenson, Shayne Gostisbehere, Colton Parayko, Josh Anderson, Jaccob Slavin, and Alex Kerfoot, among others. He made his professional playing debut with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch in 2014, going on to score 23 goals and 77 assists along with 218 penalty minutes in 362 AHL games from 2014-2023 for the Crunch, Utica Comets, Milwaukee Admirals, and Belleville Senators. He also had two short stints in the ECHL, picking up 27 games with the Jacksonville Icemen and rival Florida Everblades.
Blujus, who hails from Buffalo, New York, wrapped up his professional playing career in 2023. He joined the AHL’s officiating staff the following season.
Embed from Getty Images
Jeremy Faucher – Cowansville, Quebec
Faucher, 27, made his QMJHL officiating debut in 2019, having worked his way up the ranks starting at age 12 through midget AAA, Junior AAA, and college levels. He advanced to the American Hockey League, working his first game as the Laval Rocket hosted the Manitoba Moose on February 22, 2021. He handled games in both the Q and the A through last season.
“Refereeing allows me to stay in touch with my passion, with the sport I love,” Faucher told La Voix del’Est in 2019. “I am in my place and I feel privileged.”
Faucher recently worked the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Shawn Oliver – Ottawa, Ontario
Oliver, 25, has manned the lines in the AHL and ECHL, as well as in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) and the OHL, where’s he’s worked the lines for the past six seasons.
“It’s obviously a huge accomplishment coming out of the OHL and developing through the ranks,” said Oliver. “This season is going to be a big learning process, including understanding new systems and just about everything as to how they operate in the NHL. I’m going to soak it all up in the first year, ask as many questions as I can, and really learn from the veterans.”
The Ottawa native was selected to officiate the 2024 CHL/USA Prospects Challenge along with the 2025 IIHF under-20 World Championship, Division 1, Group A tournament in Slovenia, the 2023 Centennial Cup Final, and the Hlinka Grezky Cup.
Oliver also has the honor of officating the longest hockey game in USPORTS history, which ended in five overtimes.
“I think the most exciting thing will just be my first NHL game and having my whole family there to support me,” Oliver told the OHL. “It’s been a long journey to get here. I get emotional thinking about it. It’s going to be a big moment for everyone, and I cannot wait.”
All three officials worked in the AHL last season, all advancing to the league’s Calder Cup Finals.
The trio fill the openings left by the promotion of AHL/NHL linesperson Ryan Jackson and the departures of Mitchell Hunt and Justin Johnson.
Congratulations to the league’s newest officials on the start of their National Hockey League careers!
