The new season is expected to premiere in the spring of 2027, with filming scheduled to begin in August 2026. Here is a breakdown of the key details for the next chapter of the series.
A Decade Later: The Plot of Season 2
Season 2 will pick up ten years after the events of the first season, a major shift that mirrors the timeline of The Long Game. The story finds hockey rivals-turned-lovers Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) still navigating their secret relationship. A decade of hiding has taken its toll, and the central conflict will revolve around the mounting pressure to go public, a decision that could jeopardise their careers.
According to the official logline, Ilya has left his Boston team to play for the Ottawa Centaurs to be closer to Shane. While they see each other more frequently, the potential cost of revealing their romance weighs heavily on them, particularly as Ilya grows more eager to live openly.
Showrunner Jacob Tierney has indicated a tonal shift for the new season. Speaking at BookCon, he described the story as moving into "much more serious territory." He explained, "There’s still lots of flirting, and there’s lots of sex, but it’s this kind of danger. This kind of ‘hotel room, adolescent sex’ stuff is largely gone." Tierney emphasized that the season will explore the complexities of sustaining a long-term relationship after the initial phase of falling in love.
New and Returning Cast
Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie will return to their lead roles. They will be joined by a number of new faces, including several well-known figures in the LGBTQ+ community.
- Edvin Ryding, widely known for his role as Prince Wilhelm in Netflix's Young Royals, joins the cast as Luca Haas.
- Priyanka, the winner of the first season of Canada's Drag Race, will portray a character named Tarek.
- Justice Smith (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) is cast as Harris Drover, the social media manager for the Ottawa Centaurs.
- Charlie Gillespie (Julie and the Phantoms) will play Troy Barrett, a forward for the Centaurs and Ilya's new teammate. The characters of Harris and Troy are central to another of Reid's novels, Role Model, and their own "grumpy sunshine" romance will be a subplot in the series.
- Emily Hampshire (Schitt's Creek) will play Vanessa.
- Sabrina Jalees (Black Mirror) is cast as Farah Jalali.
- Robert Naylor will take on the role of Wyatt Hayes, a fan-favourite goaltender from the book series.
The casting of Justice Smith drew some negative reactions from a segment of the book's fanbase, which the actor addressed in an Instagram story. "I am honored to play a character that you all care about deeply and I promise that I will take good care of him if you give me the chance," he wrote.
