Simon Wang goes 33rd overall to Sharks, making history as highest-drafted player born in China
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Simon Wang became the highest-drafted player born in China when the San Jose Sharks selected him with the first pick of the second round of the NHL draft on Saturday.
Wang's family moved from Beijing to Toronto when he was 12. The 6-foot-5 defenseman surged forward in his development over the past year, showing more than enough potential to entice the Sharks with the 33rd overall selection.
'It's an unreal moment for my family, for hockey in China,' Wang said. 'Just a really surreal moment, a dream-come-true moment. ... I hope I've inspired a lot of kids back home.'
His real name is Haoxi Wang, but he plans to go by Simon during his hockey career because 'it's simpler for North Americans,' he said.
Wang is only the third Chinese-born player ever drafted by the NHL, but he knows he won't be the last. Kevin He was drafted 109th overall by the Winnipeg Jets last year, and Andong Song was chosen 172nd by the New York Islanders in 2015.
'Hopefully one day my record will get broken again,' Wang said. 'Someone will go in the first round, even top 10. I think there will definitely be someone that's going to make a huge impact on the game.'
Wang aspires to be an imposing two-way defenseman in the mold of Victor Hedman or Colton Parayko, but he had little draft buzz until the start of last season, when teams began to take notice of his rapidly developing skills. He soon joined the OHL's Oshawa Generals and got even more exposure during their playoff run.
'Seeing so many scouts in the Junior A barn, it just started hitting me,' Wang said. 'The summer before the season, I thought I was going undrafted, to be honest with you. But it happened for a reason, and I worked so hard for this. I deserve to be here.'
Wang got into hockey as a child, but he didn't truly embrace the game until his family took a trip to Los Angeles eight years ago. The 10-year-old attended a Kings game right across the street from where he was drafted — although he fell asleep during the game, he recalls with a laugh.
Wang then attended a Bruins-Flames game played in Beijing in 2018, and he soon decided to move to Canada to further his development.
Wang walked the red carpet in Los Angeles on Friday with his mother, who propelled his career — and even bought and moved his former junior team. He also got his first chance in nearly two years to see his brother, who studied at Boston University, where Wang might play college hockey starting in 2026 if next year in Oshawa goes well.
The NHL is concluding its decentralized draft with the final six rounds at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. After minimal player movement Friday while Matthew Schaefer became the No. 1 overall pick, several significant trades were executed Saturday, with longtime Anaheim Ducks goalie John Gibson going to Detroit while defenseman Jordan Spence went from Los Angeles to Ottawa.
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New York Times
25 minutes ago
- New York Times
How the Canadiens' amateur scouting approach is adjusting coming out of a rebuild
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Much like Hughes said the Canadiens have transitioned from rebuild to team-building mode, the amateur scouting staff has also transitioned. 'That would be the case because you don't want to create redundancy in certain elements, certain types of profiles and players,' Bobrov said Saturday after the completion of the draft. 'You're always missing a few ingredients here and there, so you look for those ingredients, but being mindful that the player still has to be the best player available when all things are equal. But if one ingredient tips the scale a little bit, that's the difference-maker in the selection. 'If you have enough of one thing, you're looking at something different. I can give you one example: we wanted more depth on the right side on defence. So, just organizational depth. You look around the NHL depth charts, and they're lacking that depth. So we wanted to increase that depth, to give you an example.' That is telling because the Canadiens just acquired Dobson, a right-shot defenceman. They have Logan Mailloux and David Reinbacher in Laval, two right-shot defencemen on the verge of graduating from the AHL. Bogdan Konyushkov, a 2023 fourth-round pick playing in the KHL who will be at development camp next week, also shoots from the right side. Advertisement But when NHL depth charts are lacking right-shot defencemen, you already have some and you start hoarding them regardless – the Canadiens took three Saturday – then there is something deeper happening. It is drafting players to shore up the prospect pool, sure. But it is also drafting players to serve as trade capital down the road. The more of these players the Canadiens can draft and develop, the more trades like the one that happened Friday are facilitated. 'We did pick quite a few (defencemen), and they happen to be right-shot (defencemen), which is a rarity in the market, everybody knows that,' Bobrov said. 'When they fall in your lap, you have to strike.' After every draft, every single team says the players they drafted were far higher on their lists and they were stunned they were available. This year was no different. I mean, imagine the luck for the Columbus Blue Jackets! #CBJ GM Don Waddell just said – and later confirmed – that the first three players they selected were among the top 14 in their overall list. No. 14 Jackson SmithNo. 20 Pyotr AndreyanovNo. 76 Malte Vass — Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) June 28, 2025 The Canadiens were just as enthusiastic about being able to draft Russian winger Alexander Zharovsky in the second round, a pick that required the Canadiens to give up picks No. 41 and 49 to move up to 34 and take him with the second pick of the second round. 'On paper, he's a second-round pick,' director of player personnel and amateur scouting Martin Lapointe said. 'But on our list, he was a first-rounder, and we had him where we were supposed to pick. 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Bobrov had a chance to meet with Zharovsky in Russia when he was part of the delegation that went to visit with Ivan Demidov in St. Petersburg in December, and he, Lapointe and special advisor to hockey operations Vincent Lecavalier met with him again recently at agent Dan Milstein's Gold Star camp in Fort Lauderdale. The fact Zharovsky was literally off the radar at the beginning of the season was an advantage, but over the past few months, the rest of the league had caught on to his ascension. Which is why the Canadiens felt it was necessary to spend those two picks to get him, a steep price. Two minutes of Alexander Zharovsky's offensive highlights from the past season. High-end puckhandling, creative problem-solving under pressure, sniping pucks past goalies from mid-range, manipulative playmaking. #2025NHLDraft — Lassi Alanen (@lassialanen) June 10, 2025 Last season, Zharovsky spent the bulk of the year playing in the NMHL, a very low-level junior league in Russia. 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New York Times
30 minutes ago
- New York Times
Red Wings NHL Draft thoughts: John Gibson trade, Carter Bear's fit, what's next
DETROIT — The biggest Detroit Red Wings news on Day 2 of the 2025 NHL Draft was not any of the seven selections they made on Saturday. It was a trade that broke just before the Red Wings' first pick of the day — with Detroit acquiring veteran goaltender John Gibson from the Anaheim Ducks in the first big move of Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman's offseason. Fans hope it won't be the last. But already, there's a lot to unpack from draft weekend, so let's dive right in. 1. Saturday's Gibson deal was not out of nowhere. Gibson, famously, has had his name floating in trade rumors for years now, and Yzerman revealed on the draft broadcast he's been talking to Anaheim general manager Pat Verbeek about Gibson since the trade deadline. But Gibson had been dealing with injuries around the deadline, Yzerman said, which meant the timing didn't work. 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But Gibson has played 40 or more games in every other full season for the last decade, so durability should not be a significant concern. He'll be 32 later this month, so he's not necessarily prime-aged anymore, but if Gibson can tap into his talent in a legit starter role, he'll elevate Detroit in a real way. From 2014-2019, Gibson was a stud in goal for the Ducks, turning in a .921 save percentage over 236 games. Of course, 2019 was a long time ago, and last year was the first time he's finished a season above .904 since then. But those rebuilding Ducks teams were rough, and his environment in Detroit this year should be comparable to what he had this past season in Anaheim. 'We're counting on him, obviously, to give us quality starts and upgrade our team in net,' Yzerman said. It'll be interesting to see the exact division of workload between Gibson and Talbot (who played 47 games and put up a .900 save percentage last year), but again, on paper, this raises the ceiling in goal. 3. Yzerman said he has remained in contact with goaltender Alex Lyon's agent and plans to circle back with that camp. He said both sides expressed interest earlier in the offseason in Lyon coming back, and that the team will consider a third goaltender. He did say he thinks top prospect Sebastian Cossa 'needs more time in the American League, and we're counting on him to play well.' He also praised 23-year-old offseason signing Michal Postava, whom Yzerman said 'played extremely well in the Czech league.' Yzerman thinks it's realistic for Postava to play in the AHL next season. Advertisement Yzerman said the team is still in process of hiring a goaltender coach — 'the last position we intend to fill,' Yzerman said, indicating they won't seek to replace assistant coach Jay Varady — and that Phil Osaer, the team's head of goaltending scouting and development, will leave the organization 'to go into an opportunity in the business sector.' 'In all (likelihood) we'll make some tweaks to how we handle scouting the goaltenders and work in development with our prospects that aren't in Grand Rapids or Toledo,' he said. 4. Yzerman said he still expects to get a deal done with pending UFA winger Patrick Kane as free agency's opening looms on Tuesday. He said he has had conversations with Kane and his agent, Pat Brisson. 'I'm hopeful that we can get something done soon, and that's my intention,' Yzerman said. 'So, we'll see if we can't get that done shortly.' Kane has become an important piece for the Red Wings, both as a top-six winger and a key fixture of the power play, which was arguably the team's biggest strength last season. He'd be a hard player to replace, and the fit has been so good for both sides, it feels like all parties should have some incentive to get it done. 5. Yzerman was candid about the shortage of potential impact players on the free-agent market this year but said the team will look at the blue line, and will look to add a winger as well — neither of which is surprising. Asked if there was a viable trade market for defensemen, he opened his answer by saying: 'I'm not sure if viable is the right word. I'm going to look into it.' Part of the issue, it sounds like, is the state of what teams are looking for. 'When I'm talking to teams right now, everybody wants — the teams I'm talking to — they want players,' Yzerman said. 'Much like we want players. What do we have to offer? Like, I don't want to trade our core players. You trade, whatever, a young centerman for a young centerman — I'm looking to add to our team, and use our future assets for that, and right now, teams are all looking to add players to their team, kind of do the same thing (that) we're trying to do.' Advertisement He did acknowledge 'there's a couple of somewhat interesting options' but added he thinks all the teams will now turn their attention to free agency, then see what shakes out and who can accomplish what they want, who might be left still looking, and who might need to move bodies out. 6. Yzerman's appraisal of the market is revealing, though. It doesn't sound like this is an issue of Detroit cautiously hoarding prospects. Rather, it sounds like the opposite: a market that also wants to improve and isn't as interested in futures. 'When I talk to teams, you know the players they want,' Yzerman said. 'And I'm like, 'That doesn't make me better.' I want to keep these players. I want to add to it. Am I willing to trade a core player? Maybe, but it doesn't make, necessarily, sense to take any position and trade that, to create a hole at that position to fill in another one.' From the sounds of it, the scenarios to watch are either a needle-moving free agent or a trade with a team that is successful in free agency and needs to move a player off the roster for cap reasons, becoming more amenable to taking back futures. Along those lines, I continue to wonder about K'Andre Miller in New York, especially if the Rangers land top free-agent defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov. If that happens, the Rangers could have a hard time affording Miller (who plays Gavrikov's same position), especially once they pay fellow RFA Will Cuylle. I'm sure there are more similar situations out there (Vegas?), but Miller's name has stuck in my head as a potential fit for a while now. 7. Gibson looks like a good addition that will help Detroit, but … obviously, making at least one more splash move would go a long way toward the Red Wings' pursuit of the playoffs next season. Within their own division, Montreal went out and added star defenseman Noah Dobson over the weekend. Ottawa made a minor addition, picking up smaller puck-mover Jordan Spence from Los Angeles. And we'll see what Toronto is able to do in the coming days. But if Detroit isn't able to make another major addition, Yzerman acknowledged one other possibility. Advertisement 'If we can't do anything, maybe we get better simply by: Marco (Kasper) takes another step, Simon (Edvinsson) takes another step, Albert (Johansson) takes another step,' Yzerman said. 'Maybe one of these young guys that played in GR last year, whoever it is, takes another step and goes on our team. … I'm going to keep trying. We will keep trying. But the worst thing I can do is make a move out of desperation or panic, and move our young players out here (in a deal) that doesn't make us any better.' 8. Yzerman said he does not expect to use a buyout at this time, though that probably could have been inferred from the fact he hasn't done so yet, with less than two days until the window closes. Perhaps that could change if the Red Wings suddenly have a pressing need for cap space, but as of now, that isn't an issue. 9. OK, onto the draft class. Detroit's first-round pick, Everett (WHL) Carter Bear, really stands out as a great fit for this pipeline. As much as the Red Wings have prioritized this profile for several years now, players like Bear show up consistently on winning rosters. He's a very skilled, smart player who can create plenty of offense. But he also doesn't need it to just be pretty offense. He will give second efforts around the net, hound pucks on the forecheck and do the little things. A future top-six that includes Bear, Kasper and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård should make Detroit much harder to play against — which they need. Add in the pure creativity and skill of Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat (legit competitors in their own rights, albeit in smaller bodies), and the two-way play of Dylan Larkin and Nate Danielson, and the future forward lineup starts to look pretty balanced. You saw how well Kasper complemented Larkin, Raymond, DeBrincat and Kane in the second half of this past season. Bear isn't quite that fast or quite as big (he's 6 feet to Kasper's 6-1), but he has more pure skill, and that same tenacity could make him a natural fit opposite Raymond or DeBrincat. Or, it could allow Detroit to form a positively menacing line of Bear, Kasper and Brandsegg-Nygård one day. His versatility is a real asset. Advertisement I'd probably rank him between Danielson and Brandsegg-Nygård among Detroit's forward prospects, with Danielson ahead because of the positional value at center, but I could see Bear having the highest NHL point totals of the three. 10. Speaking of being hard to play against, Detroit's second-round pick, Eddie Genborg, has that down. He's a 6-2 winger who moves well and profiles as a classic bottom-six banger who's very willing to get physical and play around the net. At the NHL Draft Combine, the Red Wings like to ask players which of their teammates they'd want to take to the NHL with them. 'Most of the guys on the Swedish team were saying they wanted to play with Eddie,' Draper said. 'He's a big, strong kid. He can really skate. He's physical on the forecheck. A guy that is really tough to play against, and we just really liked the intensity that he's able to bring.' Yes, this is a familiar refrain from Detroit. But it's for a reason. 'You look at the teams that were able to be successful and go on a run, obviously had guys that could skate, they had guys that were hard to play against, they had responsible hockey players,' Draper said. 'And we think that's what Eddie's going to bring for us.' 11. One of the more interesting picks of the day was one of Detroit's two fourth-rounders, Michael Svrcek. Svrcek was part of a Slovak team that put a scare into Team USA in the bronze-medal game at the Under-18 World Championship, with Svrcek scoring twice late in the second period to take a lead on the Americans before ultimately falling in overtime. Unsurprisingly, Detroit liked his skating, his competitiveness and his puck skills. 'He plays a lot bigger than he is,' Draper said of the 5-10 forward who plays for Brynäs in Sweden, where he put up a point-per-game in the J20 league and got into 27 SHL games between the regular season and playoffs. That's impressive for a young player drafted in the fourth round. Advertisement 12. Another member of that Slovak U18 team was goaltender Michal Pradel, whom the Red Wings also picked in the third round. Pradel stands 6-4 and played last year in the USHL with Tri-City, where he had an .899 save percentage in his first season, but he posted a .914 at the U18 Worlds, second only to Canada's Jack Ivankovic among goalies who played more than two games at the event. 13. Detroit also took two players out of the prep ranks in this class, using a fourth-round pick on Minnesota high-school player Brent Solomon and a sixth-rounder on Grayden Robertson-Palmer from Massachusetts. Taking prep players can be a challenge because it's a different level of competition compared to major junior leagues, college or Europe, but Draper talked about the need to focus on projection in doing so. It will likely be a longer path for both, but with Robertson-Palmer, Detroit is pleased that he's going to play for Gardner MacDougall at QMJHL Moncton (which went to the Memorial Cup last year). And for Solomon, who did get some run in the USHL as well, Draper emphasized his shot. 'The one thing that certainly stood out for us right away is the release,' he said. 'The way he shoots the puck. He's got very good offensive zone instincts and just kind of a knack for scoring. The way he shoots the puck at the level he plays, you know, it's natural. And that's something that we were excited about to add. 14. Detroit's sixth-rounder, Will Murphy, is a 6-4 LHD out of the QMJHL whom Draper described as a 'big, stay-at-home defenseman.' 'The physicality and toughness, it's something that we felt, at the time, with where we were at, we wanted to bring it into the organization,' Draper said. 'Our Quebec scout, Ross (Yates) and Corey (Crocker) in the Maritimes, really knew this player. He's a character kid, he's the type of teammate that will do everything he can to stick up for his teammates.' Advertisement 15. And finally, fifth-round pick Nikita Tyurin is a smaller left-shot defenseman out of Russia who had a KHL appearance this season at age 17. Draper said Detroit's Russia scout Nikolai Vakourov emphasized Tyurin's playoff performance and was excited about him as a prospect. 'Good skater, good hockey sense, good with the puck, good first-pass defenseman,' Draper said. 'And when you're sitting there … in the later rounds, and you have one of the area scouts that is excited about a player, that's what I want to hear.'
Hamilton Spectator
31 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
The Maple Leafs' first draft pick arrives with competitive DNA preloaded
Norwegian forward Tinus Luc Koblar is probably a long-shot to make the NHL, but he does seem like a good enough bet given his family's athletic success. His parents competed in the Winter Olympics for their native Slovenia: dad Jernej an alpine skier, mom Andreja a biathlete. And Tinus is six-foot-four at just 18 years of age. That all adds up to a decent reason for the Maple Leafs to make Koblar their first choice in the NHL draft on Saturday. 'It was an unreal experience ... I'm just excited to start,' Koblar, selected 64th, said in a conference call. He said Anze Kopitar, the Slovenian captain of the Los Angeles Kings, is his favourite player, but added that he has followed Toronto and wore a Leafs jersey as a kid. 'I always liked the team,' said Koblar. 'Since I was a young kid, I've been watching and cheering for them.' His parents instilled a competitive nature. 'There is nothing I like to lose at,' he said. 'They played a huge role in my competitiveness ... because both my mom and dad (competed) at a high level. I like competing at everything.' Koblar will play in Sweden next season for Leksands IF, as will Victor Johansson, drafted 120th by the Leafs last year. While Koblar was their top pick, the Leafs were the last team to actually make their first selection over the two days, having traded away picks in recent years. There are far more misses than hits from the second round on, although veteran defenceman Tyson Barrie (2009) and centre Vincent Trocheck have done all right after being drafted 64th. The Leafs stayed closer to home with their next pick, Kingston centre Tyler Hopkins at No. 86. He said he models his game after Tampa Bay's Anthony Cirelli, but his favourite player is Auston Matthews. A lifelong Leafs fan from Campbellville, he was perhaps showing his age when he said his favourite memory of the team is when they got out of the first round of the playoffs by beating the Lightning in 2023. He said he was thrilled to hear his name. 'When that moment happened, it was just pure excitement,' said Hopkins. 'Obviously to get drafted is every kid's dream, and to be drafted by your hometown team one level even better than that.' He sees himself becoming a third-line centre in the NHL. 'Something that I've tried to work on is my defensive game over the past two years, and adding a bit of offence,' he said. 'I think at the next level, a third-line centre that plays a 200-foot game, is able to move up and down a lineup and is relied on by the coaching staff.' One prospect Leafs fans will likely root for is William Belle, already six-foot-four and 225 pounds. The big-bodied forward was born in China and lived there for seven years. He sees himself in the mould of Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson. 'The power forward hockey that he plays — the simplicity of it, the physicality and that edge to him, the meanness — I feel like I can bring that,' said Belle, who is heading into his first year at Notre Dame. 'It's not necessarily that I love doing that. It's just, that's what makes me effective and it's what helps my team win. The meanness aspect of it, I'm here to win and I'm here to help my team. And I don't care who you are, I'm going to be in your face. That's just how I'm wired. That's just how I play.' The Leafs took centre Harry Nansi from Owen Sound at No. 153, right-handed defenceman Rylan Fellinger from Flint at 185 (he turns 18 on Sept. 20) and 19-year-old forward Matthew Hlacar, an enforcer-type, with the 217th pick. None of them will be in the NHL any time soon. All will be at development camp from July 2 to 5. 'We'll reconvene in five years to see how successful (this draft) was,' said general manager Brad Treliving. 'You judge these draft days with a calendar and not a stopwatch. But I'm really happy with the work the guys did.'
