Haoxi Wang might just have the most interesting story out of all prospects in this year’s draft. Read on to find out why.
Today we look at perhaps the most unique prospect eligible for the 2025 NHL Entry Draft: Haoxi “Simon” Wang. What makes his story so interesting, and what makes him an intriguing prospect in addition to that? Let’s dive in.
Who Is Haoxi Wang?
Haoxi (pronounced How-she) “Simon” Wang was born on July 27, 2007. A native of Beijing, China, Wang is a hulking left-shot defenseman, listed at 6’6”, 209lbs according to his profile on Elite Prospects. As far as I can find, Simon is either a more western name that Wang wanted to go by once coming to North America, or a nickname given to him by others once he came here.
We have seen some NHLers over the years that have been born in non-traditional hockey markets, such as Taiwan, Brazil, and Italy to name a few. But for the most part these players spent only the first few years of their life (and sometimes not even that much) in those places before moving to more traditional hockey countries to train and develop. Wang is different in that he spent the first 12 years of his life in his native China. He did spend his junior/major junior years in Canada, but 12 years is far longer than most NHL prospects spend in places where hockey is not a major sport.
After coming up in Beijing, he moved to the Toronto area right before his teenage years. A friend he grew up playing hockey with had come to Canada previously, and this friend encouraged Wang to take the plunge as well. Wang and his family obliged, and he settled into arguably the biggest hockey hotbed in the world. His first taste of North American hockey came with the Toronto Titans of the Greater Ontario Hockey League in 2019, but even this took a unique turn for Wang. While it’s true that he joined the Titans program and trained with them for a while, he didn’t actually end up playing any games with them. Instead, he returned to China once the Covid-19 pandemic hit, played and trained there for a little while longer, and eventually returned to North America for the 2022-23 season where he joined the North York Rangers, also of the GTHL.
In his first legitimate game action in North America, Wang played 33 games with the Rangers’ U16 squad, putting up three goals and seven total points. The following season, Wang graduated to the Ontario Junior Hockey League level, where he played for the Brantford 99ers. In 28 games that season, Wang didn’t score a goal but did post seven assists.
This past season saw Wang truly ascend. Playing for yet another team, the King Rebellion of the OJHL, Wang notched four goals and 22 points in 38 games. After his 28 games with the Rebellion, Wang made the leap to the famed OHL, where he joined the Oshawa Generals. In 32 more games with the Generals, Wang put up two points, both assists. The numbers don’t jump off the page obviously, but it is impressive to see such a meteoric rise from a player who didn’t play hockey at a high level until his age-16 season.
Wang’s impressive rise was also enough to catch the attention of Boston University, as the Terriers offered Wang a spot in their program back in September of 2023. Wang accepted, and he will continue his hockey journey at the NCAA level this upcoming season under the guidance of former Devil Jay Pandolfo.
Where Is Wang Ranked?
- 31st by TSN (Bob McKenzie)
- 34th by NHL Central Scouting (North American skaters)
- 43rd by Daily Faceoff
- 44th by The Athletic’s Corey Pronman
- 44th by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler (Yes, both scouting experts at The Athletic have Wang ranked at 44th overall)
- 59th by Smaht Scouting
- 70th by McKeen’s Hockey
- 74th by TSN (Craig Button)
- Honorable Mention by DobberProspects (Their ranked list included 46 prospects, so consider this a ranking of roughly 50th overall)
What Others Are Saying About Wang
Let’s start with Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, who did a longform profile of Wang back in December. If you have access to The Athletic, it’s a great look into Wang’s journey. Wheeler paints a picture of a kid with tons of natural talent, but who is still very raw as a prospect given his relatively late start as far as high-level training goes. The defining trait of his game is his size/skating combination, as Wang has impressed scouts with just how great of a skater he is for a player of his size. He also flashes plenty of skill, and while his hockey IQ needed a lot of work upon coming to Canada, Wang apparently has made great strides in this area as well.
This isn’t from Wheeler’s longer piece, but here is his blurb on Wang in his final draft rankings from a couple weeks ago:
Wang’s an extraordinarily mobile player for his size, with impressive skating technique through his inside and outside edges laterally and flowing mechanics going north or back to pucks. And while his handling still needs a little refinement, he’s got some skill, can play with fearless confidence (which I wanted him to show more of and skate more pucks in the OHL instead of deferring) and has the heavy shot you’d expect. There’s work to do to tighten his gaps, but there’s a lot to like. The skating component is clear but his reads are coming, his on-ice communication is really strong (he’s constantly talking to his partner), he has learned to play a more physical style and it just feels like once he learns the decision-making component on offense a little better (he’s got a real ability to join the rush and make plays) and gets stronger on his feet (he’s big and he can bowl guys over but he can get knocked around when they engage in contact) that there could be something really interesting there. He covers a lot of ground quickly and is cast in a mold that teams are excited about. He’s also a summer birthday and it feels like he’s still very, very early in his development curve. He’ll be an interesting bet on Day 2.
(Also, one amusing aside from Wheeler’s piece: You remember how one of the teams Wang played for after coming to North America was the Brantford 99ers? Well after his time with the team, Wang’s mother bought the franchise. She apparently has an impressive portfolio of rinks she owns back in China, which now includes an OJHL franchise in Canada).
Next let’s see what Thomas Gagne of Smaht Scouting had to say about Wang:
An absolute physical monster, Haoxi Wang becoming a legit NHL draft prospect who could very well be drafted in the first round is probably one of the most unique stories of the amateur scouting world in the past several years. The Beijing-born defenseman is 6’6 tall and skates like the wind. Not just in a straight line too, his pivots are clean, his balance is right, and he can use his edges to open angles, work give-and-go’s and activate from the blue line in the offensive zone, which he liked to do a lot in the OJHL and sometimes in the OHL too. The transition has been impressive between the two leagues for Wang. At first, he seemed a bit overwhelmed by the pace of play, but slowly he’s been getting more comfortable and despite the lack of production, the underlying numbers paint the picture that he’s been a very effective player for the Oshawa Generals. A long-term project that will need an NHL team actively supporting him in his development, due to how raw he still is, Wang could become an absolute outlier of a hockey player with his size, skating and willingness to play an offensive game.
Again, more praise for his unique size/skating combination, as well as his skill level, with a note that he is still very raw as a prospect.
Steven Ellis of the Daily Faceoff is pretty much in lockstep with everyone else:
The Boston University commit was dominant against OJHL competition with the King Rebellion, but he needed a bit more time to adjust to OHL action in Oshawa. But the one thing scouts can all agree on: there’s high upside here. He only started to play at a high level competitively a few years ago, and he’s learning how to use his 6-foot-6 frame to his advantage. The Beijing, China native can skate well and has good offensive instincts. Moving forward, reading plays on the rush will be something he needs to work on, but the raw talent is there. You just might need some patience.
I could go on, but I think you get the point. Scouts are in agreement on what Wang is as a prospect.
A Little Video
We turn once again to the YouTube channel Prospect Shifts. They’ve compiled a video of all of Wang’s shifts from his January 18, 2025 game against Brantford while playing for the Oshawa Generals of the OHL. Let’s take a look:
I find it very funny that the first thing we are greeted with in this video is the play-by-play broadcaster telling us that Wang was late coming onto the ice for his shift. Anyway…
Through his first few shifts, I do see flashes of what makes Wang an enticing prospect. You can tell how big he is even through this video, but despite his size, Wang is a very smooth and effective skater. He makes some strong passes early on, including a nice breakout pass, but lacks the touch to allow his teammates to settle his passes properly.
At about 2:10, Wang puts together a sequence that I am very impressed with. He wins a puck battle against multiple opponents, making a nice stick play on the opposing forward to take possession. He then tracks the puck down in the corner and makes a really nice outlet pass to his teammate, slipping the puck neatly to the open man. He can’t handle the pass and Brantford keeps possession, but I put this on Wang’s teammate way more than Wang. He then gets to the front of the net to cancel out the Brantford forward, and eventually Oshawa clears the zone.
His shift that begins at 4:30 is an eventful one. We see a lot of good things from Wang in the offensive zone, such as Wang stepping up on a loose puck to keep the play alive, Wang showing off some nice skill and edgework at the top of the zone to fire a shot at the net, and Wang intercepting a clearing attempt to keep the play alive once more. But then we see Wang attempt to play “hero ball” a little bit in his defensive zone, and it backfires. He tracks back to collect a dump-in but loses the puck while trying to make a play. He then does a good job to come up with a takeaway, but he coughs it right back up after getting too fancy with the puck on the breakout attempt. This leads to Brantford getting a quality look at the net, but Oshawa keeps the puck out. Very high-risk/high-reward stuff from Wang.
At about 6:25, Brantford transitions the puck into Oshawa’s zone, with Wang defending. It’s a small play, but I like Wang staying focused on his assignment and not getting caught puck-watching. This allows him to cancel out his man when the puck comes to them near the side of the net, even though Wang was not facing where the puck came from. It’s not like this was just blind luck either, Wang took a quick look over his shoulder at where the play was headed and anticipated that he would need to pick up his man.
Around 7:40, we see more hero ball from Wang. He tries to use his big frame and skill to make a fancy breakout play as opposed to just playing the puck hard around. This time it worked out, though it almost cost Wang.
At 8:25, we get another flash of high-level play. Wang skates the puck out, and shows off impressive vision and skill to slip a deceptive and effective pass between two forecheckers right to the tape of a teammate, setting up a nice zone entry for Oshawa. Nothing comes of the play at first, but Wang then receives a pass in the neutral zone, makes a terrific move to evade a defender and gain the zone, then hooks a good pass to his right to set up a possession.
Around 10:30, we again see Wang basically turn his back on the play to engage with an opposing forward in front of the net. Your mileage may vary on whether this is good or bad, but at the very least it’s nice to see Wang show a commitment to physical defense in his own zone.
At 11:25, Wang covers a lot of ground to erase a rush chance for Brantford. This was impressive to me considering Wang was on the opposite side of the ice and had to hurry over to the weak side to cover for his partner who stepped up in the neutral zone. Wang gets to the puck carrier in plenty of time to block the shot with a nice poke check. He then cancels his man out effectively, allowing Oshawa to easily exit the zone.
An Opinion
Haoxi “Simon” Wang very much reminds me of New Jersey’s 2024 first-round pick, Anton Silayev. A huge, left-shot defenseman that shows off remarkable skating ability for a player his size, and who flashes high-level skill and occasionally strong hockey IQ while still being raw in a lot of ways? Yeah, the similarities are eerie.
Silayev was much more polished in the runup to his draft than Wang is though, hence why Silayev went 10th overall (and even that was a little surprising considering a lot of draft experts had him ranked in the top five) while Wang will most likely be a day two pick. Silayev was also looked at as more of a defensive blueliner with decent offense, while Wang is the opposite as an offensive blueliner with decent defense.
Comparisons to Silayev aside, I really like Wang as a project pick. Keep in mind, Wang got a very late start to his hockey career, so there is most likely way more untapped potential with him than almost every other prospect in this draft. This means he will probably need more time to develop than usual, but he has way more room to grow than most prospects. And considering how impressive he looks already, it’s hard not to dream of what Wang can be at his ceiling.
There are risks with selecting Wang of course. First of all, it’s no guarantee he does properly develop. Perhaps his hockey IQ never grows, perhaps his offensive game never fully blossoms, perhaps he never learns to fully utilize his large frame. These are all worthwhile concerns. And for the Devils specifically, do they really want to use more draft capital on a defenseman when their system is filled to the brim with blueliners? Shouldn’t they be targeting forwards, and more specifically centers, instead?
While I would agree that in a perfect world, New Jersey should be restocking their forward pipeline as opposed to adding another project defenseman, Wang’s potential might just be too great to pass up. In fact there’s a good chance Wang might not even be available when the New Jersey Devils make their first selection in this draft, which as of this writing is slated to be 50th overall.
In the end, while I understand the risk, I would be in favor of taking Wang in the second round. In my opinion, draft picks outside of the first round are best spent taking swings on high upside as opposed to low ceiling/high floor players. Wang is firmly in the former camp, and if he does reach his potential, the rewards would be astronomical. If Wang even comes close to his ceiling, can you imagine a left side that features Luke Hughes, Anton Silayev, and Wang? Even if a logjam is created if a certain defenseman that currently plays in British Columbia makes his way to the Garden State, I’m sure someone can play on their offhand and create probably the most talented blueline in the league. Or at the very least, the Devils will have a premium trade chip to use so they can acquire whatever they need. I know New Jersey needs more offense in their system, but that doesn’t necessarily have to come from their forwards. If they can generate more offense from the blueline than any other team in the league, that’s a huge advantage that could potentially lead them to a Cup. Wang has the potential to be an elite offensive defenseman.
And let’s go back to Scott Wheeler’s profile of Wang once more, as there is one passage in there that gives me a lot of hope that Wang will develop well as opposed to flaming out. In this excerpt, “Walters” refers to John Walters, and “Valliquette” refers to Brett Valliquette. They are Wang’s advisor and Walters’ consultant respectively:
After returning (to North America) at 14, (Wang) and Valliquette began renting ice and skating at the local NTR rink at 7 a.m. before school every Tuesday and Thursday. Over the last couple of years, Valliquette has taught him to “understand the offensive game and all of these fakes and little techniques.”
In that last season of minor hockey with the Rangers in 2022-23, Walter’s dad, Joe, began driving him to his games and giving him tips. Wang said his hockey IQ began to take shape in those car rides.
It seems as though the biggest thing that might hold Wang back from reaching his ceiling is his hockey IQ, since all the other physical tools are there. But clearly he’s proven that he’s willing to put in the work to get better in this regard. And if simple car rides can lead to Wang developing a much stronger hockey IQ, imagine what some time at BU and, eventually, the minor leagues of pro hockey can do.
I really like Wang as a prospect. I would be in favor of taking him with any of New Jersey’s picks in this upcoming draft.
Your Take
What do you think of Haoxi “Simon” Wang? Does his incredible potential intrigue you more than the concern over how raw he is? Where would you be comfortable taking him? Would you rather avoid adding another defenseman to the pipeline? As always, thanks for reading!