The Chicago Blackhawks have an necessary season forward of them. The group has dedicated to constructing by way of the draft, and a plethora of draft picks are NHL-ready, or on the cusp of being NHL-ready. Many younger gamers can have an opportunity to make their mark this season; some changing into on a regular basis gamers whereas many others will make their NHL debuts. In the meantime, a small group of veterans will probably be tasked with serving to the children discover their method.
On this sequence headed into the 2025-26 marketing campaign, we’ll preview every participant projected to make the roster, and what their function will probably be with the workforce. This version’s highlight is on goalie Spencer Knight.
Knight By The Numbers
Drafted: thirteenth general in 2019 by the Florida Panthers
Place: Goaltender
Top/Weight: 6-foot-3, 191 kilos
Age/Birthdate: 24 years outdated (4/19/2001)
Nation: USA
2024-25 Stats: 5-8-2, 3.18 GAA (goals-against common), .896 SV% (save proportion) in 15 video games. Observe: not together with his stats with the Florida Panthers
Profession Stats: 49-33-9, 2.83 GAA, .904 SV% in 95 video games (85 begins)
How He Obtained Right here
Knight has been a cool story within the NHL. He was drafted thirteenth general out of the U.S. Nationwide Staff Improvement Program (USNTDP). On the time, it was reported by the USNTDP that his 32 wins that season tied for probably the most in a season, and that his 59 profession wins had been greatest in program historical past.
He then went to Boston Faculty in 2019, the place he spent two seasons, going 39-12 in 54 video games with a formidable .931 SV%. After his sophomore season ended, he made his strategy to the Florida Panthers in April 2021 and performed in 4 video games, with a .919 SV%. He break up time between the Panthers and the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL since 2021, and in February 2023, he bravely sought remedy from the NHLPA Participant Help Program for OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Dysfunction).
When he returned for the 2023-24 season, he spent it with the Checkers. Knight had a whole lot of success there, with a .905 SV%, even setting the workforce document for longest shutout streak lasting 213:23 minutes.
Then, through the Panthers’ Stanley Cup run, he was added because the third goaltender on the workforce and even received a day with the Stanley Cup.
Knight received one other NHL shot in 2024-25 with the Panthers, the place, our Joey Ganzi wrote in January, “Panthers’ Starter Spot Is Now Spencer Knight’s to Lose” after a run the place he had .907 SV% and a 2.43 GAA in 19 video games.
Nevertheless, Knight was traded to the Blackhawks in March within the Seth Jones commerce package deal. It was a transfer that benefited either side. Jones went on to win the Stanley Cup with Florida, and Knight made a rapid impression with a 41-save win in his Blackhawks’ debut.
After 15 video games with the Blackhawks, normal supervisor Kyle Davidson gave Knight a three-year contract extension on Sept. 13, calling him a “essential piece of our future.”
Who doesn’t love a very good comeback?
Knight’s Function in 2025-26
Now that Knight has a contract extension, there’s little question who can have the Blackhawks’ web subsequent season and past.
Knight is primed to take many of the begins in Chicago with Arvid Söderblom backing him up. In his NHL profession, he has not began greater than 27 video games in a season. So, count on that quantity to leap. Will probably be a check for him, nevertheless it’s additionally one thing that ought to be useful to him.
Associated: Chicago Blackhawks 2025-26 Participant Previews
In any case, it looks like the whole lot has been main as much as this second for him. A NHL hockey scout advised Corey Pronman of The Athletic in 2019, “He’s a certain factor to be a NHLer. He could be a game-stealing No. 1 goalie. His technical talent is elite. His hockey sense and skating are high-end.” (from ‘Pronman: Spencer Knight and the controversy over drafting a goalie within the first spherical’ – The Athletic – 03/27/2019).
Now, Knight has the subsequent 4 years to take over, and the Hawks are trying ahead to the heights he can attain in web.
