Max Miller
When the San Jose Sharks selected Haoxi (Simon) Wang with the 33rd pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, they knew they weren’t reaching for a player with high potential, mostly because the defenseman prospect has a pretty good reach of his own.
Wang, who will turn 19 on Monday, already has the size for a future in the NHL at 6-foot-6, 215 pounds, and that reach, combined with his skating skills, makes for a dangerous combination for opponents trying to avoid him in the defensive zone.
“He’s a foot taller than most kids on the ice most nights,” said Dale DeGray, general manager of Niagara of the Ontario Hockey League, where Wang played last season. “Then to peel back the onion and see just how well he does skate, and he’s got good puck skills — they have to develop, but he has good puck skills.
“If he’s here, he’ll be a key player. He’ll be power play. He’ll be like Mr. Everything. As long as [he] can go and play and be a part of it and add to the culture to the game that they’ve got going on at that level, then I think the kid can go and do well. He’s going to play against bigger, stronger kids or young men at that point, right? And if not, listen, we’ll welcome him back with open arms for sure.”
Wang, who can become the first China-born player to play in the NHL, was born in Beijing and moved to Toronto when he was 12 to chase his dream of a hockey career. He has risen through the ranks and is now within sight of his ultimate goal after having 26 points (six goals, 20 assists) in 57 OHL games with Oshawa and Niagara last season.
He said he could feel the difference from his first San Jose Sharks development camp in 2025 to his second, which ended July 2.
“One hundred percent,” Wang said. “With more time developing in the junior leagues, I definitely got better. At the same time, coming into camp, I want to show our coaching staff and our management what I improved on.
“What I wanted to bring is a complete game defenseman that could step up huge minutes in the OHL, and I just did that for the team. [I] tried my best to do everything to win.”
Wang will take the next step in his hockey journey at Boston University this season.
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