D Haoxi (Simon) Wang - Oshawa Generals, OHL (2025 Draft)

[Hinterland]

I am going to repeat myself, but his Central Scouting ranking is starting to make me lose my trust in how earnest they are in assessing him.

The guy is a bad hockey player. He literally would not make Team Kazakhstan.

If you're drafting him, you're throwing your draft pick in the bin. That's all there is to say.

You're not. He's a good pick for the later rounds because of his size and him being such an amazing athlete. Since he's so far behind everybody else when it comes to technique and other hockey skills I think his NHL upside is somewhat limited but he surely wouldn't be a bad pick for the later rounds.

 

[wetcoast]

Yeah but how much of a "home run swing" can you potentially be if you're so far behind everybody else skill wise? I don't wanna say he can't make it to the NHL but if you can't really make plays in the OHL then you're rather unlikely to make them in a pro league, let alone the NHL.

So for me it's kinda tough to envision Wang becoming more than a stay at home 6th/7th defenseman at NHL level. If you can't make plays in major junior you're unlikely to do it in the NHL. And frankly, while he did look very solid in a sheltered role on a good team I don't think he's been nearly as aggressive or physical enough as NHL teams would like to see from such a stay at home depth defenseman.

I may be too negative but name me a "home run swing" draft pick with similarly underdeveloped hockey skills that went on to become a true top4 NHL defenseman. I can't think of one and I'm pretty sure it rarely ever happens. Even a guy like Andrew Peeke had a 30 points draft season in the USHL. It's just gonna be an uphill climb for Wang.

I personally think there are stronger teams than Oshawa in the OHL but even if they go on a run I'm pretty sure Wang is barely gonna play.

Perhaps and you make great points but all he has to show is some glimpses of potential and some team is going to be dreaming Chara light here.

 

[Hinterland]

Perhaps and you make great points but all he has to show is some glimpses of potential and some team is going to be dreaming Chara light here.

Chara was playing vs men in his draft season. Wang is very far off that level. When it comes to making plays or actually driving play I've yet to see any potential from Wang. He's been competent against the puck in a limited role but his game with the puck is very underwhelming. At this point I think you'd have to be dellusional to see NHL top4 upside there. How many NHL top4 defenseman were completely unable to properly handle pucks or make plays in junior hockey during their draft season? That just doesn't happen. The only one I can think of is Brenden Dillon who was very green for a very long time and went undrafted because of it. Even he was better than Wang though.

 

[yessir29292]

31 on Bob McKenzie Rankings

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Someone is going to leave the draft happy to have Wang in-hand.

 

[SI90]

A lot of people really like Wangs size.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

This may end up the biggest draft reach in NHL history if this guy makes round one.

In like round 3 or 4 (even round 2) you can justify that you probably aren’t getting an NHL’er, so you can afford to swing for the fences. What’s the downside? You get a guy who plays 12 games in the AHL instead of 12 in the NHL? But in the first round you should be getting a player who plays in the NHL.

This is a player that arguably is not even good currently for the OHL and probably would get nowhere near the Canadian National Team.

I hate to say it because I don’t think this should matter, but it seems to me that his nationality is playing a role in all of this. Of course the NHL community wants a Chinese star.

 

[Satan]

funny to see the basement scouts say Wang has no upside and then see him 31 on Bob McKenzie's list

 

[Mathieukferland]

I saw him on the one game Oshawa played on TSN a month back.

This will sound like an odd criticism, but he needs to learn how to play hockey. His individual abilities and skills are definitely something that could make him an NHL player one day. But he has no idea how to play in a team and his sense of space/positioning and utilisation of teammates was very bad.

He’s someone that would look great in a skills competition. But he needs to learn how to play the game, and i don’t know if the OHL is the best place to do that

probably would get nowhere near the Canadian National Team.

Correct….. because he plays for China

 

[Hinterland]

This may end up the biggest draft reach in NHL history if this guy makes round one.

In like round 3 or 4 (even round 2) you can justify that you probably aren’t getting an NHL’er, so you can afford to swing for the fences. What’s the downside? You get a guy who plays 12 games in the AHL instead of 12 in the NHL? But in the first round you should be getting a player who plays in the NHL.

This is a player that arguably is not even good currently for the OHL and probably would get nowhere near the Canadian National Team.

I hate to say it because I don’t think this should matter, but it seems to me that his nationality is playing a role in all of this. Of course the NHL community wants a Chinese star.

Yeah, at the moment he's clearly too green for the OHL. The Generals are giving him some looks right now but expect him to get scratched come playoff time. If he does play he's most certainly gonna get benched for large parts.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Correct….. because he plays for China

Are you sure? EP doesn’t list any international hockey for him.

Anyway, I think he wouldn’t be good enough to play for Canada, if he chose to play for them over China.

 

[Mathieukferland]

Are you sure? EP doesn’t list any international hockey for him.

Anyway, I think he wouldn’t be good enough to play for Canada, if he chose to play for them over China.

I don’t know what the tournament was if it was a IIHF tournament or not, but unlinke someone like He of Niagara, he is a Chinese-trained player

 

[Chainshot]

Someone is going to leave the draft happy to have Wang in-hand.

He's a big riser for many of these men.

 

[Rare Jewel]

He looks interesting.

and in a draft that looks kind of "meh", if a team used a pick in the 20's or 30's, it wouldn't be a big deal.

 

[SI90]

This may end up the biggest draft reach in NHL history if this guy makes round one.

In like round 3 or 4 (even round 2) you can justify that you probably aren’t getting an NHL’er, so you can afford to swing for the fences. What’s the downside? You get a guy who plays 12 games in the AHL instead of 12 in the NHL? But in the first round you should be getting a player who plays in the NHL.

This is a player that arguably is not even good currently for the OHL and probably would get nowhere near the Canadian National Team.

I hate to say it because I don’t think this should matter, but it seems to me that his nationality is playing a role in all of this. Of course the NHL community wants a Chinese star.

Wang is really raw. I agree it would be a reach around 1-2 rounds but at his size and if he can skate the way they say he can I wouldn’t be shocked if a team took him late 2nd/early 3rd

 

[Namejs]

Are you sure? EP doesn’t list any international hockey for him.

Anyway, I think he wouldn’t be good enough to play for Canada, if he chose to play for them over China.

Canada? He would not make the Latvian junior team.

Whoever drafts him in the 1st round is officially clueless.

You like how he skates? Why not draft Timothy LeDuc and teach him to play hockey?

 

[WarriorofTime]

It's not that complicated. He's only been in Canada five years and only seriously started playing organized hockey when he was 14. Of course he's well behind all the rich Ontario boys who were put on the path to success since they were 5 with parents dropping six figures since they were 10 (yes, I know Wang's family is rich).

He's huge and he skates well. Size cannot be taught. There is hope that with more hockey experience he can be taught to be more of a hockey player. Someone taking him is making a gamble about where he will be in 7 years, with knowledge that he will be a long development curve prospect. Probably goes back to Junior. Enters college at 19 and then plays three years there, not even turning professional fully until he is 22.

There is a high likelihood he is not AHL worthy. But there's also the possibility you get a monster sized great skating defenseman. That is an upside that could be worth pursuing as opposed to just throwing a pick at a guy you expect will play 300 NHL games in a bottom six role for 6 different teams.