Serious. I hadn't heard of him until I saw an article about draft eligibles in the CHL final series. TSN showed all the games from all three series. Wang looked good, if raw, playing for Oshawa against London. The guy is massive but extremely fluid and coordinated in his skating. If Bobby Mac thinks he's going in the late first round, you know teams are considering it.
In my incomplete viewing of a handful of games Wang is: fast and mobile, esp. for a guy 6'6". He's physical and has no problem pasting guys to the wall or scrumming. He carries the puck up ice really quickly through the neutral zone and got zone entries untouched.
No vested interest in him, but if he can catch up on his lack of experience, he could be something. Might never pan out, but he apparently has all the ice time, coaching and training that he wants.
Here's Bob McKenzie's write up on Simon Wang at mid-season:
Matthew Schaefer a unanimous No. 1 in Bob McKenzie's Mid-season NHL Draft Ranking | TSN
- One of the most intriguing prospects in this year’s draft is Oshawa General 6-foot-5 defenceman Simon Wang.
He checks in at No. 31, with one scout ranking him as high as No. 18 and one not ranking him at all in the top 64.
Wang is Chinese, born in Beijing in 2007 and raised there until he left as a teenager in 2020 to pursue his dream of playing hockey in the NHL.
Wang’s father is an official in the Chinese government. His mother, Willa, is heavily involved in sport and, in fact, owned and operated five hockey arenas in China. That’s where Simon, or Haoxi (pronounced How-she) as he’s known at home, first learned to skate and train. There were tournaments that he played in there but he didn’t really play any organized hockey, as such, until he arrived in Canada for his major bantam (U-15) season.
He initially lived in residence at St. Andrew’s College in Aurora, Ont. Willa has since come to Canada to be with him and has been instrumental in Simon’s hockey development and path.
Simon’s goal was to go to school and play NCAA hockey and he got a commitment from Boston University. He was also drafted by the OHL Generals in the fifth round of the 2023 OHL draft. Simon wanted to go to BU because his older brother received a graduate degree from Boston University.
After playing his minor midget (U-16) and OHL draft year season for the North York Rangers of the GTHL, Simon was deciding where to play in the intervening two or three years before attending BU.
That was solved when his mother purchased the Brantford 99ers Ontario Junior Hockey League franchise and he played there last season. Willa moved the franchise from Brantford to King, Ont., in 2024, and Simon started this season with the OJHL’s King Rebellion.
When the NCAA eligibility rules changed this season to allow college players to play major junior hockey, Simon joined the OHL Generals in January and now scouts are trying to get a handle on a 6-foot-5 defenceman who is a terrific skater but is a relative neophyte compared to his peers.
Wang could play at BU next season or could choose to stay another year in Oshawa. It’s TBD. [Edit: he's decided to defer BU and stay in Oshawa].
Not surprisingly, the scouting opinions on him are all over the map.
As a Chinese born and bred athlete, if Simon is to make it to the NHL it’s most certainly going to create a seismic event back in China, where some local media have taken to showing Oshawa General highlights and reporting news stories on Simon’s exploits.
In any case, it will be fascinating to see it all play out.
