The Haoxi (Simon) Wang Deep Dive

The San Jose Sharks surprised many by going with left-handed defenseman Haoxi (Simon) Wang with their 1st selection of the second round in this year's draft. The Sharks need more right-handed defensive prospects, but General Manager Mike Grier decided to take a swing on a player with massive upside.

Haoxi Wang
Defenseman
6'6" 223 pounds
Birthday: July 2007 (17)
Left-handed

The production will not blow you away, as Wang is a very raw prospect. When watching Wang, there are mistakes, as he doesn't have the same number of reps against quality competition that his peers have had, but the tools and traits are what make Wang so intriguing.

This play shows what makes Wang so intriguing. He uses his size and reach to push Luke Misa (yes, brother of Sharks prospect Michael Misa) to the outside, uses his size to seal off Misa, then gets to the front of the net to break up the pass and starts the transition. The ability to cover so much ground defensively with his size and reach is why he is a potential unicorn on the backend.

Here, Wang realizes that no one has covered the puck carrier and gets across the ice quickly, blocks the shot, and again seals off the attacker until help arrives.

These are the types of plays that you want to see from Wang regularly. Due to his size, skating ability, and length, his transition defense is expected to become a major strength of his as he continues to develop.

The main areas that Wang will need to focus on are his puck handling and tightening up his turns. The puck handling feels much more like a confidence issue, as it started to improve in his short time in the OHL. While Wang will probably never have silky mitts like Sam Dickinson, he can be an effective puck mover.

Here, you can see that Wang takes too long to try to turn and is quickly bombarded by two attackers, then falls to take himself out of the play. Wide turns are always an issue with bigger players, as they typically need more space to turn (think of backing up a car versus backing up a RV). But players can improve! Shakir Mukhamadullin really struggled with quick turns and pivots early in his AHL career:

Two years of working in San Jose, and you saw his movement become more efficient, and one of his strengths.

The work that the Sharks have done with Shakir Mukhamadullin (who they didn't acquire until February 2023) is the reason that the Haoxi Wang pick should work out for San Jose. Both players face similar challenges early in their development process, and Wang has more time on his side, given his age (he turns 18 this weekend). If the Sharks were able to work with Mukhamadullin to turn him into one of their more exciting defenseman over the last two seasons, what can they do with Wang over the next four or five years as he continues his development?

The sky is the limit.