2025 NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Haoxi Wang

Upside Hockey's NHL Draft profile series: B's and C's Edition, Vol. 10

Upside Hockey’s prolific prospect profiler Trevor Curtis’s 2025 NHL draft eligible prospect profiles are all featured on our dedicated page for this with all featured prospects indexed in our table of contents alphabetically by last name. For the 2024 NHL Draft, we had well over 200 prospect profiles completed.

Draft Thoughts (B's and C's Edition, Vol. 10):

LD Haoxi (Simon) Wang (6'6", 212lbs)

King Rebellion (OJHL): 34gp/ 4g/ 18a/ 22pts, 73 PIM
Oshawa (OHL): 32gp/ 0g/ 2a/ 2pts, +3, 19 PIM

Big Haoxi Wang (ranked # 34 NA Skaters, # 31 by McKenzie) was introduced to the game of hockey much later in life, compared to most draft-eligible prospects. Wang is originally from Beijing, China, and moved to Canada with his parents when he was 12 years-old, taking up the sport on the advice of one of his new friends from school. Up until that point in his life, he hadn't had any exposure to hockey, but has since risen up the ranks to the OHL- in just 5 short years. Even more amazing is that Wang is getting consideration by NHL-teams as a possible selection in the top-two rounds of the upcoming draft, and has already earned a scholarship to Boston University for the 2025-26 season.

Haoxi Wang (Photo: Tucker Nadon/OHL Images)

He started the year with the King Rebellion of the OJHL, where his 22 points in 34 games put him 33rd in points-per-game among defensemen (0.58), and it was there that Wang started drawing serious interest from scouts and media alike for both his stature and his skillset. On December 4th, he played his first game in the OHL with the Oshawa Generals, and by January 5th, he was a full-time member of that squad- posting 2 points in 32 games in his rookie season.

As of this writing, the Gens are competing for the OHL Championship, and are in tough, going up against the fearsome London Knights, with Wang contributing 3 points in 18 post-season games to date. Huge and mobile, he's currently developing a proficient shut-down game with a side of puck-movement, but has two-way potential- based mostly on his steep development curve over his short hockey career, and some flashes of offense this season. With a July 27th, 2007 birthday, he is still a youngster by draft standards, and much more raw than most, but he will have a longer runway ahead of him with his commitment to the Terriers next season- another selling point for the scouts.

Most of Wang's appeal lies in his size/mobility ratio; he's an impressive skater in all directions, especially for a player of his stature, with remarkable agility, balance, and edgework- it's really a wonder to behold. His stride looks a touch knock-kneed at times, but is otherwise smooth, long, and fluid, and generates surprising power. He can transition seamlessly, pivot on a dime, surf across the ice laterally, and make sharp cuts.

He keeps his puck-play mostly safe, simple, and efficient, but most of what he does on the ice looks strangely fluid for a kid as raw as he is; he's calm and poised with the puck, has decent control when in-motion, and protects well by shielding the puck away from checkers, but his overall puck-skills need refinement. Wang's range and wingspan are a cheat code, giving him the ability to cover massive swaths of ice, even when he's not perfectly positioned- it's quite difficult to navigate past him, especially with how quickly he can move. He does exhibit sound positioning most of the time though, wielding solid awareness and anticipation in the defensive-third, and using well-timed poke-checks to disguise his reach.

While he's still learning, and not infallible, he's been fairly impressive against the rush in games that I've seen, and when aggressively defending in-zone. His backwards mobility enables him to match footwork with oncoming attackers, and he keeps tight gaps with his long stick, driving opponents to the outside and closing on them quickly to snuff entries. As in other areas of his game, his retrievals look smooth and fluid in how he outmaneuvers pursuers with patience and poise under duress, after thoroughly shoulder-checking to scan for his next move.

He displays calmness and stability in making plays to exit the zone, and though he isn't above rimming the boards, clearing off the glass, or dumping the puck, he can make short and simple breakout feeds, and can stretch the ice with longer outlets to create advantages, and odd-man rushes.

Wang is inconsistent in using his physicality, but when he turns it on, he's quite intimidating, and can dish out some thunderous hits; he needs to throw his weight around more often, and would be much more imposing if he were to add a bit of snarl to his game. Right now, he seems too content to conduct his business with his stick and positioning, rather than using his frame to engage. He's disruptive in front of his net with his reach, and will check sticks to make stops, but would be a far more daunting force if he was meaner, and would make it much harder for opponents to get opportunities if he forced them to take a beating when they get too close to the crease. He also doesn't use his strength and frame well enough to box attackers out from the net-front, either. He throws himself into battles, but doesn't win nearly enough of them for a player of his considerable size, and is often too passive when he has an opportunity to finish a check.

Wang will join the rush with aplomb, activate deep into the zone from the blueline, and will pinch in to the play from the point to close off the boards to the breakout- thereby extending offensive zone time. He's a solid distributor from line, and can make some simple plays, but it's not resulting in points this year, and he doesn't get time on special teams in Oshawa.

He owns a hard shot from the point that's difficult to stop, and he will shoot to make plays in front of the net, but he has to improve his release, his use of screens, and his deception, as a high number of his shots are either saved easily or blocked, and he misses the net a fair bit. Surprisingly, he shows value in transition, with his ability to rush the puck up-ice (sometimes through both exit and entry), and can send forwards into the offensive zone with heads-up passes.

With his package of size and mobility, together with his athleticism and steep development path, there's plenty of upside in this package- but he will no doubt be a long-term project. I think it's unfair though, to expect him to ever be a top-pairing D, as there's no real sign of that right now; he's more likely a bottom-3 defender. Look for him in the 2nd-round.

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