CHICAGO (WGN, AP) — Spencer Knight was once considered the goaltender of the future for one NHL franchise. Now he plans to make a case as the goaltender of the future for another, and he got right to work with the Blackhawks.
Starting Monday night between the pipes in his first game since Chicago acquired him in a trade with the Florida Panthers on Saturday night, Knight finished with 41 saves in a 5-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at the United Center.
Though very little has gone right for the rebuilding Blackhawks during the 2024-25 season, Knight’s performance showed they could have their goaltender of the future.
Knight, a Connecticut native who turns 24 on April 19, said he was surprised by the trade. He’s in the second year of a three-year contract extension that was finalized in 2022, at a time when the Panthers considered him their future netminder.
The fourth-year player and former first-round draft pick had been with the Panthers since coming into the NHL late in the 2020-21 season, so this is the first time he’s been with a different NHL organization.
“You talk to people close to you, and you move on and you keep moving forward,” Knight said before Monday’s matchup with Los Angeles. “I’m lucky to come to a great organization and be in a great place that has really good groups of people, guys in the locker room, training staff, equipment staff, front office.
“So I’m excited.”
Chicago sent defenseman Seth Jones and a 2026 fourth-round pick to Florida for Knight and a conditional first-round pick in next year’s draft. The Blackhawks also retained 26% of Jones’ salary in the deal, which works out to about $2.5 million annually.
Knight said it was his decision to jump right in against the Kings on Monday night.
“I just want to play,” he said with a grin.
First-round pick
Knight was selected by Florida with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2019 draft out of Boston College. In the pro hockey system, players can still compete in college hockey after being drafted, but the NHL team that drafted them continues to hold their rights.
So Knight played two seasons at Boston College. As a sophomore in 2020-21, he was a finalist for both the Mike Richter Award, given to the top goalie in college hockey, and the Hobey Baker Award, given to the top men’s player as college hockey’s version of the Heisman Trophy.
Knight was named the Hockey East Player of the Year and an NCAA First-Team All-American in 2021 and was also named the United States’ top player after leading the team to a gold medal at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship.
On March 31, 2021, Knight left the amateur ranks by signing a three-year, entry-level contract with the Panthers. On April 20 of that year, Knight won his NHL debut, making him the youngest rookie goalie in Panthers history to do so at 20 years and one day old.
Knight went on to a 44-25-7 record, with a 2.76 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage in 80 games with the Panthers. But he was blocked from taking the starter’s job by veteran standout Sergei Bobrovsky, signed by the Panthers as a free agent prior to the 2019-20 season.
As Bobrovsky’s backup, Knight played in 21 games, including 19 starts, during the first part of the 2022-23 season, when the Panthers lost in the Stanley Cup Final. However, Knight was not with the team during its postseason run.
In late February 2023, Knight entered the NHL and NHL Players Association’s joint player assistance program for what he later revealed to be an ongoing battle with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, according to this Miami Herald feature from November 2024.
Knight returned to the team for training camp before the 2023-24 season, but he played the entire season with the Charlotte Checkers, the Panthers’ AHL affiliate.
Meanwhile, Bobrovsky back-stopped the Panthers to their Stanley Cup title. He was backed up during the run by Anthony Stolarz, rather than Knight.
Back in the NHL
Knight returned to the Panthers this season and had played in 23 games, including 21 starts, for the defending Stanley Cup champions. He was 13-8-1 with a 2.34 GAA and a .912 save percentage with Florida this season before being traded to Chicago.
“I’m just going to bring what I’ve always brought, and that’s a positive attitude, a good work ethic and work toward winning hockey,” Knight said. “That’s what I’ve been a part of, and that’s what I want to bring here.
“I want to bring lots of wins to this organization over however long I’m here, and that’s really my mindset.”
Knight certainly got a chance to learn from one of the league’s best goaltenders in the 36-year-old Bobrovsky, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner, rewarded annually to the NHL’s top goalie.
“Everyone talks about his work ethic, which he has tremendous work ethic, but he also knows how to take the foot off the gas at times, and that’s very important, too,” Knight said. “He knows what he needs, I guess, and that’s I think sometimes more important than having a go-go-go attitude.”
The trade added a third goaltender to Chicago’s active roster, with Knight joining Petr Mrazek, 33, and Arvid Soderblom, 25. The Blackhawks also signed Laurent Brossoit to a two-year contract on July 1 in free agency, but he has missed the entire season because of a right knee injury.
Mrazek’s contract runs through the 2025-26 season and carries a salary cap hit of $4.25 million. Soderblom, meanwhile, has looked much better in net this year.
The NHL trade deadline is Friday, so the Blackhawks’ roster could be seeing more changes very soon. But they might have to carry three goaltenders the rest of the way.
“I mean, you’ve got to make sure that you’re communicating a lot and making sure they’re getting reps in practice,” interim coach Anders Sorensen said. “Then, obviously, game time is where everybody wants to play.
“So just managing that is going to be a bit of a juggle here, but we’ll deal with it, day by day.”
Good start to homestand
In Monday’s win, defensemen Alec Martinez and Ethan Del Mastro scored for the Blackhawks, who opened a three-game homestand with their second consecutive win. Ilya Mikheyev, Andreas Athanasiou and Ryan Donato also scored.
Mikheyev snapped a 1-1 tie with his 12th goal 46 seconds into the second period. The Blackhawks then caught a break when Del Mastro sent the puck toward the net and it went in off the left skate of Kings defenseman Jacob Moverare.
Del Mastro was credited with his second goal in 13 career games. He also scored in Chicago’s 7-5 loss at Vegas on Thursday night.
The Blackhawks closed it out when Donato got an empty-netter with 1:30 left. It was Donato’s 22nd goal of the season, extending his career high. A candidate to be on the move ahead of Friday’s trade deadline, Donato has nine goals and 12 assists in his last 16 games.
The Blackhawks continue their homestand against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the United Center.