2025 Blackhawks Top 25 Under 25: Spencer Knight arrives at No. 6

The 2025 version of Second City Hockey’s Top 25 Under 25 rankings continues with our Top 10, which will contain a lengthier breakdown of each individual who made it into that group.

Spencer Knight

Position: Goaltender

Birth date: April 19, 2001 (24)

Acquired via: Trade

2024-25 team : Florida Panthers / Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)

2024-25 stats: .907 save percentage, 2.40 GAA in 23 games with Florida | .896 save percentage, 3.18 GAA in 15 games with Chicago

Size: 6-foot-3, 192 pounds

Contract: One year, $4,500,000 AAV (RFA)

Rankings: 3 (Eric), 6 (Zack), 7 (Dave, LBR)

Last T25U25 ranking: N/A

Spencer Knight came to the Blackhawks late last season after GM Kyle Davidson made perhaps his biggest boy move yet in sending a disgruntled Seth Jones to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Knight and a conditional 2026 first round pick. His acquisition felt like the perfect example of the type of move we\'ve been screaming for Davidson to make:- a young, player with a controllable contract and a high pedigree who was roster blocked/had fallen out of favor with his current team and has the potential to become a significant piece of the rebuilding puzzle. From most corners of the hockey world, it was lauded as a substantial get for the Hawks at the time.

Knight not only immediately jumped to the top of the Blackhawks\' goaltending depth chart, but they wasted no time in welcoming him to the team the best way they know how:

In his last start for Florida, Spencer Knight saw only 18 shots in the entire game and stopped 17 of them in the win.

In his first start with Chicago, Knight faced 18 shots in the first period alone. He made 17 saves. #Blackhawks

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 4, 2025

Spencer Knight already with some elite saves. He has 10 through the first 7:05. pic.twitter.com/XTKey35EzH

— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) March 4, 2025

Knight was given the option to take the crease just two days after he arrived in Chicago, and not only did he decide to start, but he stole a win for his new team as well:

https://www.secondcityhockey.com/chicago-blackhawks-los-angeles-kings-march-2025-regular-season-result-score-recap-highlights

Knight also showed off a bit of his competitive spirit in the process:

Spencer Knight attempted a goalie goal in his Chicago debut but it gets blocked. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/k9UasIySg5

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 4, 2025

Knight heads into this season as the Blackhawks\' No. 1 starter (presumably), and it will be the first time in his young career he\'s had that chance, as he spent the majority of his time in Florida either bouncing between the AHL and NHL, or backing up one of the pre-eminent goaltenders in the league in Sergei Bobrovsky (Knight also entered into the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program in February 2023 to seek help in managing his struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder).

Knight\'s perfect blend of size (6-3), poise, and athleticism, mixed with his calm demeanor, not only made him the most highly touted goaltending prospect headed into the 2019 draft -- when he was the first goalie selected when the Panthers picked him 13th overall -- but it\'s also kept him firmly entrenched on just about every top goaltending prospects list since. The opportunity to start 55-65 games for the Blackhawks this season should not only serve as a catalyst for Knight to finally prove he\'s an NHL caliber starter, but it also provides him with a chance to show that he\'s capable of taking his game to an entirely different level.

There\'s a lot to love about Knight -- as you can see from the vote tallies above, I\'m higher on him than anybody -- but it\'s his ability to track pucks and read plays mixed with his quick-twitch reflexes and reaction speed that gives him so much potential. He\'s a cerebral goalie who plays butterfly-style, and his exceptional lower-body strength grants him the ability to push off from side to side so that, even when a broken play or a rebound forces him out of position, he\'s still able to rely on his athleticism to make some spectacular saves:

OH MY GOODNESS, SPENCER KNIGHT 🤯 pic.twitter.com/JybtLkW1di

— Blackhawks on CHSN (@CHSN_Blackhawks) April 13, 2025

Spencer Knight has 10 saves in the first 7 minutes. He's looking very sharp early on. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/RsD56cEaMW

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 4, 2025

Spencer Knight reaches out and SAVES A GOAL pic.twitter.com/urHURd6ukw

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) March 8, 2025

The Blackhawks longest tenured (and best!) coach, Jimmy Waite, echoed similar sentiments when he talked about Knight with the Sun-Times last March:

\"What impresses me is his explosiveness side-to-side — and how quick he is to react to a second shot. He gets really low and wide, and his edges are really good at pushing left and right. He’s able to make saves that other guys don’t make because of how quick he is. There was a drill [where] he has to make a save and there’s a rebound, and I couldn’t believe how quick he was, getting to the post. That’s a big part of the game nowadays, how good you are at sealing the post and pushing out. He’s very clean and good at that.\"

The biggest flaw in Knight\'s game currently, which is an issue with a lot of young goalies, is that he tends to drop to his knees too early, leaving the top of the net exposed. Teams routinely tried to attack him high last year, and it\'s something he\'s made a specific point to address this offseason. Ben Pope caught up with Knight a few weeks back and talked to him about his expectations for himself and the team this coming season, as well as some other additions Knight made to his offseason training program this summer in anticipation of a much larger workload:

The Blackhawks' biggest X-factor? Spencer Knight.

A star breakout from him might represent the most viable way for the Hawks to step out of the NHL basement.

"Once you see this team take off, things turn around fast."

New story: https://t.co/S9662Uomhw

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) August 17, 2025

Knight will be given every opportunity to prove he\'s the goalie of the future this season, and a breakout year from him could not only help the Blackhawks climb up out of the NHL\'s cellar, but it would also go a long way toward securing his own future. Knight has one year left on his current deal that he signed with the Panthers in 2022, and will carry a $4.5 million cap hit next season. He\'ll be a restricted free agent next summer and, if he impresses as much as we\'re hoping he does, then Davidson would have to consider fully committing to Knight with a long-term contract as opposed to the typical one to two-year bridge deal generally offered to players on the verge of their first run at true free agency.

2025 Blackhawks Top 25 Under 25 list (so far): No. 7: Anton Frondell No. 8: Roman Kantersov No. 9: Kevin Korchinski No. 10: Oliver Moore No. 11-15: Lardis, Del Mastro, Kaiser, Boisvert, Reichel No. 16-20: Dach, Nestrasil, Commesso, Greene, Vanacker Nos. 21-25: Allan, Slaggert, Behm, Spellacy, Mustard Honorable Mentions: Pridham, Savoie, West

Spencer Knight

Talking Points