Jared Knight #50 of the Boston Bruins skates against the New York Islanders during a rookie game exhibition at Nassau Coliseum on September 12, 2011 in Uniondale, New York.
(September 11, 2011 – Source: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America)
Welcome back to the “Getting To Know” series on the Bruin prospects and possible new faces we will see in the 2013-14 season.
This edition we will be looking at Bruins prospect Jared Knight, one of the three players drafted with the picks acquired from Toronto in the Phil Kessel trade. The other two were obviously Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton.
Player Profile:
Name: Jared Knight
Age: 21
Position: Right Wing
Shoots: Right
Draft:
2010 NHL Entry Draft
2nd Round, 32nd overall
Jared Knight was drafted 32nd overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. He started his junior career with the London Knights of the OHL in the 2008-09 season. Knight sat 9th in team scoring with 30 points in 67 games behind John Tavares and Nazem Kadri. Knight would steadily improve over the next 2 seasons scoring 57 points in 2009-10 and 70 in 2010-11 while playing along side future Bruin Seth Griffith in his first major junior year. Knight would get 3 games with the Providence Bruins in the 2010-11 season but after recording 2 points in 3 games he was ultimately sent back to the OHL. Knight would spend another season in the OHL recording 52 points in 52 games.
Knight would be given a second shot at the AHL in the 2012-13 season, but injuries hindered his progress splitting very little playing time between the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL and the Providence Bruins. Knight would return for the playoffs but would only play 6 games recording 2 points.
The Argument For Jared Knight:
Knight is one of the few dedicated Right Wing prospects the Bruins have in the system. Yes, the Bruins have Jordan Caron and Seth Griffith but there are some significant cons that out weight their chances at cracking the line up (Griffith for one has 0 AHL / NHL experience and Caron is a liability). Knight was originally overlooked in the NHL Draft and wasn’t rated however got his name out there by showing off his skill at his highest level and essentially forcing his name into the minds of NHL scouts. That dedication and love for the game tends to lead into this:
The Argument Against Jared Knight:
Unfortunately for Jared, there isn’t a lot of hope for him to crack the roster for the 2013-14 Bruins. He spent a majority of the 2012-13 AHL season injured and when he was finally able to play again barely played at all. The effort and skill was there, but he needs another year to fix what went wrong and if improves fast enough he will definitely get a shot at cracking the line up for the Boston Bruins.
Conclusion:
There isn’t as much to say about Jared as there is for the rest of the rookies. Jared’s season was very short lived and he didn’t get a lot of playing time for people to form a good opinion on his play style. His junior style saw him being a net front crasher and a tough guy to move, but we’ve yet to see that in the AHL yet. His play needs time to develop and he also needs to make the big overall impression he set out to when he was drafted.
Knight certainly seems like a great player, but he hasn’t been able to show it yet and that is a big factor against him.