Second Round (#32 Overall): Jared Knight
Following the Boston Bruins selection of Tyler Seguin at second-overall, the Bruins waited 30 picks for their next selection. That player wound up being right-winger Jared Knight of the OHLs London Knights. In his draft year, Knight recorded 36 goals and 21 assists for 57 points in 63 games. He also added another 10 goals and 7 assists for 17 points in 10 playoff games.
The Hockey Writers’ Bob Mand, ranked Knight as the Bruins third-best prospect ahead of the 2011-12 season. Mand had this to say about the London Knights right-winger:
“With a work ethic that should push him into the NHL no matter what, the London Knights’ property has Bruins’ prospect-watchers buzzing. Gregarious and engaging, he has the mental tools to excel in the high-pressure world of professional hockey.”
In 2010-11, Knight started in the AHL with the Providence Bruins. He played just 3 games and racked up 2 assists.
However, the Bruins decided to send him back down to the OHL London Knights for more conditioning, playing it safe with their coveted second-round pick. He improved on his numbers from his draft year, racking up 25 goals and 45 assists for 70 points in 68 games. He then went on to play 6 playoff games, recording 4 goals and 2 assists for 6 points.
In 2011-12, Knight started the season with London and remained there. He played 52 games with 26 goals and 26 assists for 52 points. In the OHL playoffs, where Knight has always looked good, he struggled. In 15 playoff games, Knight had just 4 goals and 4 assists for 8 points.
Finally, Knight was no longer OHL-eligible and started the year with the AHL’s Providence Bruins. Unfortunately, a hamstring injury that stuck with him that season held him to just 10 games, where he put up 1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points.
On a conditioning basis, to see if Knight could return to Providence, he played with the Bruins ECHL affiliates, South Carolina Stingrays. He played 2 games and didn’t look the best, with 0 points and a -2 plus/minus. Despite all that, he still managed to squeak into 6 AHL playoff games, where he recorded 1 goal and 1 assist for two points.
In the 2013-14 season, Knight continued his struggles. Playing in 58 games for Providence, Knight scored just 5 goals and 14 assists for 19 points. He added 9 playoff games, with only 2 assists. He managed to perform even worse in 2014-15, playing in 36 games with 1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points before he was dealt away to the Minnesota Wild for Zack Phillips, a struggling 1st round prospect picked in 2011.
Knight would go on to play 53 games with the Iowa Wild in the AHL following the mid-season trade in 2014-15 and the entire 2015-16 season. He posted 4 goals and 10 assists for 14 points in that span. He was then sent down to the ECHL’s Quad City Mallards in 2015-16 for 20 games, posting 7 goals and 8 assists for 15 points.
Knight decided to head west to Denmark in the 2016-17 season. There, he played for the Esbjerg EfB Ishockey team. In 45 games, he posted 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points. The 2016-17 season in Denmark marked Knight’s last year playing professional hockey, in any country or in any capacity.