Spencer Knight has had quite the year for himself. From winning the Hockey East title while at Boston College to a gold medal at the U20 World Junior Championships for Team USA. Not long after that, Knight signed his first NHL contract and joined the Florida Panthers for the rest of the season. As a 20-year-old sophomore in college, that is a lot going on in a few short months. Yet, he has stood tall through it all. With only four regular-season games and two playoff games under his belt, Knight’s small sample size has been very promising. He is leaving Panthers fans everywhere beyond excited to fix what is going on in the crease.
Spencer Knight Poised for Greatness
While he has been looked to as a promising prospect for a few years, nothing compared to the hype and recognition he received after his stellar World Junior Championship performance.
Securing the gold medal for Team USA, Knight finished the tournament with an incredible 5-1 record, a .940 save percentage, and only 1.63 goals against average. On top of that, he had three shutouts, which ties the World Junior Championship record for a single tournament. Those three shutouts also marked the most in a World Junior career by a USA-born goaltender. Yet, after his more recent accomplishments. It is as if everyone had forgotten about those six games he played in Edmonton, Alberta.
Breaking into the NHL this season, Knight is the first goaltender born in the 2000s to win an NHL game. Even better, he is the youngest ever to win the first four games of his career. To say he is off to a good start would be quite the understatement. Even if they were not against the best of teams this season. Winning the first four games of your National Hockey League career isn’t something most goalies can say they have done. Even better, Knight slammed the door shut on the defending Stanley Cup Champions during his first NHL playoff game. Yet this was not just some playoff win. Saving the Panthers from elimination at the time, Knight turned away 36 of 37 shots. Finishing with an impressive .973 save percentage.
Spencer Knight and His Future in Florida
Looking towards the future for Knight, this offseason should be an interesting one for the young cat. With all the confidence in the world, Knight will go into this off-season determined to build off where he left. Now that the Seattle Kraken Expansion draft will take place in less than a month. The Panthers have been forced to leave Chris Driedger available. With Knight ineligible to be drafted and Sergei Bobrovsky having a no-move clause on his contract, the Seattle Kraken would be dumb not to take Driedger. He is playing lights out while at a shallow cap hit with the pandemic affecting every NHL franchise for the next few years. Situations like this will most likely determine a lot of the moves made.
Now, given that Seattle takes Driedger. The goalie situation in Florida will continue to draw attention. With Bobrovsky playing substantially below his contract and Knight playing well above his. There is the chance that Knight steals the crease from the Russian netminder. Even though Bobrovsky is a Vezina-winning goaltender and much more experienced, the Panthers want to win now. Despite the expansion draft, the Panthers should bring back most of their team for the 2021-22 season. After finishing fourth in the league during this past season, Florida is poised to build off that success to take them further than they have been in over a decade.
