CHICAGO (AP) — Spencer Knight got right to work with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Knight was slated to start Monday night against the Los Angeles Kings in the goaltender's first game since he was acquired in a trade with the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.
Knight, a Connecticut native who turns 24 on April 19, said he was surprised by the move. He is in the second year of a three-year contract extension that he finalized in 2022.
“You talk to people close to you and you move on and you keep moving forward,” Knight said before the matchup with LA. "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.
“I just want to play,” he said with a grin.
Knight was selected by Florida with the No. 13 pick in the 2019 draft out of Boston College. He went 44-25-7 with a 2.76 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage in 80 games with the Panthers.
He goes from backing up Sergei Bobrovsky with the defending Stanley Cup champions to one of the worst teams in the league in the Blackhawks.
“I’m just going to bring what I've always brought, and that's a positive attitude, a good work ethic and work towards 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.”
While breaking into the NHL with Florida, Knight 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.
“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 puts a third goaltender on 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 has looked much better this year. The NHL trade deadline is Friday, but Chicago might have to carry three goaltenders the rest of the way.
“I mean you 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.”
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
The Associated Press
