Simon Knak (4.25 Star Amateur Rating, NHL Grade — B-) Forward
Neutral Zone NHL’s Donald Godreau, May 2020: Knak is a nice skater. He has a fluid stride and shows good pop out of his cross overs. He gets nice and deep in his turns and produces good power out of his edges. Knack plays a smart game positionally. On the forecheck, he pressures with good speed and aggression, but will also force defenders into making plays where he wants them to by taking away options and attacking at good angles with a good stick positionally. He reads off of his teammates well, and shows nice acceleration when reacting to the play in front of him and getting to good areas on the ice. Offensively he likes to open up his hips and present his chest to attackers. He uses his lower body strength and solid edge work to protect the puck and slide away from defenders. He has soft hands and sends nice passes around the ice. He sees the ice well and makes quick decisions with the puck. Knak has a quick release, and can snap pucks quickly on the one timer. He does well to find those soft areas, and will sit and wait for his opportunity. Defensively he plays with active feet. On the penalty kill he forces plays with his aggression, but doesn’t play reckless. Simon doesn’t play with natural physicality, and often times, he will limit his opportunities by staying on the fray of the play instead of jumping into the scrum and trying to make things happen. Adding strength and gaining confidence in his abilities in the tougher areas is going to be an important step in his development moving forward. Grade: C
2020 NHL Draft Right Wing Rankings: Simon was Neutral Zone’s 24th rated right wing eligible for the 2020 NHL draft in our May rankings.
Neutral Zone NHL’s Ian Moran, February 2020: Simon is a big strong winger with a fluid stride. He’s not the most physical player, but I feel he’s making the adjustment to the Western Hockey League pretty quickly. He takes really smart angles while forechecking in both the neutral and offensive zones and shows very good awareness on 50-50 pucks. Meaning, he doesn’t commit to a puck just because it’s sitting there. He reads where his linemates are and judges if the risk is worth the reward. He uses very good offensive instincts to provide support all over the ice and he can extend offensive zone time or cycling time through his puck protection skills. Simon does not make hope passes. Instead he plays with his eyes up looking for options. It will be very interesting to see how he does down the stretch because he could really move himself up in the rankings with a strong finish to his rookie Western Hockey League season.
February NHL Draft Rankings: Simon was ranked #107 in Neutral Zone’s February draft rankings with a ‘B-‘ NHL draft grade.
December 1st NHL Draft Rankings: Simon was Neutral Zone’s 59th ranked 2020 NHL draft prospect.
WHL – Ranking the 2020 NHL Draft Prospects, October 2019: Simon was Neutral Zone’s 11th ranked Western Hockey League 2020 NHL Draft prospect with a ‘B’ NHL grade. He was our 6th highest rated forward.