When the New York City Knights used the 9th overall pick in this year's draft on Timothy Chisholm, they knew they were getting an elite offensive talent. What they may not have expected was for the 21-year-old center to make such an immediate impact at the professional level.
But that's exactly what the 5'5", 180-pound rookie has done through the first half of the 2023-24 campaign. Chisholm has exploded onto the scene with 29 goals and 41 assists for 70 points through just 57 games. His offensive wizardry has him in the running for the Cult's Rookie of the Year award.
"Timothy has been everything we could have hoped for and more," said Knights head coach Lucas Berthet. "His skills with the puck and hockey sense are just off the charts. But what impresses most is his competitiveness and drive to get better every single day."
Chisholm was long heralded as a blue-chip prospect after putting up a 70-plus point season in juniors between his elite goal-scoring ability and phenomenal playmaking vision. Still, his transition to the professional ranks has been remarkably smooth.
On the season, the Canadian center is scoring at a blistering 1.23 points per game pace, an impressive mark for any player - let alone a rookie. His 12.6 shooting percentage on 230 shots shows he can beat goaltenders in a variety of ways. Perhaps just as impressively, he owns a +7 rating while starting nearly 50% of his shifts in the defensive zone.
"There's so much more I need to improve on to take my game to an even higher level," Chisholm said. "But I'm just trying to be a sponge and soak up as much knowledge as I can from the coaches and veteran guys. I want to be consistent and keep contributing any way possible."
With an affordable $1 million cap hit locked up for two more seasons, the Knights have a budding superstar building block to complement their core. If Chisholm can maintain this torrid pace, the future looks incredibly bright in New York City.