Watch: Sacha Boisvert on video
Sacha Boisvert showed up to Chicago Blackhawks development camp visibly bigger than the player who left Boston University in April, and the organization noticed. NHL.com’s Tracey Myers profiled the 20-year-old forward this week as he prepares for his first full professional season, and the added muscle was the first thing anyone brought up.
Boisvert, the No. 18 pick in the 2024 draft, got a seven-game NHL audition late last season after his college year ended. The sample was small, but he says the exposure changed how he approached the summer. “It definitely helps me with confidence and everything, but also seeing the pros, the lifestyle they live,” Boisvert told NHL.com. “It changed my mentality on everything and gives me some momentum moving forward this summer.”
Why it matters
The timing of his development matters more than it did a month ago. With Connor Bedard expected to miss roughly the first month-plus of the season recovering from left shoulder surgery, Chicago’s center depth will be tested in October, and a bigger, pro-ready Boisvert gives the organization one more credible option down the middle — whether that means NHL minutes out of camp or a heavy role in Rockford while the roster sorts itself out.
The honest developmental read: adding mass is the least interesting part of a prospect’s summer unless it changes how he plays, and for Boisvert it might. His college game was built on a heavy shot and a willingness to get to the middle of the ice; the knock was whether he could win those battles against men. A stronger frame doesn’t answer that question, but it means the question gets asked at the right level this year, over a full season, instead of in seven borrowed games.
On the fantasy side, Boisvert is a name for dynasty managers rather than redraft players. The Bedard injury creates a plausible path to early-season NHL games, and center-eligible prospects with middle-six upside and a power-play-worthy shot tend to get scooped quickly once they debut for good. If he opens the season in Chicago, his keeper stock moves before his box-score numbers do.
