Blackhawks prospect updates: Sacha Boisvert will turn pro after college season ends

The Blackhawks want to open up forward roster spots before Friday's trade deadline to make room for prospects Anton Frondell and Sacha Boisvert.

Both of them should join the Hawks and make their NHL debuts after their current seasons end, likely sometime later in March.

That has been anticipated with Frondell, but it's news when it comes to Boisvert. He has endured a frustrating college season at Boston University, but Hawks assistant general manager Mark Eaton, who oversees the organization's prospects, implied they still plan to sign him right away.

"A cliche that I’ve never been a fan of, but I think can ring true for Sacha, is he has the style of game that could make him a better pro than actual college player," Eaton said. "I do think that…he is ready for pro, and pro is the best next step for him."

Boisvert is trying to focus on BU’s final regular-season game and upcoming conference tournament, which they would have to sweep through to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Nevertheless, he's finding it “hard not to think about” his imminent NHL opportunity.

“I don't want to speak too much about it, but I believe I can play pro hockey,” Boisvert said Monday. “I believe in myself [and] my skill level.”

The 2024 first-round pick was a standout freshman at North Dakota last season, racking up 32 points (including 18 goals) in 37 games, but his production has dipped considerably — to 16 points (and just three goals) in 24 games — since transferring.

A number of factors have contributed to that. For one, BU has offensively struggled team-wide; the environment hasn't been too conducive for success.

Boisvert also played through a nagging shoulder injury earlier this season before finally taking some time off to heal. Only then did he realize he never should've played through it on the ice.

“[My] bench press would be 100% fine, and I got back to my normal weight, but there were these ranges of motion that were really hurting me,” he said. “And I didn't have as much confidence when it was time to go in a corner battle or go finish a hit. I would tell myself, 'I'm fine.' But really, there was this little part of my head that would not let me do it.

“When I…got back to being healthy, I was like, 'Damn, I really wasn't good there. I definitely should've taken some time off earlier.' The body is the most important part when playing hockey. That's what I've learned through that process.”

He has been 100% healthy since Christmas, but his scoring still hasn’t picked up, which has weighed on him psychologically.

Eaton has reminded him that all prospects encounter adversity at some point, and he has noticed Boisvert staying "engaged in conversations and finding ways to get better."

His physicality, for one thing, has improved. He has worked on finishing checks and using his 6-3, 192-pound body to protect the puck.

He also had a whale of a fight — a rarity in college hockey — on Jan. 16 against UMass Lowell that went viral on social media. It earned him a one-week suspension, but Eaton said he personally "loved it."

“He references [Capitals forward] Tom Wilson as a guy who can remind him consistently of, ‘OK, when Tom Wilson isn’t showing up consistently on the scoresheet, how is he making an impact?’” Eaton added.

Boisvert, a Quebec native, is an amateur boxer who enjoys incorporating boxing into his hockey training. It should be no surprise that he can dish out haymakers on demand.

At North Dakota, however, he couldn't find a boxing gym near campus. In Boston, he has identified one he likes, and he visited it up to three times per week while rehabbing his shoulder.

Pretty soon, he will need to find one in Chicago.

More prospect updates

Frondell has begun heating up again in Sweden lately, scoring in consecutive games.

On Sunday, he scored after using his body to protect the puck — just the way the Hawks have discussed — before driving the net to tuck in his own rebound. He has 17 goals and seven assists in 38 games.

Pretty soon, Hawks fans will begin rooting against his Swedish club, Djurgarden. That's because the sooner they're eliminated from the Swedish playoffs, the sooner Frondell will join the Hawks.

Djurgarden is likely to end up in a best-of-three SHL playoff round after their regular season ends March 14. If they lose that series, Frondell could potentially join the Hawks in time for their March 23-29 New York trip.

"There doesn’t look to be any signs of fatigue [in him]," Eaton said. "A lot of times with young players, when you’re playing in the top league of whatever country, you see some drop-off. But he still looks strong on his skates."

Follow Felcman

The Hawks sought to address a relative lack of size within their forward prospect pool with their two later 2025 first-round picks, drafting a pair of 6-5 guys in Vaclav Nestrasil (who has enjoyed a great freshman year at UMass) and Mason West.

But there is another 6-5 forward in their pipeline: Jiri Felcman, a 2023 third-round pick.

Felcman has solidified himself as a top-nine forward with the SCL Tigers in the Swiss league this season, tallying 20 points in 49 games — up from 10 in 43 last season. The Hawks have one more season to evaluate him before they face a June 2027 signing deadline for him, per PuckPedia.

"He still has a long way to go to fill out and completely maximize the potential of his frame, but he moves extremely well for his size and is really starting to realize...how to utilize [his size] out on the ice," Eaton said.

"Part of the realization he’s starting to have is, he can play more of a power game. He does a good job positioning himself. [He] picks up a puck with his back to the defender, and the defender just bounces off of him. He’s able to create space for himself and buy himself an extra split-second to either hit a hole or make a good pass."

West’s adjustment

Since winning the Minnesota high-school football championship in extremely high-profile fashion, West has slipped back into the relative anonymity of the USHL circuit.

It unsurprisingly took him some time to transition between sports, tallying just five points in his first 10 games with the Fargo Force. He has heated up with 13 points in his last 16 games.

"I saw him play two games in early January, and by the second game, he was what you expect," Eaton said. "He was a dominant physical force out there. He was making things happen with the puck but was also a force on the forecheck and finishing checks and being really hard to play against.

"He’s another [player] with a lot of rawness to him, but as he starts to realize the physical tools that he has and how to use them effectively, the sky is the limit."

The Hawks expect West's full-time dedication to hockey at Michigan State next season to accelerate his development.