Photo credit: EP Rinkside

Jonathan Toews would play two years at the University of North Dakota, before turning into a future Hall of Famer, with the Blackhawks, after his arrival in 2007.

We won’t know of Sascha Boisvert’s path, who was selected as one of three Blackhawks draft picks in the 1st round. The 18-year-old was selected 18th overall and will play with the Fighting Hawks as a Freshman, after two years in the USHL with the Muskegon Lumberjacks.

The 6’2″, 185 LB winger, Quebec native scored 36 goals and 68 points in 61 games in the USHL, improving in his second season with the club.

“He put up some good numbers in the USHL, which traditionally is not the easiest league to put offense up in,” Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said. “And then just the physical package. You see him and there’s just so much room to fill out and growth.”

Despite his boyish looks and gangly frame, don’t let the cover fool you, as he is a hard-nosed forward. He’s projected to be as effective as Toews was in one-on-one situations, maybe not as subtle though.

“He plays with, like, a real edge, and real physicality” Davidson said. “There’s a lot of appeal around both the offensive side and the abrasiveness he plays with.”

Davidson didn’t even consider the connection between Boisvert and Toews until the last minute, as he didn’t want to foist that upon the prospect:

“No, we weren’t trying to recreate Jonathan Toews,” Davidson said. “We won’t put that on him.

“It’s a great path. North Dakota’s a great program and Jonathan had a ton of success coming out of there.”

Surprising Role Models

Boisvert’s favorite players to watch mentioned everyone BUT Toews, as he likes to watch Matthew Tkachuk and Eric Lindros. He models his play after physical players, like Lindros and Tkachuk:

“who can play a physical game and also put the puck in the back of the net and make plays.

“I take a lot of pride in being an all-around player,” Boisvert said. “Not only doing the plays and the fancy goals and all that, but winning my faceoffs, going to win battles in the corners and the physical game and every little detail taken care off.”

“He’s the guy that brings the combination of skill and physicality, he likes to play that power forward game,” said Dan Marr, vice president of NHL Central Scouting. “He can defend himself, he can win the 1-on-1 battles and he initiates the 1-on-1 battles. This is a guy that when you go into a scrum, he’s going to come out with the puck.”

Boisvert left a francophone territory like Trois-Rivières in order to emigrate to Mount St. Charles Academy in Rhode Island in 14. He had to learn English quickly to accelerate his hockey development. However, Toews had been bilingual thanks to his parents prior to his arrival in Chicago.

The 18th overall pick was acquired from the New York Islanders in return for the 20th and 54th picks in the 2024 NHL Draft, of which the Blackhawks originally obtained 20th overall for Brandon Hagel on March 18th, 2022.