PHILADELPHIA — One thing is certain about Sacha Boisvert: He’s not backing out of a fight.
His father, Jimmy, owns Club Performance, a boxing and taekwondo gym in Boisvert’s hometown of Trois-Rivières, Quebec. He spent his childhood training with some of Quebec’s best fighters.
Switching the boxing gloves for hockey gloves, he got into plenty of scuffles during his two college seasons at North Dakota and Boston University. His 2025-26 season with the Terriers ended in a familiar spot: the penalty box.
Now, after a slightly delayed immigration process, he has arrived in the NHL. Fighting isn’t his focus for his first time around — but don’t expect to wait too long for an opponent to feel a Boisvert right hook.
“I’m just excited to get out there first and see what happens,” he said.
The 20-year-old center, who signed a three-year entry-level contract March 16, is scheduled to make his NHL debut for the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers. It comes two days after 2025 No. 3 pick Anton Frondell played in his first game for the Hawks.
“I feel good, obviously a little nervous, but it’s normal for my first game,” Boisvert said at the morning skate Thursday. “Hopefully (we) get a team win tonight and just see what it’s all about to be out there with those guys.”
His visa was finalized Tuesday before the Hawks’ 4-3 win against the New York Islanders, but the team’s lines and game plan already were set. Boisvert has had a little more than a week to observe practices, which he sees as a benefit.
“It knocked off some nerves a little bit, just to get to know the guys, talk to them and ask a lot of questions,” he said. “I’m more ready than I would’ve been if I played right away.”
The Hawks selected him with the No. 18 pick in the 2024 draft — the same year they picked Artyom Levshunov at No. 2 — after Boisvert totaled 113 points (53 goals, 60 assists) in 118 regular-season games for the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks.
He then opted to play college hockey, finishing the 2024-25 season at North Dakota with 32 points (18 goals, 14 assists) in 37 games. He transferred to BU amid a coaching change at North Dakota and had just eight points after Nov. 15 during a season of inconsistency and injury.
He was a healthy scratch for the Terriers’ Hockey East Tournament opener, reportedly because he was late for a team workout, raising concerns about his off-ice discipline. The NHL presents both a new step for Boisvert as well as an opportunity to get back on the right foot.
“There’s some things I want to improve,” he said. “Every year you just want to get better in general. Lot of stuff I want to work on, but right now it’s all about soaking it all in and being in the experience as much as I can.”
Thursday’s game will be another chance for a Hawks rookie to help spoil an Eastern Conference team’s playoff prospects. Frondell’s assist to Ilya Mikheyev on Tuesday helped the Hawks drop the Islanders out of the second wild-card spot.
The Flyers — who have only one more regulation win than the Hawks — sit five points behind the Ottawa Senators for the final wild-card spot.
Hawks coach Jeff Blashill is tasked with figuring out his newcomers’ roles on the team. Frondell’s placement on the top line with Connor Bedard and Ryan Greene proved worthy in his debut, and Blashill might have a good idea of what he wants out of Boisvert.
“He’s a guy who I think can bring up physicality,” Blashill said. “He can bring an edge to our team but with skill — he’s not void of that.
“He’s got good hands, a really good shot, so he can be a power forward with skill if that’s what he becomes. He’s a commodity on our team, within our young prospects, and a commodity in the league.”
