The worst-kept secret when it came to the Chicago Blackhawks‘ prospect system was that Sacha Boisvert, the No. 18 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, would make the jump to professional hockey once his sophomore season at Boston University was over.

On Monday morning, one day before his 20th birthday, it became official. The Blackhawks signed Boisvert to a three-year entry-level deal through the 2027-28 season with a $974,167 AAV cap hit.

Boisvert will run through the first “year” of his deal by closing out this season with the Blackhawks, effectively making it a two-year contract and getting to his second contract faster, similar to what Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson has done with other NCAA prospects recently like Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, Sam Rinzel, and Ryan Greene.

For Boisvert, the last two years playing in the NCAA have been a roller coaster. He had a standout season as a freshman at North Dakota, tallying 18 goals and 32 points in 37 games and was named the NCHC Rookie of the Year. But after a coaching change at UND, Boisvert transferred to Boston University for his second year of college hockey.

At BU, Boisvert had a disappointing run with just three goals and 17 points in 26 games as the Terriers had one of their worst seasons in recent years. Notably, Boisvert was scratched ahead of BU’s Hockey East Tournament opening game after missing a team workout – news that was met with delight from the BU fanbase, as expectations for Boisvert were not being met all season.

Whatever the case, over the past two seasons, the discourse surrounding the 2024 first-round pick shows that there is plenty of growth for the 20-year-old to go through as he prepares for his NHL debut with the Blackhawks.

That debut offers him a fresh start in professional hockey.

While it will be a bit delayed due to Boisvert going through the visa process to join the team, his debut will very likely be completed by the end of the week, lining him up to make his debut either Thursday against the Minnesota Wild in Minnesota or Friday at home against the Colorado Avalanche.

There’s a lot to like about Boisvert’s game and profile. He has the size the Blackhawks need in their forward group at 6-3 and 185 pounds (probably more than that), and he plays down the middle with physicality. A lot has been made of his perchance to fight, his background with boxing, and he had quite the notable scrap this season at BU, but my hope is that he’s more than a guy who drops the gloves. His goal-scoring as a freshman at North Dakota was exceptional and his two-way profile should mean he is a player who can slot into the middle-six of the future Blackhawks lineup with more highly skilled centermen in Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar projecting to be the 1-2 punch of the future.

Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill has made it a point to stress competitiveness as one of his “non-negotiable” aspects of the game that his players cannot lack. Boisvert fits that mold. The edge he plays with is something that is missing from the current group of young NHLers that Kyle Davidson has put together as the next wave of Blackhawks talent.

“We’ll take it game by game,” Blashill said of easing Boisvert into the Blackhawks lineup. “It’s important that guys understand, they are going to get some opportunity but you got to know you’re going to have to earn it. It would be misleading to say we’re going to bring him in, play him on the first line and that’s the way it is.”

It won’t be immediate, but the hope is that with time in professional hockey – be it the NHL or AHL – Boisvert, as well as players like Anton Frondell and AJ Spellacy, can find their confidence to assert themselves as physical players that bring more space on the ice for the skill of the young group to shine.

“I always say, when you come to play, I’m a stubborn person, you’ll have a clean slate in terms of your game and then I’ll watch and see,” Blashill said of Boisvert and other young players joining the Blackhawks. “Based on what I’ve seen, he [Boisvert] can be a guy who needs to have a physical impact on the game on a nigh-to-night basis. If he can do that, he becomes a real commodity because then he has a physical impact with some ability to make a play, hold onto a puck, those types of things. He can add something to our team that I don’t know that we have enough of, and that’s the kind of hard skill. If he can do that, it’ll be a real positive for us.”