After spending the last eight days patiently waiting to join his new teammates on the ice, Sacha Boisvert was finally granted his work visa on Tuesday morning. Therefore, Boisvert, the 18th overall pick by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2024 NHL Draft, was allowed to participate in the team's morning skate ahead of the matchup with the New York Islanders .
Boisvert joined fellow first-round pick Anton Frondell in skating with the Blackhawks for the first time on Tuesday. As expected, Boisvert was donning a No. 12 sweater at UBS Arena. Frondell was rocking No. 15.
While Frondell will be making his highly anticipated NHL debut in Long Island, Boisvert will have to wait a little longer for his first look with the Blackhawks. Head coach Jeff Blashill mentioned after the morning skate that the team became aware of Boisvert's work visa clearance shortly before hitting the ice. As a result, his debut will occur later on during the road trip, either against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, the New York Rangers on Friday, or the New Jersey Devils on Sunday.
Boisvert skated as an extra during line rushes at the morning skate, but got in some quality individual work and received some pointers from Blashill and the rest of the staff. With Blashill in his first year with the Blackhawks, and Boisvert unable to participate in training camp per NHL/NCAA rules, the two sides aren't very familiar with each other. Blashill mentioned last week that he wants to see how Boisvert looks in practice before throwing him into the lineup.
Given that Frondell has two years of professional experience already under his belt, he will be thrown right into the fire and make his debut without having a single official practice with the team. Boisvert, coming from the collegiate level, likely won't be granted the same opportunities. Frondell will skate on the Blackhawks' top line with Connor Bedard and Ryan Greene on Tuesday. When Boisvert makes his debut, it will likely come on Chicago's third or fourth line.
The Blackhawks don't want to overwhelm Boisvert, who's coming off a sour sophomore season in the NCAA, tallying just 17 points, with only three goals, in 26 games for Boston University. After recording 32 points (18G, 14A) as a freshman with North Dakota, Boisvert never seemed to settle in with the Terriers and dealt with plenty of adversity. From his lack of production to getting suspended two games for fighting, not to mention being healthy scratched in a do-or-die Conference Tournament game, there wasn't much to like from Boisvert's time with BU.
Instead of immediately throwing him into an offensive-minded role in the top six, the Blackhawks would rather give Boisvert his first big-league opportunity in a place where he can find success, but won't be asked to do too much. Down in the bottom six, he can use his size and physicality to make an impact and get a first taste of NHL action. It will give Boisvert the chance to figure out where he needs to grow and what parts of his game must further develop before becoming a full-time professional in 2026-27.
With Boisvert and Frondell now both on the NHL scene, the Blackhawks will have seven first-round picks, all drafted by GM Kyle Davidson in 2022 or later, in the lineup at some point during the road trip. Ryan Greene (2022 2nd) and Nick Lardis (2023 3rd) are two other players whom Davidson drafted that will also be on the ice. It's been a long, slow-moving rebuild in Chicago, but finally, the time has come to see what the organization's future truly looks like.
Even though the postseason is out of the picture yet again for the Blackhawks, the final 12 games of the 2025-26 regular season are sure to bring loads of excitement. The kids are here. Let's see what they're made of.
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The post Boisvert's Visa Situation Resolved, NHL Debut Coming During Blackhawks Road Trip appeared first on Chicago Hockey Now .
