On Tuesday, prospects had dinner and listened to a talk by former NHL forward Kyle Okposo and Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson.
“At the end of the day, they’re young. They don’t really know what’s coming at them, most of them,” said Okposo, who’s now a business development and player engagement adviser for the NHLPA. “I was the same way, so I’m trying to use that perspective that I had and playing for 17 years, now being out of the game also and understanding more of how this side of the game works.
“I’m just trying to give them a bit of perspective and a different lens into kind of how to think about how this is going to work going forward.”
Sacha Boisvert especially liked listening to Wilson. The 20-year-old forward, who the Chicago Blackhawks selected with the No. 18 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, is expected to bring a physical presence either to Chicago or Rockford, the Blackhawks’ affiliate in the American Hockey League.
“Everyone has different paths,” Boisvert said. “Just hearing from him, the style he plays, I don’t want to be Tom Wilson, but I want to be the type of player he is. Just hearing the path he took and all of that, guys would ask questions, I was sitting in the back just listening. It’s a great conversation. It makes you learn a lot.”