Sacha Boisvert : In-Depth Scouting Report

Sacha Boisvert is a Quebecer, originally from Trois-Rivières, who went into exile in the United States in recent years to pursue his career in hockey. Ranked among the top 10 scorers in the USHL, he will be able to count his season as a success.

At the top of his list of qualities, Boisvert is an excellent shooter. He is easily among the upper echelons of shooters in his draft class. He has a very good one-timer that he can use to good effect on the power play. His wrist shot gives goalkeepers a hard time. Due to this quality, Boisvert is a player to watch when he is in the offensive zone. The mechanics behind his wrist shot remind me a lot of Dylan Strome of the Washington Capitals.

Not being the most creative with the puck to penetrate dangerous zones on his own, Boisvert demonstrates a good flair for making himself available in the slot when he is not in possession of the disc. He is definitely not the type of player to run away from dangerous areas. To access these areas at the appropriate time, he demonstrates sufficient understanding of the game to follow his teammates and he also shows good timing.

Boisvert’s playing style will allow him to gain favor with his coach as he always demonstrates a high level of intensity when he is on the ice. Frankly, I would be ready to say that of all the (high profile) forwards in this draft, Boisvert is the one who completed his checks with the most consistency during the season. There are very few games that I have watched where he did not distribute a few hits. I particularly appreciate this consistency since, already this inclination to hit is sadly disappearing among young players, even rarer are those who display this style night after night. Just if I compare him with Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, Boisvert cannot boast of having absolutely obliterated opponents like the Norwegian did, that being said, the latter had many sequences of games during the season where I did not see him finishing his checks at all. We will have the chance to talk about it again in this analysis, but Boisvert is far from his full physical maturity at the moment, so we must keep the door open for this quality to increase over the years.

Still on the subject of his intensity on the ice, number 9 from Muskegon is one of the prospects in whom I have observed the most 2nd, even 3rd efforts within his presences. He went past his limits where many other players would have given up. He puts the team first.

Without being the most polished defensive player, the notable sequences on his part for this purpose emerged from this same ardor at work.

When we evaluate Boisvert’s puck handling at the USHL level, he has the toolbox necessary to pull off great dangle and to get rid of his coverer. Projecting him into the NHL, however, I believe that this aspect will be more at the average level. It is always important to clarify here that the NHL average will always come off as a compliment!

 At this age, and especially at this caliber, it is completely normal to see players experiment on the ice and seek to broaden their range of quality and way of beating their opponent, so I don’t make a big case out of the times he lost the puck while trying to play a fancier style of play.

The problem is the number of turnovers he made inside his transition game. He was possibly the forward who was most often guilty of losing the puck in this aspect among the players I observed this season. Although at his league level, he has relatively good skills, the majority of turnovers caused in transition are in sequences where he tries to beat one or more opponents with a dangle. In several cases, it is mainly his reading of the game which precedes his dangle attempt that is inadequate. I don’t think he’s a player who sees the game at a very high level. He often attempts to break through where there are no openings. The involvement of his teammates in these circumstances is also flawed.

At the start of the season, my view of Boisvert was tainted with more optimism and I saw a shooting-center, a bit in the mold of Dylan Strome but this inability to dictate the play and create offense made me rethink my projection of the player. It is now impossible for me to see him as a center in the NHL.

Even on the occasions when he managed to gain the opponent’s territory, the play ended in a shot taken from distance, without posing much of a threat to the opposing goalkeeper. A lack of creativity is definitely observed.

It is not as a playmaker that Boisvert is at his best, which is mainly explained by this lack of creativity and a difficulty in using his teammates at full speed. That said, he is not entirely devoid of substance in this facet. He is still capable of great passes on occasion. However, he operates better in simpler situations where there are fewer variables to deal with, for example, when he is in a more stationary position or to pass to one of his teammates who are heading to the net.

His skating will need refinement in terms of technique, but as far as I’m concerned, his speed in itself is not a problem. The fact that Boisvert is currently listed at 6’2 and 176 lbs should be enough to dispel doubts that some might have in this regard. He still has a lot of room to gain physical strength (which, when properly applied, transfers to the explosion on skates).

It is even possible that he could add new trends to his game over time that at the moment he is not allowed to afford. Among the turnovers seen in his play this season, one constant that emerged was that he lacked the physical strength to gain the center of the offensive zone when an opposing defender engaged the body with him. In his case, I believe that after a few summers in the gym, these kinds of plays will become feasible. It could even significantly increase his offensive potential since he is far from being a player who hesitates to attack dangerous areas.

Boisvert will wear the colors of the University of North Dakota, in the NCAA, starting next year. It’s an avenue that I like for prospects, and in the case of Boisvert, I think it will serve him more because he will benefit from more time in the gym. During the year, I was able to read a few interviews with the young Trois-Rivières native and I really appreciated several of his answers. He already seems to have a plan in place for his future as a hockey player, for several years to come, not just in the short term. From what I have observed this season, he also seems like a player who listens to his coaches. I am personally very intrigued to see what the product that Boisvert represents will look like after 3 or 4 years completed in the NCAA. I don’t rule out the possibility that his offensive game could reach another level. I see in him, for the moment, a 3rd line player who can offer a sought-after dimension for the NHL playoffs.

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