McKenna, different high prospects absorb ‘fun’ NHLPA Rookie Showcase

On Tuesday, prospects had dinner and listened to a chat by former NHL ahead Kyle Okposo and Washington Capitals ahead Tom Wilson.

“At the end of the day, they’re young. They don’t really know what’s coming at them, most of them,” stated Okposo, who’s now a enterprise growth and participant engagement adviser for the NHLPA. “I used to be the identical method, so I’m attempting to make use of that perspective that I had and enjoying for 17 years, now being out of the sport additionally and understanding extra of how this facet of the sport 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 particularly preferred listening to Wilson. The 20-year-old ahead, who the Chicago Blackhawks chosen with the No. 18 choose within the 2024 NHL Draft, is predicted to convey a bodily presence both to Chicago or Rockford, the Blackhawks’ affiliate within the American Hockey League.

“Everyone has different paths,” Boisvert stated. “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.”