Future NHL stars will have their names called at the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft in Los Angeles on Friday.

On Wednesday, about 15 miles from the site of this year’s draft, area kids who dream of someday getting to that level got a big boost from the NHL Player Inclusion Coalition.

As part of the festivities leading up to the 2025 Draft, which begins with the first round Friday at L.A. Live’s Peacock Theatre (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS), members of the NHL PIC joined youth participants of the Los Angeles Kings’ Black, Silver & Bold program for an on-ice presentation announcing a $20,000 grant to expand the program’s pathways for comprehensive hockey development.

Led by Blake Bolden, the Kings community and hockey development specialist, Black, Silver & Bold is a free development program that promotes community and skill development for underrepresented elite youth hockey players and their families in Los Angeles.

“We take a lot of pride in giving back and this is just one of the things we can do together,” Bolden said, after the event at The Pond at Toyota Sports Performance Center, the Kings’ practice facility.

Bolden, the first Black woman to play professional hockey, is also a member of the NHL PIC, a group of current and former NHL players and women’s professional hockey players who work to advance inclusion in hockey, on and off the ice. Also at the event on Wednesday were NHL PIC members and former NHL players Anson Carter, Mark Fraser, Anthony Stewart, and Georges Laraque.

“It’s a passion of mine because when I grew up I didn’t have a lot of role models, especially role models of non-traditional ice hockey backgrounds that look like me. I knew of [Carter] in the NHL, but I wasn’t friends with him, and I wasn’t able to skate and scrimmage against him and be mentored by him.

“So just having the ability and access to be able to be around these players and individuals is really important for these kids. Just to be able to look up to dream and ask questions so they can enhance their skills and just dream to maybe be in the NHL or the PWHL. So that’s why it’s really important to be because I didn’t have access like that as a kid.”

The new grant supports BSB’s three-day intensive summer camp for skill development as well as immersive hockey development events that allow program participants to learn about community building in hockey. The grant will also create a series of mentorship sessions to provide comprehensive support for success, covering topics such as nutrition, performance psychology, leadership, identity, and life beyond the game.

“The $20,000, it goes a long way,” Bolden said. “We have Zoom sessions, the ice time, just mentorship that they’re allowed to be part of. So that’s what’s really important to me.”

Funding was provided through the NHL PIC Action Fund, which was established in 2023 – with financial support from NHL/NHLPA Industry Growth Fund – to empower players to provide support to grassroots programs that welcome and celebrate new hockey audiences.

Throughout the 2024-25 season, the NHL PIC Action Fund has supported a variety of player-led projects, such as Minnesota Wild defenseman Jon Merrill’s Hockey’s Beauty Club, an educational anti-bullying program to build a new standard of inclusive leadership; Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud’s collaboration with the Little Native Hockey League to cover the cost of tournament participation for youth with financial need; and former U.S Olympian Julie Chu’s introductory hockey programming at Concordia University to encourage girls to play for the first time. This season, the NHL PIC also furthered its efforts to support leadership development among NHL prospects through player activations at the AHL level.

“The partnership between the NHL/NHLPA Industry Growth Fund and the NHL PIC has deepened our relationship with leaders throughout the sport who are expanding hockey outreach in powerful ways,” said Rob Knesaurek, NHL Senior Vice President, Youth Development and Industry Growth. “We look forward to future collaborations that build upon the NHL Player Inclusion Coalition’s positive impact.”

“When players are empowered to shape initiatives that help grow the game, they can leverage their experiences to come up with innovative ideas that benefit the entire hockey community,” said Chris Campoli, NHLPA Divisional Player Representative. “Since its founding, the NHL PIC has exemplified the importance and value of incorporating player perspectives to achieve meaningful results.”

This week in Los Angeles will feature two additional events with members of the NHL PIC, including an NHL STREET hockey panel discussion and grant announcement on June 26 and a community hockey clinic co-hosted with NHL Top Prospects from the 2025 NHL Draft on June 27. Bolden, Carter, Fraser, Stewart, and Laraque are expected to be joined by JT Brown, Al Montoya, Ryan Reaves, and P.K. Subban.

“I think people think that once you get drafted to the National Hockey League that’s when the dream starts. The dream starts here, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 years old, like the young people we see out here today,” Carter said. “So it doesn’t start when you’re 18 years old. And as Blake was talking about, it’s about being seen on the ice, you know, giving kids a chance to relate to who we are. We’re people. We might have had, like, special talents, and we’re able to kind of cultivate those skills by working at it, but we’re just like these young boys and girls, once upon a time out here, just having fun doing what we do.”

Photo/NHL Player Inclusion Coalition

— NHL.com

(June 26, 2025)