Jets prospect Zhilkin launches mental health awareness program

Putting an emphasis on his mental health has been critical for Winnipeg Jets prospect Danny Zhilkin, and now he wants to help other athletes do the same.
The 18-year-old, selected by the Jets in the third round of the 2022 NHL Draft, announced on his Twitter feed the start of a new program called Zhilkin's Vision, which will help raise mental health awareness for athletes while also helping local mental health organizations at the same time.
"From my own experience, I think every hockey player battles mental health struggles at some point during their career. It doesn't matter if you're 12 or 13 in minor hockey, or if you're a professional hockey player," Zhilkin said. "I wanted to do this with Lauren, we can share our experiences as well as raise awareness. Mental health is almost 80 percent of any sport, not just hockey, it's a touching subject and something people don't think or talk about as often as they should."
Lauren Shoss, Zhilkin's girlfriend, is helping him with the project. She attends Boston University's Sports Psychology and Counselling program.

"We wanted to get into the community ever since my first OHL season," said Zhilkin, who is preparing for his third season with the Guelph Storm. "Being captained by Cam Hillis who has his own Hillis Foundation, and Garrett McFadden - who was the captain a couple years back - what he did with McFadden's Movement really touched me."
As did working with a sports psychologist last summer, ahead of one of the biggest hockey seasons of his life - his draft year.
"It helped me tremendously," said the product of Burlington, ON. "In my draft year I struggled. I was hard on myself with points. I understood that points weren't everything and just focused on doing the right things well."
The Jets took notice of Zhilkin's 55 points in 66 games with the Storm in 2021-22, a feat that is arguably more impressive considering the 2020-21 Ontario Hockey League season was wiped out due to the pandemic.
Of course, facing challenges isn't anything new for Zhilkin.
He and his family moved to Canada from Russia
when he was nine years old, shortly after a hockey coach noticed Zhilkin at a camp in 2013.
He didn't know any English, but his teammates on the Toronto Junior Canadiens helped him out and eventually, he was part of the Canada's gold medal winning U18 team - beating Russia in the final.
When it was time for him to leave his family home in Burlington for his first OHL season in Guelph in 2019, he was faced with the challenge of being away from his family for an extended period of time.
"I was 15 at the time, my mom didn't want me to go away fully," Zhilkin said, adding that the drive between the two cities may only be 40 minutes, but the team's travel schedule made it difficult to make as much family time as he'd enjoyed previously.
"It's hard not to see your family for almost eight months of the year. It depends how long you go in the playoffs, it could be almost nine months for some players," he said. "You can only see them at Christmas. So that's really hard when you're away from home and you don't get to see your mom and dad and siblings. That was something that I struggled with a little bit too."
These are just two examples of why programs like Zhilkin's Vision are important. More details on the program, including a website and donation information, are expected to come soon. Zhilkin is excited for what's to come, and is thrilled to not only help athletes, but also local mental health organizations as well.
"They're the main streams that do all the research and raise awareness. They're the big dogs behind this," said Zhilkin, who has been overwhelmed by the support since the program launch on August 30.
"There were somewhere between 500 and 1000 accounts reached out on Instagram in 24 hours and almost 1000 shares on Twitter and Instagram," Zhilkin said. "The support has been tremendous and we're hoping to launch the website soon with the donation link, so that will be awesome as well."