William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in sports. Today, he profiles John Osei-Tutu, one of only two Black agents certified by the NHL Players Association to represent players in deals with NHL clubs.
John Osei-Tutu’s hockey career began with a film.
“‘Mighty Ducks’ came out and there were two black kids in the movie, ‘Jesse’ (played by Brandon Adams) and ‘Terry’ (played by Jussie Smollett),” Osei-Tutu said. “I looked at my mom and said, ‘Hey, I’d like to try that.’ At the time, I had no idea that it was unusual or uncommon for black kids to play hockey.”
Osei-Tutu became a player and later one of the rarest representatives of a rare species: a black sports agent representing professional hockey players.
The Freeport, New York, native, who turned 36 on Monday, and Eustace King are the only black agents certified by the NHL Players Association to represent players in deals with NHL clubs.
Brett Peterson was an agent before joining the Florida Panthers in November 2020 and becoming the first black assistant general manager in the NHL.
Osei-Tutu’s clients include Calgary Flames forward Matt Coronato, Nashville Predators prospect Ryan Ufko, Boston Bruins prospect Brandon Bussi, Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Nick Abruzzese and Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Marc Johnstone.
He is also the family counselor for James Hagens, a freshman forward at Boston College who has excelled on the USA Hockey National Team Development Program’s U18 team and is considered the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
“I’ve had this burning passion for hockey my whole life,” said Osei-Tutu. “I’ve been involved as either a coach, player, consultant, scout, skill developer or video coach. I’ve played all of those roles in hockey. And it’s the coolest thing in the world to be able to use my professional skills to further my passion for this sport.”
“My goal is to represent the best players in the NHL.”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(745x180:747x182)/Black-tie-wedding-082124-tout-d1fff1639e7a47f6b7af80cf70226cdf.jpg "Invitation to a wedding with a formal evening dress via SMS: guests are asked to eat elsewhere and send cash")
