The Northeastern Huskies had a great campaign in 2022-23, posting a record of 17-13-5, and finishing 3^rd in the Hockey East Conference standings. 2023-24 will be a vastly different campaign; however, as two-time Mike Richter Award winner Devon Levi will no longer be between the pipes for the Huskies. The skater group from a year ago was good, Hell even very good at time, but this season they are going to have to be phenomenal more often due to the current goaltending situation at Matthews Arena. Jerry Keefe, now in his 3^rd year behind the bench, has the task of continuing the winning ways at Northeastern. Levi was a 7^th round pick before his union with Keefe, so maybe the bench boss has a plan to solve his quandary in the crease.

            To replace the departures of the three key players from last season, (Levi, Colangelo, and McDonough) the Huskies found themselves three intriguing players in their incoming freshman class. Dylan Hryckowian (younger brother of Justin Hryckowian who will be discussed later) comes in from the Cedar Rapid Roughriders of the USHL, where he posted a staggering 65 pts in 61gp. The younger Hryckowian, despite going undrafted this past year, is a tantalizing offensive prospect with exceptional skating speed, game sense, and tenacity in all three zones. If Hryckowian can quickly adjust to the pace of play of the NCAA, he has the ability to elevate Northeastern’s offensive output this season. Eli Sebastien joins the team after a solid season with the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL where he posted a respectable 48 pts in 62gp. Sebastien may not have the offensive upside of Hryckowian, but he could be a suitable replacement for Colangelo’s two-way game and overall playmaking ability. Most intriguing, however, is goaltender Cameron Whitehead of the USHL’s Lincoln Stars. Whitehead, a Vegas Golden Knights 4^th round pick in 2022, is coming off a season where posted a 2.83 GAA against a 0.904 SV in 43 starts. Whitehead, at 6’3”, is a prototypical goaltending prospect, but most notable about his game is the precision of his positioning and spatial awareness relative to other goalies in his age group.

            Moving to the returning players from last year’s campaign, the headliners among them are Justin Hryckowian, Gunnarwolfe Fontaine, Cam Lund, and Hunter MacDonald. The older Hryckowian posted 36 pts in 35gp a year ago, highlighting his playmaking skills, while also being an incredible viable and reliable two-way player in the meantime. Fontaine, a 2020 7^th round pick by the Nashville Predators, posted 30 pts in 35gp last season, while being a very smart and efficient defender. Lund, a 2022 2^nd round pick by the San Jose Sharks, posted 23 pts in 35gp. Admittedly, Lund, with his NHL level shot and exceptional vision in the offensive zone is primed to have a breakout season for the Huskies this year, and if he doesn’t it could be very difficult for this team to replicate its success from 2022-23, as several other programs (Boston College and UMaine most notably) have upgraded their scoring potential immensely for the 2023-24 year. MacDonald, a 2022 6^th round pick by the Philadelphia Flyers, posted 15 pts in 35gp last season, and is Northeastern’s returning leading scorer amongst all their defensemen. MacDonald, at 6’4” and 204lbs, is traditionally more of a rugged stay-at-home defender; however, the offensive outburst last year is a sign of great things to come from him that could propel this team to be very good again this season.

            The elephant in the room, as I alluded to in the introduction, is the goaltending situation for Northeastern. Beyond freshman Connor Whitehead, there are three other goalies in the room to start the year: Connor Hopkins, Harrison Chesney, and Grant Riley. Between the three of them, the last couple of years have been tough, and for an experienced goaltending group, they run a little short on seasoning. Hopkins, over the past two years, has seen nine starts at Yale losing all of them and posting what can only be described as abhorrent statistics in those appearances. Chesney, a sophomore, had one appearance for Northeastern last season, but did not generate any notable stat lines in the appearance. Chesney did have a solid season for P.A.L Junior Islanders in NCDC the year prior where he did post a 0.926 SV, but a draft year minus one season of being above average in a tier 2 junior league isn’t exactly reason to be optimistic about his ability to replace Devon Levi. Grant Riley, the third man in the room, was effectively Levi’s backup last season, where he saw a whopping 2 starts posting a 3.06 GAA against a 0.874 SV. Overall, any of these three players feels like a complete gamble as the starting goalie this season, and I would not be surprised to see Whitehead as the day one starter for the Huskies.

In conclusion, the Northeastern Huskies have the roster talent in their skater group to be very competitive in the Hockey East this year. If Justin Hryckowian continues his upward trajectory over the past two seasons, he could play his way into an NHL contract upon his graduation and elevate Northeastern back into the National Tournament. However, if Cameron Whitehead isn’t the guy, and none of the veteran goalies turn out to be either, it is going to be incredibly difficult for this group to finish in the top 5 of the Hockey East, as their offensive firepower is not quite on par with Boston College or Boston University, and their overall defensive group (goalie included) trails largely behind UMaine, UMass Lowell, and Merrimack College. If the stars align for Keefe’s group, this team could finish in 4^th or 5^th in the conference this year, but a more reasonable expectation is between 6^th and 8^th at this point in time.