2025-26 Hockey East Season Preview: Northeastern Huskies

A new season is on the horizon, and it couldn’t come soon enough for the Northeastern Huskies. Last season saw the team coming up short, losing to the eventual Hockey East Champions Maine in the playoff semifinals after a sub-.500 regular season. Rather than a deflating loss, it was actually an uplifting one, if there is such a thing, because it showcased that when the team plays as one unit NU can beat anyone in the league.

Head Coach Jerry Keefe will look to capitalize on this opportunity and forge a team that can get hot at the right time and go all the way to lifting the Lamoriello Trophy in late March. However, if the Huskies want to do this for the third time in program history, they’ll have to do it with a an unfamilar roster.

In total, there are 14 newcomers on the team this season, including nine freshmen: Dylan Compton, Grayson Badger, Noah Jones, Giacomo Martino, Jack Pechar, Amine Hajibi, Matt DellaRusso, Jacob Mathieu and Matthew Maltais.

Joining them are five transfers: senior Austen May from Providence College, senior Dylan Finlay all the way from Alaska Anchorage, junior Lawton Zacher from Brown university, junior Matthew Perkins out of Minnesota Buluth and junior Tyler Fukakusa coming out of Rochester Institute of Technology.

For leadership, the Huskies look to lean a lot on senior defenseman Vinny Borgesi, the 92nd captain in program history. Players drawing the assistant captain title are senior Joaquim Lemay and juniors Dylan Hryckowian and Andy Moore.

Borgesi had himself a standout season last year. He finished with 22 points, five goals and 17 assists, leading all team defensemen in each category. His 51 blocks were also third most on the Huskies.

"It's an absolute honor and a dream come true to be named captain for next year," Borgesi said. "Northeastern is such a special place to me and I'm excited to lead this group. With this being our final season at Matthews Arena, we're determined to make it a memorable one."

With the gritty and tenacious defender in Borgesi being selected captain, it demonstrated some insight into the direction Keefe wants to take his team this season.

It will be a defense-first approach. Now, one might ask how can a team that scored a conference-low 48 goals in league play last season come back and be a defensive-first team? The answer is in how the roster was revamped.

2025-26 Northeastern Huskies

Head Coach: Jerry Keefe (Providence’00)
Associate Head Coach: Mike Levine (Utica’05)
Assistant Coach: Matt Harlow (Brown’15)
Assistant Coach: Brian Mahoney-Wilson (Notre Dame’16)

Arena: Matthews Arena (opened 1910)
2024-25 Record: 14-20-3, 7-14-3 Hockey East (Finished 9th last season)
Last Hockey East Championship: 2019

Regular Season Opener: Oct. 4 vs. Holy Cross, 7:30 p.m.

In total, 26 players make up an NCAA Division I hockey roster. Of that eight are defensemen for the Huskies, including five upperclassmen. In comparison, when looking at the 15 forwards listed on the roster, 11 are underclassmen. Northeastern will obviously play to its strengths, while aiming for long-term solutions offensively.

That improvement will begin with the development of players like Badger, Martino and Maltais.

Badger really impressed scouts during his time with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs in the independent British Columbia Hockey League. Last season, he led the team with 57 points, 22 goals and 35 assists. The 6-foot-2 product of Hyde Park, Mass., is a player who, when he finds his rhythm in collegiate hockey, has the potential to be an offensive force requiring extra attention from defenses week in and week out.

Martino was truly a star when he was a member of the Sioux City Musketeers in the United States Hockey League. Last season he led the league with 74 points, with his 32 goals being the third-most and his 42 assists were tied for second. His incredible, season-long performance earned him USHL First Team All-Star selection. Martino could be someone to build the entire team around if he is able to transition his performance to the collegiate level.

Maltais comes from a hockey family out of Montreal, and his ability is nothing to scoff at. His 39 points (16 goals, 23 assists) in 59 regular season games last season with the USHL Lincoln Stars was impressive, but what really got the attention of scouts was his leadership. He was named captain of the Stars last season, and the team went on not only to win a franchise record 43 games, they also went on to win the 2025 Anderson Cup and made it all the way to the Clark Cup Conference Finals. He's only a freshman, but the Huskies recruited a good player with a great leader with a pedigree for winning.

Although Northeastern will be a defense-first team it has a big question mark in goal. Sophomore Quentin Sigurdson posted some impressive numbers last season (2.13 GAA and .920 save percentage), but only played in six games and notched just one win. DellaRusso, whose father player at Vermont, is the only other goaltender on the roster, but the program received a recent commitment from Samuel Meloche, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2025 NHL Draft by the Buffalo Sabres. He's due to arrive in 2027 after wrapping up his career in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.

Northeastern is another Hockey East team in a rebuilding phase. However, unlike other teams that are deep in rebuilding like Vermont and New Hampshire, the Huskies have scouted well and have found players who can both make an immediate impact but also develop of the future. Consequently, the future could be bright the coaching staff can hold on to some of its prize prospects.

Granted, their young talent is raw, it's unproven at this high of a level. Yet with patience and installing good discipline into the players this year, the Huskies could be a dark horse to make a Hockey East title run.

The Northeastern Hockey family mourns the loss of Wade MacLeod.

A four-year Husky, captain, and cherished teammate, Wade inspired us with his talent, leadership, and courage. Our thoughts are with his wife Karly, their daughters, and all who loved him. pic.twitter.com/ghiH0YfyMt
— Northeastern Men’s Hockey (@GoNUmhockey) September 18, 2025