Northeastern hockey has called historic Matthews Arena home for nearly a century, but in just over two months, the building’s 115-year tenure of service will come to a close. That leaves the Huskies with 11 autumnal home games to imprint their final mark in the barn’s fabled legacy.
In a 2025-26 season that will undoubtedly be like no other, Northeastern enters the campaign with incredible excitement and the internal expectation to make waves in the Hockey East Conference.
“The ultimate goal is, well, there’s two goals,” said head coach Jerry Keefe during an interview with WRBB Sports and the Huntington News. “To win Hockey East at the end of the year in the playoffs, and then it’s obviously to get to the NCAA tournament and then make your run. But every single game counts towards that.”
The Huskies will enter the season on Saturday with 14 new faces on their roster – nine freshmen and five transfers, as outlined in our WRBB Sports’ full roster tracker. Nonetheless, the new-look roster was designed by Keefe and his staff with elevating Northeastern’s skill and speed in mind, aiming to match the elite talent seen at the top of the conference.
So, on paper, how do the Huskies stack up to the rest of the conference?
Well, the Hockey East Writers & Broadcasters Association conducted their 14th annual poll to predict the conference’s final standings, and Northeastern found themselves as eighth out of the 11 teams in Hockey East. Of course, media polls don’t tell the whole story, but it goes to show the outside belief in the team compared to their counterparts.
Despite all the outside critiques and analysis, there seems to be a swagger and confidence in the Huskies’ locker room for what they can accomplish in 2025-26.
“[I am excited] to prove everybody wrong. Except the people in our locker room,” Keefe said in an interview with Northeastern Hockey Blog. “We know what we are, we know what we’re capable of. I don’t know what other people are going to say out there. I know this group has a little chip on their shoulder right now. There is quiet confidence in that room. We can be as good as we want to be, it’s that simple. We got enough talent in there, we got loads of character. I am excited to see just how good this group can get. There’s an opportunity to do some special things this year with this team.”
So, if the Huskies are going to exceed expectations and achieve “special things this year,” what are the keys and who will be the difference makers in 2025-26?
The Big Two
Starting up-front with the forwards, there are two guys that must drive the offense for the Huskies: junior Dylan Hryckowian and sophomore Joe Connor. Both players were named Northeastern’s rookie of the year in their respective freshman seasons and are expected to excel on a line together in 2025-26.
As a freshman, Connor took a consistent role in the Huskies top-six and No. 1 power play unit, where he contributed 17 points in 37 games. He also showed the ability to come in clutch for the Huskies in the biggest moments, scoring what would be the game winning goal against rival Boston College in the second round of the Hockey East playoffs in front of 6000 hostile fans at Conte Forum.
His game is predicated on his eye-catching speed and skill, but unlike many traditional skill guys, Connor also plays with a physical edge that allows him to play a hard-nosed brand of hockey when necessary.
“I do think Joe Connor is going to be one of the top players in Hockey East next year,” Keefe said during a press conference in early September. “So, he’ll take on more of an offensive role next year.
“[His impact is] going to need to be really good,” Keefe later told WRBB Sports and the Huntington News. “We’re expecting [Joe Connor] to kind of be that next – along with [Hryckowian] – high end guy for us. I’m excited that, you know, he’s ready to pop. You can see it. He’s got some swagger to him. He came back in tremendous shape. He’s a really determined guy right now. So, I know he wants to be a difference maker.”
On the other side of that first line, it should be business as usual for Dylan Hryckowian – but with even higher expectations entering his junior season as an assistant captain and bona fide star.
Through his first two seasons of college hockey, the 21-year-old consistently progressed and stood out in the Huskies lineup. As a freshman, he worked all the way to the first line, playing alongside his brother Justin for a large portion of the season. He continued to excel on the top unit as a sophomore, where he finished second in goals (17) and third in points (36) for Northeastern. It’s also worth noting that he’s been a point-per-game player through his career with 70 in 70 games.
The tandem of Hryckowian and Connor on the first line should bring the elite-level talent that the Huskies will need to compete with the top of the conference. Of course, there are always questions going into the season – namely, Joe Connor’s well discussed penalties that plagued the first half of last season – but both players possess the ability to shine for the Huskies.
The Transfers
The Huskies brought in five players via the transfer portal in the offseason – two defenders, two forwards, and a goaltender – all of whom are expected to also make a large difference in the lineup.
At forward, Northeastern brought in Matthew Perkins and Tyler Fukakusa, both junior centers with a strong resume of experience in college hockey. However, the two are expected to have very different roles for the Huskies.
“Both of them are going to play a key part for us,” Keefe said. “We needed to get stronger down the middle, and both of those guys have done that for us. Perkins skates extremely well, so he adds a lot of speed to our lineup. And, Fukakusa [is] a guy that’s put up really good numbers in college hockey. He’s a real cerebral player, he’s a playmaker, and he’s got a lot of poise to his game.”
As a fourth round draft pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, Matthew Perkins arguably has the highest upside as everyone on the Northeastern roster – at least, as far as NHL-type talent goes.
He played his first two seasons of college hockey at the University of Minnesota Duluth in the formidable National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) where his role diminished over time. After a strong freshman season with the Bulldogs (six goals, 15 points), Perkins’ numbers and usage in Duluth saw a significant decline as a sophomore scoring just one goal, six points, and only playing just over 11 minutes per game.
Despite having a lesser role as a sophomore in Duluth, Perkins will be a key piece to Northeastern’s offense in 2025-26. Keefe confirmed that the plan will be to have Perkins on the first line with Connor and Hryckowian – as he was during the public inter-squad scrimmage – where he should be set up well to be the top-end center the Huskies lost with the departure of Jack Williams to the NHL.
For Fukakusa, the story is a little different. Unlike Perkins, he was not necessarily touted as a high-end prospect out of juniors, and therefore, began his collegiate career at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in the Atlantic Hockey conference, which is largely regarded as lesser-than when compared to Hockey East.
However at RIT, Fukakusa excelled and proved to be a tremendous collegiate talent. He registered 64 points during his two years in Rochester, leading his team in points as a sophomore with 36. So, he should be prepared for the step up in competition in Hockey East.
For Northeastern this year, fans can expect to see Tyler Fukakusa on what is essentially the third line in between freshmen Jack Pechar and Matthew Maltais – who, as Keefe pointed out, played on the same line together in juniors.
The Huskies did not only use the portal to bolster their offense, however. They also brought in two senior defensemen who will slot in the first and second pairings: Austen May (Providence) and Dylan Finlay (Anchorage-Alaska). They will play with Joaquim Lemay and Vinny Borgesi, respectively. Both guys have also impressed the coaching staff through the first month of preseason training camp.
“[I’m] really impressed with [Finlay]. His attention to detail is tremendous,” Keefe said. “You can tell he’s got experience. He looks like he’s been here for three years already. So credit to him and [May]. You know, he adds a really nice element to our team. [He’s] just headsy players, smart puck mover. He can really pound a puck too, [he] shoots the puck really well.”
Rounding out the transfers is arguably the most important guy in the bunch, junior goaltender Lawton Zacher. During his two seasons at Brown, Zacher amassed quite the impressive resume, particularly in his sophomore season. In 2024-25, the Buffalo, New York, native was awarded the following honors: Second-Team All-ECAC, First Team All-Ivy League, Hobey Baker Award nominee, and was a semifinalist for the Mike Richter Award. As the starter at Northeastern, the expectations for Zacher will be to meet or surpass what he achieved with Brown.
The Freshman Frenzy
Of the 14 new faces in the Huskies lineup, nine of them are freshmen who will get their first taste of collegiate hockey this season. Like last year, the freshman class will, once again, be incredibly important to Northeastern’s success in 2025-26. Forwards Giacomo Martino, Jacob Mathieu, and Amine Hajibi should have an immediate impact playing on the second line together, and defenseman Dylan Compton will also be a key part of the Northeastern backend playing on the third pairing alongside sophomore Jack Henry. Plus as aforementioned, Pechar and Maltais bring some depth together on the third line.
Keefe touched on how he is excited about the experience these specific players bring despite being freshmen. As one may notice, this freshman class is a year older than many classes in the past with only 2004 and 2005 born players being brought up this season (20-and-21-year-olds).
“I feel like this freshman class is as strong as we’ve had in a long time,” said Keefe. “It’s a little bit older, which I like, [who] guys played that extra year of junior hockey. I think it’s definitely going to show making that adjustment to college hockey, but we’re expecting a lot of those guys to have a big impact.”
The Wrap Up
So, with a team led by speed and skill; players like Hryckowian and Connor, who could take the league by storm; transfers, who have the necessary collegiate experience; and a high-upside freshman class, the Huskies have the pieces to find success this season. Of course, there are still questions that are yet to be answered – namely, how do returners like James Fisher, Andy Moore, and Griffin Erdman slot in. Who knows how this new crew will fare with so much competition around them?
However, one thing is for certain, Keefe and his staff have built a team with the tools to leave a mark in the final season at Matthews. The next 11 games are important towards building momentum for the program as it enters a transition phase over the next two and a half years.
The excitement for this season is palpable. Now, it is just time for those boys to go out and prove it.
Luke Graham is the Digital Content Manager for WRBB Sports. He has covered Northeastern hockey and baseball with WRBB both on-air and in print for three years. Read all his articles here, and follow him on X here.