The 2022-23 Hockey East season will feature quite a few talented freshmen across the league’s teams. While the league doesn’t boast a star in the mold of Jack Eichel (North Chelmsford, Mass.) or Cale Makar, there are freshmen with NHL upside.
Top pro prospects aren’t always the best college hockey freshmen, as the sport is older and sometimes can wear down the elite youngsters.
This year’s crop of first-year players in Hockey East features some blue chip true freshmen, but there are also some junior hockey veterans who could provide an immediate impact.
Below is my preseason All-Hockey East Rookie Team, presented with comment and analysis on why each player is deserving of accolades:
Cutter Gauthier
Boston College, 1/19/04, LW, left shot, 6-2/200
NHL: Philadelphia Flyers (2022, 1st round, 5th overall)
In some years, the Eagles already have a plethora of talented players and a talented rookie might be slowly ingratiated into the lineup. However, that isn’t the case with the 2022-23 BC roster as the program is looking to rebuild following a number of early departures and the first coaching change since 1994. Gauthier has been a top player in his birth year for many years, but his stock soared last winter. In 54 games with the USA Hockey NTDP U18 team, he scored 34 goals and 31 assists. A power forward, he's able to use his size and strength to win battles and protect pucks. He’s not overly flashy, but he plays between the dots and can dominate along the wall and down low.
Cam Lund
Northeastern, 6/7/04, C, right shot, 6-2/192
NHL: San Jose Sharks (2022, 2nd round, 34th overall)
Lund will be one of a slew of uber talented forwards to come out of the home locker room at Matthews Arena this winter. The Bridgewater, Mass., native comes to the Huskies after an impressive draft eligible season with the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers. He scored 25 goals and 25 assists in 62 regular season games. Lund’s offensive skill set and how he sees the ice will translate well to Hockey East. He might take a little while to get going and there are plenty of options for power play minutes, but Lund is too talented to not produce for Jerry Keefe’s (Saugus, Mass.) squad.
Matthew Wood
Connecticut, 2/5/05, C, right shot, 6-3/193
NHL: 2023 draft eligible
I struggled with this selection, as there were a couple of other intriguing options, including veteran USHL players heading to UMass, UMass Lowell and Boston University. In the end, I picked Wood because he’s super talented and should get plenty of chances as UConn doesn’t have the horses that the other upper echelon teams do. He’ll be the youngest player in college hockey, but he’s got the size and physical makeup to adjust quicker than others have in recent years. There won’t be any shortage of pressure on Wood, as NHL scouts will be visiting Hartford and Storrs frequently. The Nanaimo, British Columbia, native is the only player skating in New England this winter with a legitimate shot at being drafted in the first round of the 2023 NHL draft.
PRESEASON PREVIEW: A team-by-team breakdown of every team in Hockey East
Lane Hutson
Boston University, 2/14/04, D, left shot, 5-8/158
NHL: Montreal Canadiens (2022, 2nd round, 62nd overall)
Hutson, from Holland, Mich., joins the Terriers out of USA Hockey’s NTDP. Hutson is on the smaller side, but his hockey sense gives him the ability to be a big time difference maker on the puck moving game as well as in the attacking zone. With the NTDP U18 in 2021-22, he scored 10 goals and 53 assists. He’ll play alongside older brother, Quinn, an `02 forward who is also a freshman. Younger brother Cole, an `06 defenseman with the NTDP, is slated to play for the Terriers in the future.
Hunter McDonald
Northeastern, 5/11/02, D, left shot, 6-3/207
NHL: Philadelphia Flyers (2022, 6th round, 165th overall)
I went a little off the board with this selection, but I believe McDonald could make an immediate impact and bring an element that Northeastern badly needs in order to take the next step in the ascension of its program. McDonald is big and is a defensive defenseman who can play with a mean streak. He’s trending in the right direction, being somewhat of a late bloomer who switched his commitment from RPI to Northeastern. In 57 games split between Omaha and Chicago in the USHL last season, he scored four goals and 10 assists. He’ll be the towering skyscraper on a blue line that also includes freshmen Jackson Dorrington (North Reading, Mass.) and Vinny Borgesi and junior Jayden Struble (Cumberland, R.I.).
Tyler Muszelik
New Hampshire, 7/1/04, G, catches left, 6-2/195
NHL: Florida Panthers (2022, 6th round, 189th overall)
Muszelik gives New Hampshire its first legitimate goaltender in quite a few years. From Long Valley, N.J., he comes to Durham after spending two seasons with the NTDP. In 2021-22, he posted a 2.91 goals against average and .900 save percentage while going 24-5-3. Credit goes to New Hampshire’s assistant coaches, Glenn Stewart and Jeff Giuliano (Nashua, N.H.), for developing a relationship and getting on Muszelik early. When it came time to pick a college, Muszelik appreciated the loyalty and the fact that UNH was one of the first programs to take interest, all the way back with the New Jersey Rockets. He takes the nod for the All-Rookie Team over Providence’s Philip Svedeback and UConn’s Arsenii Sergeyev.
