We kicked off our annual New to Northeastern series with an article on Sam Caulfield, the newest goaltender to the program. In this rendition of the series, we will look at the seven new defensemen who will enroll and defense the Northeastern blue line this season. Northeastern is always active in the transfer market, and they added two players through that avenue plus five traditional freshmen as the Huskies look to replace Vinny Borgesi’s near-thirty minutes of playing time a night, contributions by Austen May and Dylan Finlay, and the transfers of Jack Henry and Dylan Compton.
This is the largest class of freshmen defensemen the program has brought in since 2005-06, when Greg Cronin also brought in five.
The Transfers
#4 Alex Pineau– The older of the two transfers, Pineau continues to pipeline from Brown to Northeastern after completing three seasons with the Bears in the ECAC. He was captain for the 2025-26 season and was assistant captain in 2024-25. In his career he has 40 points (15 goals) in 93 games, though last year he fell off with only 9 points (1 goal) after back-to-back 7 goal seasons to start his collegiate career. His 7 goal freshman season set the Brown record for most goals by a freshman defenseman. He averaged nearly 26 minutes per game last season, 5th-most in college hockey, after averaging 27 minutes per game in 2024-25 and 2023-24, leading the nation in TOI as a freshman. He blocked 58 shots this year, tied for second-most in the ECAC, after leading the conference in blocks as a sophomore with 84. He was a finalist for the ECAC Best Defensive Defenseman Award in 2025.
Clearly a minutes-eating defenseman, Pineau is someone who can play up and down the lineup in whatever role NU envisions for him, similar to the other right-shot defensemen on the roster. The Huskies will be revamping the entire right side, and we could see a path for Pineau to play either a high-volume defense-first role which would emphasize his shutdown game, or we could see him getting more evenly-distributed minutes in an effort to keep him fresher and potentially involved more in the rush. As things stand in the preseason before seeing any practices or games, we project Pineau to be in the RD1 or RD2 slot to start this season, paired with someone like Jo Lemay or Noah Laberge.
#5 Joel Kjellberg– The second transfer in this class comes to Boston after two years with Arizona State. Kjellberg will be the first European player for the Huskies since fellow Swede Ludwig Karlsson in 2012-13. The right-shot defenseman played 70 games in two years, scoring 11 points each season and scoring his first two collegiate goals last season as a sophomore. Nearly all 22 points came at even strength; only one assist came on the powerplay, and two came shorthanded. Last season he averaged over 21 minutes of ice time per game, second-most among Sun Devil defensemen. At Northeastern he rejoins his USHL teammates Amine Hajibi and Andy Moore.
Kjellberg performs very well as a play-driving, transition-generating defenseman. Not usually the one to pull the trigger on the shots himself, he thrives being the one to carry the puck into the offensive zone, but can sharply exit the defensive zone with his passes. He is a player we foresee being an option at all three spots of the right side of the defensive pairs much like Pineau, but we currently are penciling him into the RD2 slot given his experience and workload at ASU in a similar role. We think he could do well pairing with one of the left-shot QMJHL freshmen as they get acclimated to college hockey.
The Freshmen
#15 Marcus Kearsey– The first of four freshmen coming to Boston out of the QMJHL, Kearsey played his entire juniors career with the Charlottetown Islanders, where he was captain each of the last two seasons and assistant captain before that. He had a career-best 55 points in 62 games last year, including 15 goals which led QMJHL defensemen. His 55 points were tied for 5th-best in the league. He is arguably an even more impactful person off the ice than on the ice, as he won the QMJHL Humanitarian of the Year Award for the second time in three years last season.
Kearsey was a big-time play-driving defenseman for the Islanders, thriving in transition and with the puck on his stick. Per InStat data, his statistics were all in the 93rd percentile or better out of QMJHL players, and his shooting and scoring percentiles were among the highest in the league for defensemen. Like most freshmen and likely most of his teammates, we expect that he may take time to adjust to the speed of college hockey, but with over 240 career games in the QMJHL, he may have a quick learning curve. We currently project Kearsey for the LD3 role to start the season.
#18 Liam O’Keeffe– The final piece of the roster puzzle for the 2026-27 season, O’Keeffe was a Holy Cross commit who flipped over the summer to Northeastern. The Boston native stays home and joins the Huskies after one year playing for Lone Star in the NAHL, and with Blackfalds of the BCHL before that. He played 82 junior hockey games between the two programs after four years at Dexter Southfield Prep in Massachusetts.
O’Keeffe is someone we expect to largely play a depth role for the team, currently pencilling him in as the ninth defensemen. As we saw last year, injuries can befall any team and having depth at defenseman is arguably the most important of the three positions. There were times last year where Northeastern was playing effectively four defensemen on their line charts. If that fate befalls the team again, O’Keeffe will be trusted with minutes early in his collegiate career.
#44 Owen Keefe– The son of head coach Jerry Keefe, the Saugus native has his own homecoming as he joins the program he grew up emulating as a child. Keefe comes to the Huskies after a year in Quebec with the Drummondville Voltigeurs, where he was an assistant captain and broke out offensively in a big way, with 34 points (8 goals) in 63 games, nearly matching his USHL offensive output from the three years prior in a single season. Prior to the leap to the Q, Keefe 176 games in the USHL for Sioux City and Muskegon.
The rugged left-shot defenseman scored high marks in his transition percentiles per InStat data, and in totality finished in the 94th percentile for defense in the QMJHL. He was an underrated play-driver for Drummondville as well. As a freshman, we have Keefe projected to compete for the 7th defenseman role with sophomore Noah Jones, who had an impressive final six weeks for the Huskies last season. Traditionally not a lineup spot that gets a lot of minutes, having players like Jones and Keefe with collegiate and juniors experience in that role could lengthen the Huskies’ lineup in a big way through the run of the season.
#49 Jordan Tourigny– The elder statesman of the freshman class, Tourigny comes to Northeastern already turned 21 and with 320 QMJHL regular season games and 61 playoff games under his belt after completing a decorated juniors career with Shawinigan and Chicoutimi. He was captain of Shawinigan for 2024-25 and 2025-26 prior to being traded to Chicoutimi, where he helped the Saguenéens win the QMJHL championship. He finished his QMJHL career with 208 points, the second-most of any defenseman in the last 25 years. In his curtain call season, he saved his best for last, putting up 55 points (13 goals) in 67 games between his two teams, and added 16 points in 20 playoff games.
Tourigny brings arguably the most offensive upside to the Huskies’ blue line out of all the freshmen, as evidenced by his four straight seasons of 40+ points. He had double digit goals each of the last three years, and his playoff contributions show he knows how to elevate his game when the pressure is highest. His InStat data showcases a 99th percentile player and top marks across most of the major categories. We currently have Tourigny pencilled in at RD3 as he acclimates to college hockey, but we expect he will be a staple in the lineup and on the scoresheet
#91 Noah Laberge– The final member of the freshman blue line squad comes to Northeastern after three seasons in the QMJHL, the most recent being with Newfoundland in their inaugural season. A fifth round selection of the Buffalo Sabres in the 2025 NHL Draft, Laberge saw his offensive production increase each of his three juniors seasons, topping off his career with 56 points (7 goals) in 62 games, fourth-best among league defensemen. His 49 assists were third-most among blue liners. He also added 13 points in 12 playoff games.
While Kearsey and Tourigny may bring more goal scoring to their profile, Laberge showcases more of a playmaking ability. He had the highest playdriving percentile rating among these four QMJHL freshmen (97th percentile per InStat data), and is elite when carrying the puck out of the defensive zone or into the offensive zone. Once set up he is adept at getting the puck into scoring positions, either in the slot or a high-quality chance outside of it. Laberge has arguably the highest upside of the freshmen defensemen, as showcased by his NHL draft pick status, and we currently have him pencilled into the LD2 slot for the Huskies.
A new-look blue line will be a feature of Husky Hockey this year, with nearly every regular contributor changing over from last year. Jo Lemay, one of the co-captains this year, returns for his fifth season on a medical redshirt, but he was limited to just nine games last year due to an upper body injury. How quickly this defensive corps gels and becomes cohesive will be a massive X-factor for the start Northeastern gets off to, as well as how quickly the team can stem the tide of a string of losses should one arise. A mix of NCAA experience at the top and QMJHL experience in the middle/bottom pairs could be the recipe Northeastern needs.
Stay tuned for the final rendition of the New to Northeastern series as we look at the four new forwards that round out the Huskies’ roster.
As always, go Huskies!