Northeastern junior forward and assistant captain Cam Lund has signed his first National Hockey League contract, a 3-year entry-level deal with the San Jose Sharks. He will report directly to San Jose in the NHL. The Sharks drafted Lund in the second round, 34th overall, in the 2022 NHL Draft, the fourth-highest a Northeastern player has even been selected. Lund finishes his Northeastern career with 93 points (36 goals, 57 assists) in 107 games, after a career-best 18-22-40 junior campaign. Lund only missed one single game in his Northeastern career.
Lund showcased his immense potential from the first game he played on Huntington Avenue, scoring a goal and assisting on the game-winning goal in overtime. Right from the jump he displayed a rare combination of speed, puck-handling, and maneuverability. We at the Blog still vividly remember his first end-to-end rush, shredding through LIU players, and looking at each other and realizing “oh this kid is special.” Already a fixture on the scoresheet with 7 points in his first 10 games, he put himself into early immortal status when he scored his first collegiate hat trick against Boston College on November 11, 2022, the final two goals helping erase a 4-1 deficit and the game-tying goal coming with mere seconds left. The Huskies would go on to win that game in a shootout. Cam Lund had arrived as a household name on Huntington Avenue, and as a player to be feared particularly in Chestnut Hill. He would finish freshman year with 23 points and be named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team.
Sophomore year brought heightened expectations, which Lund met by setting new career highs in goals (11) and assists (19), largely in second line minutes. He delivered his second signature moment against Boston College just a little over a year after the freshman year one when he scored a second hat trick to help the Huskies to defeat the Eagles, this time at Conte Forum to lead the Huskies to just their third win at BC since 2010. His one-timer through Eagles’ goaltender Jacob Fowler stunned a sold out crowd and of all the goals Lund scored in a Huskies uniform, it might just be my favorite. Lund was also the play-driver on the eventual Matt DeMelis goal in the Beanpot final, getting the secondary assist as DeMelis smashed the puck into the net to tie the game, which the Huskies would eventually win in overtime.
As a junior, Lund was voted assistant captain by his peers, a responsibility he took incredibly serious to continue the culture of working for everything attained at Northeastern. Now the top winger on the team, expectations were even higher for him, and he responded once again with career-highs in goals (18) and assists (22) to hit the 40 point total for the first time, only the fourth Husky in the last seven seasons to do so. Early in the season despite the team’s offensive struggles, Lund established new personal bests with a six-game point streak, a four-game goal streak against defending national champion Denver and eventual Hockey East Champion Maine, and a career-high 4 points against Providence on November 9th in front of a sold out Homecoming crowd at Matthews Arena. He finished the year on a 5-game point streak with 8 points in those 5 games, including one final signature moment against Boston College when Lund broke the scoreless deadlock in the Hockey East Quarterfinals Game at Conte Forum by sniping a goal over Fowler’s glove again, giving the Huskies a 1-0 lead they would never relinquish. Lund would also score in his final game against Maine to tie the game late in the second period on a breakaway with his trademark snap-release from the forehand to beat eventual tournament MVP Albin Boija glove-side.
Junior year saw Cam Lund emerge as truly one of the most dominant players in the sport. Always wanting the puck on his stick, he was a force to be reckoned with in all three zones, putting 176 shots on goal (4th-best in the nation), and establishing himself as a more responsible defensive player in the neutral and defensive zones. By multiple advanced metrics via InStat data, Lund was among the best in the nation in offensive creation, play driving, and shooting. Even early in his career, head coach Jerry Keefe would say that Lund had the potential to be among the best players in the nation. By the time he was done at Northeastern, he proved it.
Lund leaves Northeastern a two-time Beanpot champion, two-time Hobey Baker Award nominee, one-time semifinalist for the Walter Brown Award, and helped power the Huskies back to TD Garden for the Hockey East Semifinals for the first time since 2022. One of the most skilled players I have seen come through Huntington Avenue in the 14 seasons I have watched, Lund leaves a legacy at Northeastern showing what happens when uber-talent and relentlessly working to improve come together. He heads off to San Jose where his NHL debut is imminent, and we fully believe he has the shot and speed and drive to stick in the NHL.
Congratulations to Cam on his Northeastern career and signing his first NHL contract!
