Jack Williams continued the stretch of 2024-25 Northeastern hockey players signing to play professional hockey when he signed his first NHL contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets. It is a two-year, entry-level contract, and the first year will burn this spring. Williams was an undrafted free agent, and was reportedly a “main target” by Columbus in this year’s UDFA crop. Rick Nash, Columbus’ director of hockey operations, stated “We’ve been tracking him for over a year now. He’s been our main target…all year, so getting him signed was really rewarding.”
Williams arrived to Northeastern in 2022, five years after committing to Northeastern in 2017. We suspected at the time that Williams would develop into a long-term contributor for the Huskies, but little did we know just how vital he would become. He started off in the fourth line center position, and eventually moved up to higher lineup minutes. He put up 17 points (6 goals) as a freshman despite the more limited playing time, notching his first collegiate point on the Huskies’ first goal of the season and scoring his first collegiate goal in his second game against Vermont. Among his other highlights, he chipped in two assists in the Huskies’ comeback shootout win over Boston College in November 2022, and he got to live out a unique New Englander’s dream when he scored a goal against UConn at Frozen Fenway. As he continued into sophomore year, expectations rose with his position on the line chart, which he proceeded to blow out of the water.
As a sophomore, Williams slotted into the Huskies’ second line center position for the majority of the season, behind Justin Hryckowian. In our season preview ahead of the season, head coach Jerry Keefe sung Williams’ praises, stating even then (September 2023) that he felt Williams could play in the NHL. Williams experienced a huge breakout season as a sophomore, more than doubling his freshman output with 36 points (17 goals), proving himself to be a weapon in all phases of the game. His one-timer from the left faceoff dot became the best powerplay weapon for the Huskies all season and he stayed true to his 200-foot style, playing excellent defense in the neutral and defensive zones. He won over 55% of his faceoffs, giving Northeastern a lethal 1-2 punch down the middle with Hryckowian. In the middle of the season he had the hottest stretch of any player in the country, putting up a staggering 27 points between Thanksgiving and the start of the Beanpot. He established a personal best points streak of four games two different times. He set a new career-high with four points (2-2-4) in the 9-2 victory over RPI to kickstart his tear, scored his first hat trick against Minnesota-Duluth, and arguably no goal he scored was bigger than in the Beanpot final against Boston University when he tied the game at three on the powerplay with that thunderous one-timer. In no uncertain terms, Jack Williams had arrived.
Junior year arrived, and in the weeks ahead of the season starting, Williams was named the 91st captain in program history. Ascending to the top center spot on the line chart, the weight of supreme expectations were placed on Williams’ shoulders, but you’d never know. A captain previously in junior hockey, and someone who carried themselves as a leader from Day One, Williams continued with the “earn everything” mantra he lives by every day, as he described in our program feature piece from October. He further detailed a professional approach taken by the staff and instilled in the players, and a blue collar mentality that fits his own style.
With the wind at his back and the weight on his shoulders, Williams responded with yet another career year, hitting the 40-point mark for the first time in his career and becoming only the third Husky in 7 years to do so. He set a new career high in assists (25), nearly matched sophomore year’s goal total (16), and immediately made an impact on the season by establishing a new career-high with five points in the season opener against Stonehill. On three separate occasions as a junior, he matched his career-best four game points streak, time and again finding himself in the middle of massive moments for the Huskies. He had the eventual game-winning goal against Boston College in November, played the hero role in both victories against Vermont in January, and had a signature performance with four points at Boston University in February. Come playoff time, Captain Jack soared again, with two points against Merrimack including the game-tying goal, an assist on the opening goal against BC, and gutting out nearly 30 minutes of ice time against Maine in the Semifinals despite battling the flu.
There’s no hiding from the fact that the 2024-25 season did not go as planned for the Huskies. It would have been very easy for the players to let off the gas with eyes to their own futures. But not Jack Williams. Every single game, every single shift, you could tell just how much playing that game, with those teammates, at that moment, meant to him. And his passion and energy is infectious. It’s been his calling card for his whole career, no matter his role or his spot in the lineup. The love he has for the game of hockey and the pride he took in playing for Northeastern University shined through every time he stepped on the ice, and shined even brighter as he left the ice at Matthews Arena and TD Garden for the last time as a Husky. In three years of watching him play, arguably my favorite shift I saw from Jack was at the end of the Providence game in March, when Northeastern had the goalie pulled and an errant puck was headed towards the net with a Providence player en route. Williams sprinted 150 feet, hunted the player and puck down to prevent the easy empty net goal, and reset the breakout to give the Huskies one last rush up the ice with a chance to tie. It would have been so easy to just let the empty netter happen and give up on the play. Not Jack Williams.
Friends and fans that know me know that I’ve been captain of the Jack Williams fan club since even before he started at Northeastern. One of the earliest recruits we wrote about as NU Hockey Blog, Williams was a recruit that I followed closely through junior hockey and when he finally matriculated, you just had a feeling that he could be something special. A leader at multiple levels of hockey, we would half-jokingly refer to him as “future captain Jack Williams” when he would do well on the ice. Turns out we were dead-on about that one. Watching Williams, you realized quickly that Jack was not just part of Northeastern hockey- he was Northeastern hockey. The undrafted, blue-collar work ethic kid from Maine who has to work for and earn every privilege, every inch that he receives on the ice and in the hockey world, he was easy to root for. The 200-foot player who would backcheck through a wall or block a shot with the same zeal and gusto as when he scored a goal or dished an assist, he was easy to root for. He was a coach’s dream to have on his team, and a fan’s dream to have on their favorite team.
And now he’s off to arguably the best organizational fit in the NHL for him- a blue-collar, work-for-your-reward type organization in Columbus. Rick Nash certainly agrees, saying, “Every check we did along the way, through all of the places he’s played, his character was just off the charts. He’s a guy we feel could be a Blue Jacket for a long time.” Only a couple years after Hall of Famer Roberto Luongo hand-picked Devon Levi as having a bright future in hockey, now we see another Northeastern Husky player hand-picked by one of the NHL’s greats as they start their professional career. And despite being in the National now, don’t expect Williams to be any different- he was very candid about that in his recent interview with Aaron Portzline of The Athletic: “I’ve said it my whole career, that everything has to be earned, not given. If you look at my career, that’s the way I’ve been brought up. I’ve earned everything to get where I am, and I wouldn’t expect anything to change.”
After all, why would he? That’s who Jack Williams is, and it’s what makes him such a special player, and such a special individual. Northeastern hockey is in a better place now because Jack Williams chose to play here. Soon Columbus will be too.
Congratulations to Jack on signing his first professional contract with Columbus!
