’04 Forward Ethan Fredericks Commits to Northeastern

When it rains, it pours. Just one day after Northeastern received its first commitment of the new recruiting period, the Huskies received their second in the form of Ethan Fredericks, a 16 year old right-shot right wing out of Atlanta, GA.

Fredericks, who now stands 6-foot-2 and weighs in at 185 pounds after a recent growth spurt, is a late 2004 birth year, meaning he is playing as one of the youngest players of his age group at every level. He has been playing in the Nashville Jr Predators youth program, and last year competed at the 16U level. Last season, Fredericks put up an astounding 86 points (49 goals) at that level in just 77 games, after also being a point-per-game player at the 15U level in 2019-20. Fredericks also has been an attendee at the Team USA Selects 17 camp which features the best players 17 years old and younger.

Fredericks will be playing for the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League this upcoming season, an impressive feat as someone who will start the season at 16. The USHL is known to be one of, if not the best junior hockey league in the world, and has players ranging from 16 to 21 years old in lineups, so getting likely 2 seasons of full action will benefit Fredericks’ growth as a person and player.

Fredericks is eligible for the 2023 NHL Draft due to his late birth year, joining ’05 birth year Will Smith as the current Huskies recruits eligible for that draft. He was recently called by The Scouting News as one of the most “undervalued” uncommitted 2004-birth years in the nation.

As we learn more about Fredericks and watch his development, we will have it all here at the Northeastern Hockey Blog. Given his age, we project that Fredericks would be most likely to enroll into Northeastern in the Fall of 2023 after completing 2 seasons in the USHL. This would see him enroll as an 18 year old, turning 19 during the college hockey season.

Congratulations to Ethan on his commitment. As always, go Huskies!