Northeastern’s success in recruiting out of Canada continued this week as defenseman Jordan Tourigny announced via his Instagram that he had committed to Northeastern for college hockey.
Tourigny is a 6-foot, 190 pound right shot defenseman from Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada, turning 21 in late February. He is currently in his fifth year playing in the QMJHL, where he was a first round pick in 2021 by the Shawinigan Cataractes. He played over four seasons with Shawinigan, including as their captain for two seasons until he was traded ahead of the league trade deadline this season to the Chicoutimi Saguenéens. On Shawinigan he played with fellow Northeastern commit Cole Chandler, and in Chicoutimi he is playing with fellow commit Nathan Lecompte.
While with Shawinigan, he was a part of the team that won the QMJHL Championship in 2022, and he had three straight 40+ point seasons from the blue line, finishing in the top ten amongst defensemen in scoring the last two years. Per QuantHockey, in those seasons he also averaged roughly 150 shots on goal per season, over two per game, which is excellent from a defenseman, and has hovered near the 90th percentile or better among QMJHL players in assists per game and between the 80th and 90th percentile in points per game. He is on pace to crack 40 points again this season, with 27 points (5 goals) in 33 games between his two teams. In total he has scored 180 points in 296 career QMJHL games. He finished his Shawinigan career as one of the most accomplished defensemen in franchise history, finishing second in games played (291), fifth in career points scored (176), and sixth in goals (38).
An undrafted defenseman, Tourigny was ranked as 123rd among North American skaters in the NHL Central Scouting final rankings ahead of the 2023 NHL Draft, projected as high as a round 4 pick. He has also been ranked as a 4-4.5 star player over his career by PuckPreps, and a 3.75 star recruit by Neutral Zone. He has attended NHL Development Camp with the Winnipeg Jets in 2023, and the Minnesota Wild in 2024 and 2025. He also played for Team Canada in the 2022 Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, helping Canada win gold as an alternate captain, and played in the 2023 CHL Top Prospects game.
Tourigny’s game is defined largely by his offensive capabilities. Not only has he been a prolific scorer among defensemen in the QMJHL, his play outside the box score highlight a player who can make a big impact on the game. An excellent skater who can join the rush while also capable of starting the breakout with quick, simple reads, he has very good vision and a high hockey IQ. Elite Prospects’ NHL Draft Guide in 2023 noted “Tourigny distinguishes himself mainly with his skating ability, especially his edge work. On regroups, with his option in front of him, the defenceman can evade defenders with a combination of feints, spin moves, and quick accelerations. His ability to rapidly chain agility moves like this makes it hard for defenders to follow his movements.”
PuckPreps has evaluated Tourigny many times over the last few years. As far back as 2022, their reports of his game honed in on movement on the powerplay, “constantly changing the angle of attack,” and his ability to start transitions while evading forechecking pressure. He uses feints and deceptive body language when walking the blue line, not unlike some of the moves we’ve seen out of defenders in Commonwealth Avenue in recent years. Later reports as Tourigny got older called him a “remarkable offensive defender” with foundational defensive skills in gap control off the rush, defensive zone retrievals, boxing defenders out, and shutting down slot lanes with his stick have all improved over the years. His offensive creativity is outlined in this report that I thought interesting: “You don’t often find him just resetting the progress the forwards made with a carry back to the blue line or a pass to his defensive partner — instead you see Tourigny looking for an open forward behind the goal line that he can pass to before slipping into the high-slot as an outlet, or faking a play before sending a slot pass.” On a Jerry Keefe offense that utilizes dump-and-chase and cycle tactics, this may be an element of offense yet to be unlocked.
Shawinigan head coach Daniel Renaud gave a perspective on Tourigny off the ice as well ahead of the 2023 NHL Draft: “Renaud describes Tourigny as someone with a calm personality, who is jovial and confident, without being cocky. He’s always smiling and he’s very fun to be around. “In the locker room, he’s a glue guy, and that’s very valuable too,” said Renaud. “He’s a good teammate. You want to build your culture and your organization around those good players and good people.” The article further goes on to state that Tourigny draws inspiration from watching NHLers Charlie McAvoy and Cale Makar, both who made their marks in Hockey East.
Tourigny will arrive to Northeastern in Fall 2026, joining a growing class of freshmen coming from the CHL. On the blue line, he projects to join Marcus Kearsey, Noah Laberge, and Owen Keefe (all from the QMJHL) as well as Garrett Frazer (OHL) as Northeastern revamps a defenseman corps slated to lose four seniors including captain Vinny Borgesi and all four members of the top two pairings. Tourigny’s offensive abilities will obviously help his game translate to college and he will likely be counted on to run at least one of the Northeastern powerplays, possibly complimenting Dylan Compton who will be in his sophomore season, or running the second unit while Compton runs the first. Either way, this is a high-profile offensive defenseman added to the Huskies’ team next year. Add in his veteran experience as QMJHL captain as well as with Team Canada, and it’s clear the Huskies will be getting a leader on and off the ice, the type of player and person to help lead them through the next few seasons as they find their way to the new arena’s completion.
Congratulations to Jordan on his commitment to Northeastern!
As always, go Huskies!
Feature photo via QMJHL Records page.