Northeastern picked up its first forward commit of 2024 as Amine Hajibi announced on his social media that he will be playing his collegiate hockey for the Huskies on Thursday afternoon.
Hajibi is a 6-foot-1, 170 pound left winger who hails from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His parents are from Morocco, where Hajibi lived for a few years in his early life, before returning to Montreal where his hockey career took off. Hajibi currently plays for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders in the USHL, a program with a storied history sending players to Northeastern, from Adam Gaudette to Matt Filipe to Aidan McDonough to current Huskies stars Justin Hryckowian and Dylan Hryckowian. He has 31 points (7 goals) in 36 games, leading the RoughRiders by a wide margin in scoring, despite this only being his first full season in the USHL. Last season he played six games for the Green Bay Gamblers, notching 4 points (2 goals) after a successful prep hockey career. In October 2023 he was traded from Green Bay to Cedar Rapids, a move that has paid dividends for Hajibi and Cedar Rapids alike.
Before the USHL, Hajibi played at Bishop’s College School, one of the top prep academies in Canada. While playing for Bishop’s he committed to the University of Nebraska-Omaha, who play in the NCHC. He decommitted about a week ago. After a successful prep career he earned his way onto the Green Bay roster as an affiliate player to round out the 2023 season. He was previously taken in the 17th round of the 2022 USHL Entry Draft by Green Bay.
Described by an evaluator as a playmaker with a good skill set and good athleticism, Hajibi describes himself as “a smart offensive player, can make plays. Sometimes I can make plays that the opponent doesn’t see coming, and that’s something that I really work on…I think I can also score goals, but I feel like my biggest strength is my hockey IQ.” Hockey IQ is one of the qualities that Jerry Keefe stresses the most in his players and recruits, so Hajibi certainly seems to fit that profile. He seems to be a player that will be a quality set-up man on the wing, both at even strength and on the powerplay.
Originally projected to arrive in Omaha in 2025, that is where we currently project Hajibi to arrive on Huntington Avenue as well. He turns 19 in May, and with continued success in the USHL this season, could move to the Fall 2024 class, but at this time he appears to be slated for 2025 where Northeastern has an impressive projected class of high end ’05 and ’06 skill.
Congratulations to Amine on his commitment to Northeastern! We look forward to watching him continue to develop ahead of his enrollment.
As always, go Huskies!