One month after their most recent commitment, Northeastern is back in the fold on the recruiting trail after landing a verbal commitment from Connor Davis, a late 2006-born forward from Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, Canada.
Davis is a 6-foot-1, 175 pound right shot right winger, and played last season at the Salisbury School, a prep school in Connecticut. He is an alumnus of the Lac St-Louis Lions program in Canada, which has produced some of the greatest Northeastern players of the last decade, including Devon Levi, Justin and Dylan Hryckowian, and Jeremy Davies. The Hryckowian brothers also went from Lac St-Louis to Salisbury, so there is quite an established pipeline from the Quebec program through the States to ending up on Huntington Avenue. In 27 games with Salisbury last year he scored 30 points (12 goals), and put up 33 points in 29 other 18U games with the Avon Regals last season. In his final year with Lac St-Louis in 2022-23 he put up 52 points (28 goals) in 42 games. He was drafted by the Cedar Rapids Roughriders in the 2023 USHL Draft, as well as the Cape Brenton Eagles in the 2022 QMJHL Draft, however he seems to have closed the path to Major Junior with this commitment.
Davis is a player that has grown in scout and evaluator eyes since he burst on the scene with Lac St-Louis a few years ago. Two things that has been ever-present in reading scouting reports going back the last three years is his compete level at both ends of the ice and his hockey IQ. In reports made by Neutral Zone scouting services, they stated his ability to read the play and both disrupt opposition players and generate those stops into offense for his own team is a huge reason he has seen success on the ice. Called an “electric forward” after a strong showing at the U18 Nationals camp in Las Vegas last year, Davis is a strong skater with good edge work, with a north-south style more than an east-west one. He has a good first step to help create speed and separation in his drives down the ice. With his frame, he has a good long reach that helps protect the puck, soft hands to maneuver it through traffic, and he’s able to change direction as needed to get around defenders and both pick his spots to shoot or to pass. He’s been cited as a power forward by multiple outlets, showcasing the ability to take a hit to make a play, while also establishing himself as a force on the walls and in the offensive zone.
The New England Hockey Journal has cited Davis as being one of the most dangerous forwards for a good Salisbury team, and further cited his ability to read and disrupt plays defensively while also having the ability to generate offense, particularly in the slot where he can find the open ice. After the aforementioned U18 Nationals, Evan Marinofsky of the NEHJ stated that he’s been more impressed with Davis with each viewing, and cited his compete as a standout quality, and further cited his defensive reads and his chip-and-chase ability to create offense for himself. PuckPreps’ scouting service rates Davis as a 3 star prospect, and over two years of scouting him detail as an aggressive player in the defensive zone, dogging opposing players with the puck, and having consistent engagement shift to shift which leads to ample opportunities for himself and the team, which he rarely lets go to waste.
Davis projects as someone who will likely be an instant contributor for Northeastern from the day he arrives to Huntington Avenue, and someone who I could see continue to grow and be a top six forward for the majority of his career. His blend of size, skill, tenacity, and relentless motor is exactly in the mold of what Coach Keefe and his staff have been establishing in the Huskies’ pipeline the last couple seasons. If he continues developing in this way, don’t be shocked to see NHL teams come calling as he ends his collegiate career.
Davis is currently slated to return to Salisbury for his final season of prep hockey. He was drafted by Cedar Rapids in the USHL, but time will tell if he catches on with them or another junior hockey once his prep career is done. As it stands, he would project to enroll at Northeastern in Fall 2026, after two more years of development, but still could push to 2027 if two years of junior hockey is preferred.
Congratulations to Connor on his commitment to Northeastern!
As always, go Huskies!