Northeastern’s Men’s Hockey team received an early Christmas present on Sunday, December 21, when forward Tommy Wilkinson announced his commitment to play college hockey on Huntington Avenue. Wilkinson is the son of former Huskies forward Geoff Wilkinson, who played at NU from 1995-1998.
Wilkinson is a six-foot-one, 170 pound right-shot center from Duxbury, MA. A September ’08 birth year, he currently plays for Thayer Academy, a prep school in Massachusetts, and is in his junior season. Thayer has produced some excellent hockey talent for Northeastern before, including Adam Gaudette, Aidan McDonough, and Lincoln Griffin. At Thayer he is teammates with fellow commit Brian McFadden, a defenseman. He has 8 points (5 goals) in 7 games for Thayer this year, in addition to 32 points (7 goals) in 26 games for the East Coast Militia 18U AAA team this year. He broke out as a big part of the Thayer offensive attack last year as a sophomore with 25 points (12 goals) in 29 games, and an additional 16 points (12 goals) in 27 16U games for the Militia, en route to a Massachusetts Tier 1 16U state championship. He attended the USA Hockey Select 17 camp this summer, posting 3 points in 6 games, and with his commitment, NU has landed the commitments of four of the sixteen Massachusetts skaters at that event (McFadden, Noah Survilas, and Owen McHale being the other three).
Undrafted in the USHL or QMJHL, Wilkinson has the profile of a late bloomer. Rated a 3.5 star prospect by Neutral Zone scouting services, he started to turn heads last year at Thayer and that continued into this summer and fall. The New England Hockey Journal has covered Wilkinson extensively the last twelve months in their evaluation, with their earliest in November 2024 describing him as a standout in the state championship game, and his game as one that drives play equipped with good positioning and “a quick heavy release” on his shot. Further evaluations in the next four months highlight his speed, play-driving ability, edgework, and blend of size, skill, vision and skating. As evaluations started for games this season, NEHJ highlighted Wilkinson’s shot, hands, vision, shiftiness, and ability to use speed to weave through defenses.
In their evaluations of Wilkinson at the USA Hockey 16U Nationals, PuckPreps added commentary on his ability to win puck battles and dogged forechecking and puck-hunting ability. Further evaluations from the same event discussed his ability to score from in close, tight quarters and continued to put a shine on his forechecking ability and skill in the offensive zone.
Wilkinson is someone that we project at present to enroll to Northeastern in 2028 at the earliest, possibly 2029. He is currently slated for graduation from Thayer in 2027, and with Northeastern’s propensity for players to spend at least two years in junior hockey before enrolling, that would potentially push him to 2029 unless he goes to either the USHL or QMJHL for what would be his senior year at Thayer. In any case, given his bloodlines to Northeastern, he is an intriguing recruit who profiles to us as someone who can be a long-lasting part of the Huskies’ middle six once he reaches full potential.
Congratulations to Tommy on his commitment to Northeastern!
As always, go Huskies!
Feature photo via New England Hockey Journal, taken by Brian Kelly.