The Huskies stayed hot on the recruiting trail after a scorching February by adding a new goaltender to the pipeline in early March, as news broke Friday that ’06 goalie Sam Caulfield committed to Northeastern.
Caulfield is a 6-foot-3, 185 pound goaltender from Needham, MA. Prior to Northeastern, he was committed to Colgate. He currently plays for Baie-Comeau Drakkar in the QMJHL, where he is teammates with recent forward commit Liam Armit. He joined Drakkar midway through the season, and has an excellent .926 save percentage, 2.72 goals-against average, and 2 shutouts in 14 games, impressive numbers playing for a sub-par Drakkar team that has struggled to win games. Earlier this year he played for the Chicago Steel of the USHL, where he put up a .899 SV%, 3.13 GAA, and 1 shutout in 11 games. Last year he played in the NAHL for the New Hampshire Mountain Kings, putting up a .921 SV%, 3.08 GAA, and 1 shutout in 22 games. Prior to junior hockey he was a standout at Milton Academy, with save percentages of .929 and .948 his two years at Milton. In his final year at Milton, he faced the most shots in prep hockey, over 1000 in the short season. He was the Top Goaltender in the ISL Prep League both seasons, and was named league MVP and All-NEPSAC First Team in 2022-23. He is an alumnus of the USA Hockey Selects 17 camp.
Rated a 3.75-star recruit by Neutral Zone, Caulfield’s game is supported by strong athleticism and a combination of size, composure, and reflexes that play well off a sound technical base. These skills and his performance at Milton had him ranked in the NHL Central Scouting goaltender ranks ahead of the 2024 NHL Draft. Jim Gaudet, the head coach at Milton Academy, spoke very highly of his star goalie in a 2024 interview: “Gaudet…raves about his work ethic, saying he has to drag his goalie off the ice sometimes at practice to let his backups get some work. Gaudet also pointed to Caulfield’s elite lateral quickness, which he said is a must-have skill the way the game is played now. “He’s able to really get across the crease and make saves that seem like they should be goals,” the coach said.” New England Hockey Journal has seen Caulfield’s game grow over the last few seasons. In previous evaluations of him, NEHJ scouts quoted a Prep head coach as saying “He had composure and technique. He was a stabilizing force for what was a very difficult team to play against.”
Caulfield was committed to Colgate for the 2027 season, and we expect that to be the same for his arrival to Northeastern. He projects to potentially enroll the same season as Samuel Meloche, who committed to the Huskies back in September. Between them and Neilan Johnson, who committed to Northeastern last month and projects for 2028 or 2029, Northeastern’s goaltending pipeline is absolutely stocked with high-end talent for the foreseeable future.
Congrats to Sam on his commitment to Northeastern!
As always, go Huskies!