Northeastern University, after a second consecutive losing season, is out for blood in the portal as they strengthen the program with three new additions. Joel Kjellberg, Miguel Marques, and Alex Pineau will all be wearing the red and black in Boston this upcoming season. To start things with Joel Kjellberg, this will help bolster their defensive core, after the Swedish native has been useful in two seasons previously with Arizona State University. Although a lackluster season for the Sun Devils, Kjellberg was only -1 throughout his 36 games played. Coming from the opposite side of the country compared to Kjellberg, Miguel Marques will be a great wing pairing with whoever he joins, arriving from the University of Maine. The Nashville Predators [http://thn.com/nashville]prospect was drafted 87th overall in the 2024 NHL Draft. He finished his freshman season with the Black Bears with 23 points in 33 games, good for fourth on a deep scoring roster in a fellow Hockey East foe to Northeastern. Marques can be lethal on the power play, as Northeastern learned the hard way this past season. The right winger had two power play assists in a meeting with the Huskies back on February 27, where the Black Bears would go on to sweep that weekend but win this one specifically 4-0. Last but not least, leadership makes an arrival in Boston, as the former Brown captain in Alex Pineau, now slots into the Huskies roster. The 23-year-old from Thunder Bay, Ontario, now spends his senior year with Northeastern, to some shock. In most cases, getting the storied “C” at a university as a junior means a school looks to build on your abilities for your eventual senior year as well, but Pineau will be making this move to try to better his career in a deeper conference. Pineau spent three years with Brown. Pineau will join a former teammate and friend, Lawton Zacher, who transferred to NU from Brown a year ago. Northeastern is building the infrastructure for a Hockey East contender, looking to bounce back from a quarterfinal exit last year.
