Matthew Maltais has always wanted to play for Northeastern. On Thursday, he committed to the program.
Lincoln Stars captain Matthew Maltais has announced his commitment to play college hockey at Northeastern University, the Stars announced Thursday.
In his second season with Lincoln, the 20-year-old left-shot center has come into his own in a top-line role with Jack Pechar and Layne Loomer. His 29 points (12-17-29) are tied for fourth-best on the club and his 99 shots are second-highest.
Maltais is currently in the midst of a seven-game point streak with nine points (1-8-9) over that span.
Last season, the 6-foot-2, 183-pound Maltais registered 20 points (8-12-20) in 45 games,. He previously spent two seasons in the BCHL with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, collecting a combined 58 points (19-39-58) in 69 games.
Committing to Northeastern has been a long-time goal for Maltais.
“It’s a great program,” he said following the announcement. “It was honestly a dream school growing up. I’ve always talked about wanting to go there. For it to be in a great city like Boston, just a great culture and a winning team is exciting for me and my family since it’s close to home. It’s only about four hours from home and they’ll be coming to plenty of games.”
The Huskies, who play in the Hockey East Conference, are currently 9-11-3 in 2024-25. Three other former Stars are on NEU’s roster including Jake Boltmann (2019-21), Jo Lemay (2021-22) and Cameron Whitehead (2021-23).
“We’re really happy for ‘Malts’,” Stars head coach Ricky Russo said. “It’s a good fit for him academically. Certainly, from a hockey perspective, going to the Hockey East is a great conference and challenging hockey night in and night out.”