UConn lands commitment from son of former team captain

UConn men’s hockey will have a second generation member of the program joining the team in a few seasons. On Tuesday, the Huskies landed a commitment from ‘08 defenseman Nicklas Nelson, son of former team captain Eric Nelson.

The younger Nelson is listed at 6-1, 170 pounds with a left-handed shot out of Monticello, Minnesota and his entering his junior season at Monticello High School. He also plays in the Upper Midwest High School Elite Hockey League, a fall circuit for top prospects from the region. On the current campaign, he has three goals and three assists in 13 games with Team Spade. Nelson has also spent time at USA Hockey’s development camps too.

From Minnesota Hockey Life:

At 6’1”, Nelson moves well and has a smooth, composed style to his game. He’s not flashy, but he’s incredibly effective… He’s especially strong when working the offensive blue line, showing great patience with the puck and waiting for the right moment to shoot—often using traffic in front to his advantage… Defensively, he’s steady and reliable. He uses his stick well to break up plays and stays in good position, rarely getting caught out of place.

Nelson will be the legacy UConn player since Patrick Kirtland (2012-16), whose father Ben played for the Huskies from 1976-79 then served as the program’s head coach from 1984-88.

Eric Nelson played at UConn from 2000-04 and wore the “C” on his jersey as a senior. He scored 11 goals as a freshman — most by a first-year player in the program’s Division I history at the time and still tied for eighth-most in the era — and put up 61 points across his career.

Nelson went on to claim three team awards: The Thomas Jacquard Award (the freshmen athlete who has performed exceptionally well on the ice and has exemplified UConn Hockey off the ice), Coach John Chapman Award (a member of the program who has demonstrated what it means to be a leader) and the UConn Hockey Silver Bowl (the senior athlete who has exemplified what it means to be a Husky on and off the ice for his four years here).

UConn has a burgeoning pipeline coming out of Minnesota high schools with current freshman goaltender Kam Hendrickson, ‘06 forward Brittan Alstead and now Nelson. The Huskies have also reeled in three commitments in the past week: ‘08 forwards Jack Torr and Nathan Haud along with Nelson.

Northeastern site set

With Northeastern set to close historic Matthews Arena in December, UConn’s Feb. 6 road game with the other Huskies had previously been listed without a venue. At long last, Northeastern finally revealed its plan for home games across the second half.

The two Huskies will square off at Bentley Arena in Waltham, home to the Bentley Falcons. The 2,240 capacity rink opened on 2018. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.

Northeastern will also play home games at BU's Walter Brown Arena, UMass Lowell's Tsongas Arena, Harvard's Bright-Landry Hockey Center and Portland's Cross Insurance Arena.