Northeastern’s men’s hockey’s top scorer plans to leave the program and begin his professional career after two seasons with the Huskies, according to Joe Meloni of the College Hockey News. Tyler Madden, a center who scored 31 goals across two seasons during which NU won a Hockey East title and two Beanpot titles, is expected to sign his entry-level contract with the Los Angeles Kings this week.

It’s not a shock that the 5-foot-11 Florida native is taking the next step toward the NHL; his flashes of prowess his freshman year — including on huge stages against No. 1 UMass and in overtime at the Beanpot — were followed up by a more statistically impressive performance his sophomore year, with 37 points in 27 games. His 1.37 points per game were good for fifth in the nation. He was sidelined by an injury toward the end of the season, and his campaign was formally ended when the Hockey East playoffs were called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

His rights were traded from Vancouver to Los Angeles earlier this year, which cast a bit of doubt on his immediate plans, but it turns out that he’ll head to the LA system. The Kings are a rebuilding team and could certainly use a young scorer in the next few years. 

For a short Northeastern career, Madden racked up some memorable moments. He scored in overtime in the 2019 Beanpot semifinal, ousting Boston University and sending NU to the final where they’d win their second consecutive championship. He scored in overtime earlier that season to give NU a home win against the top-ranked team in the nation, UMass Amherst. 

He scored the tying goal in the 2019 Hockey East semifinal, which the Huskies went on to win in overtime against BU. 

His accolades included Hockey East All-Rookie Team, Hockey East Player of the Month (November 2019) and Hockey East First-Team All Star (2020). 

He was drafted 68th overall by Vancouver in 2018. His rights were traded to LA on Feb. 17, 2020, in a trade that sent Tyler Toffoli to Vancouver as the Canucks geared up to try to make the playoffs. It’s one of many trades that changed the career paths of many players based on the premise of the 2020 NHL playoffs, which may not occur at all due to the pandemic.