Leading up to the regular season, this series of articles will introduce the Generals’ roster to the fanbase.

Written by: Rory McGouran

The Northeast Generals will drop the puck in New Hampshire to commence the 2025-26 regular season on Saturday, September 13th. Much of the work throughout the offseason went towards scouring the hockey market, initiating trades, making draft choices, and signing players to bolster a newly formed lineup that features many first-year Generals who bring a wealth of experience from other Junior leagues across the world.

“We have a wonderful group of returning players, but we still need to surround them and increase the amount of experience throughout our lineup to be a successful and competitive hockey team,” said Head Coach and GM Bryan Erikson. “Our coaching and scouting staff has done a great job identifying some key players that we believe will make an immediate impact on our team this year.”

A total of five experienced junior hockey players will suit up for their first regular season game as a Northeast General this season, three of which being imports.

The first of two Americans featured was acquired through a trade in July.

Luke Drury, the son of former NHL’er Chris Drury, brings his experience and three-zone effectiveness to the Generals after splitting last season between the USHL’s Tri-City Storm and the NAHL’s Shreveport Mudbugs. The 2005-born forward suited up for 30 combined games between the two franchises, picking up five points (1g-4a). Leadership experience does not elude the New York native, having captained his Brunswick School (USHS-Prep) for his final year in 2023-24. In addition, certainly neither does on-ice or off-ice intelligence with his commitment to NCAA DIV I at Brown University.

Three of the next four experienced newcomers all became Generals through the 2025 NAHL Entry Draft.

The Generals used their 6th overall draft selection on 2006-born forward Alec Hall.

After an impressive rookie season in the Alberta Junior Hockey League with the Grande Prairie Storm, Hall, who was also born in New York, returns south of the border.

Hall’s 46 points in 54 games were 6th among all rookies in the AJHL while leading his team. His 19 goals were good for third amongst league rookies. Not only was he able to fill the back of the net, but he was also a coach’s dream dependable asset, playing all 54 games with Lady Byng discipline, having only accumulated eight penalty minutes. Hall was named to the AJHL’s North All-Rookie Team and will look to bring that same success to the Generals.

Travelling all the way across the Atlantic Ocean are two Swedish teammates that the Generals also targeted in the 2025 NAHL Entry Draft, one forward and one blueliner.

Both suiting up for Grums IK last season are Mio Kjorstrad-Oqvist and William Hagenmarck

Kjorstrad-Oqvist, the rugged forward, was drafted in the fourth round, 123rd overall.

With parts of the last three seasons spent playing junior hockey and suiting up for his hometown team, the 19-year-old led Grums IK in points while in Sweden’s J20 Region with 30 points (13g-17a) in 27 games. He added another two points in nine games when called up with Grums’ professional Division 2 team.

Hagenmarck, the stoic defender, is one year older than his counterpart and was the Generals’ 6th round draft choice, 175th overall.

Born in Karlstad, SWE, Hagenmarck spent more time called up with the Division 2 team, dressing for 22 games (6 points), while also logging 21 games with the J20 Region squad (5 points). Just like Kjorstrad-Oqvist, Hagenmarck has also played at least 10 games of junior hockey in each of the past three seasons.

The final experienced newcomer is the biggest surprise on the team and in a remarkably earned position that is arguably the most valuable.

Goaltender Liam Deussen entered the Northeast Generals Main Camp in July as a walk-on free agent eager to impress at a try-out. While promised nothing, and with several goalies theoretically ahead of him in any projected depth chart, two months later, Deussen will most likely end up being the Generals’ starting netminder for the season opener.

Born in São Paolo, Brazil, but moving shortly after and growing up in Switzerland, Deussen has spent his whole minor and junior career in the Swiss ranks.

Suiting up for EHC Kloten in Switzerland’s U20-Elite division, the 6’0, left-handed catching goaltender logged a 16-15-2 record with a 3.06 GAA throughout 33 games. His first season as a General will be his fourth overall in junior hockey, bringing a winning record through 78 career games.

“We all know experience is probably the biggest factor towards winning championships. We’ve seen across this league, however, that there’s a difference between NAHL experience and experience elsewhere. I’m very happy with our recruiting ability, what we did in the draft, and our vision for this year’s team, but at the end of the day, we still need them to prove themselves in this league and that they belong on a nightly basis,” said Erikson.

The Northeast Generals would like to express our gratitude for the work ethic that everyone featured in these articles provided. Obviously, the landscape of junior hockey means rosters can change at a frantic pace, and if a player is no longer on the team, following the publication, the Generals organization wishes them nothing but success in the future and thanks them for their time and commitment to the city and culture of the team.

Leading up to the regular season, we will be continuing this series of articles geared towards introducing the players to the Generals fanbase.

Stay Tuned for Part 3: Pure Rookies