Cam Askew Decommits From Northeastern

It’s not fully understood why freshman Cam Darcy up and left the program a couple of weeks ago. And now this week, another Cam, ‘97 birthyear F Cam Askew (would have arrived for 2015/2016) has made the decision to forgo his commitment to play for the Huskies, according to CHN’s Mike McMahon. What was interesting about Askew’s commitment in the first place was that it came about last year, while Cam was still in the eighth grade. This is something early and mostly unheard of for the hockey program. Looking back, it is most likely that Madigan saw a talented young player, and shrewdly went after him before other schools could.

But here lies something all too familiar for Husky fans. While this was an unexpected move, the rate of exchange of current and potential players has to raise some eyebrows. However, events like this aren’t completely alien to the world of college hockey. When he was barely 16, the Blue Jackets’ Ryan Johansen decommitted from NU once he put more stock in his hockey abilities, and eventually went on to go 4th overall in the 2010 NHL draft after a successful WHL career. Mind you this was during arguably the most successful year for Northeastern hockey in 20 years.

All things considered, that leaves a few probable reasons why Askew decommitted, with the most likely being that he is just a freshman in high school who wants to keep his options wide open. The more inauspicious reasons trend toward a possible loss of interest in playing for NU, or another school extending Askew a more lucrative offer. Until further notice, this just looks to be the case of one of the top ‘97 skaters giving himself some breathing room and exploring other options. For Husky fans, they have to hope this event doesn’t add volatility to rostering good players. In the meantime, when one considers the amount of time until Askew arrives, this isn’t nearly as crippling as the decisions of previous decommits. This was just a good risk taken by the coaching staff that didn’t quite pan out.