{"id":616910,"date":"2026-07-07T11:39:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T11:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/616910\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T11:39:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T11:39:23","slug":"bruins-prospect-cole-chandler-set-for-northeastern-after-one-more-year-close-to-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/616910\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruins\u2019 Prospect Cole Chandler Set for Northeastern After One More Year Close to Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Boston Bruins<\/a> have another prospect who is set to play locally.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cole Chandler<\/a>, the Bruins\u2019 fifth-round pick in the 2025 draft, is committed to Northeastern for the 2027-28 season. Of the seven selections the Bruins made at the 2025 draft, five will have played college hockey, with four of them playing in Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

Chandler, however, is the only one playing within city limits. For the 19-year-old, Northeastern seemed like a perfect fit, and the chance to play in Boston, including in the Beanpot, is only an added bonus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was talking to one of the coaches there, and super welcoming, super, like, everything they do [\u2026] it fits my game,\u201d Chandler said after development camp Thursday. \u201cThe way they were talking about developing prospects, and obviously, it\u2019s in Boston, so you can\u2019t really beat it playing in TD [Garden] with the Beanpot and everything. It\u2019s pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ball started moving during development camp in 2025, just a week after Chandler was drafted. Northeastern\u2019s coach, Jerry Keefe, a Billerica native, has checked in during past development camps, and Mark Divver reported he was at Warrior this past week, too<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI visited [during] last year\u2019s dev camp, got to see the campus, see where I\u2019m going to spend the next four years of my life,\u201d Chandler said. \u201cAnd yeah, it felt like home already, so I think it was just a major fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cole Chandler is committed to Northeastern for the 2027-28 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On what appealed to him: \u201cI was talking to one of the coaches there, and super welcoming, super, like, everything they do \u2026 it fits my game. The way they were talking about developing prospects, and obviously,\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/TzNoKgBv1V<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jack Studley (@jackstudley13) July 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Before he comes to Boston, Chandler has one more season in the QMJHL, and he is moving closer to home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He posted a 52-point season (20-32\u201352) with the Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL) during the 2025-26 campaign, tied for the fourth-most on the team. Then the Cape Breton Eagles came calling<\/a>. Chandler and another forward were packaged for a handful of draft picks, bringing the Bedford, Nova Scotia, native just four hours away (~240 mi.) from home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For comparison, Shawinigan, Quebec, is nearly 11 hours (~710 mi.) from Bedford.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aside from moving closer to home, Chandler knows that the coaches are going to harp on him from the second he arrives, only furthering his development.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe coaching staff over there is unbelievable. They\u2019re just going to be hard on me, and you know, bring my game to the next level,\u201d Chandler said about landing in Cape Breton. \u201cWe talked at the draft. I haven\u2019t gone over there yet, but I think with the group we have doing the trades, you can kind of look on paper, our roster is unbelievable. So I hope we bring our game together and gel.\u201d<\/p>\n

The QMJHL schedule differs from the NCAA\u2019s. The QMJHL has a 64-game season, whereas college schedules are roughly half that length.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think just being on a team that\u2019s ready to make a push for it, being late in those playoff games are going to help me have experience coming into college,\u201d Chandler added. \u201cI think that\u2019s a huge part of the game. It\u2019s a 32-game season here and 60-something for us, so, you know, it\u2019s a huge difference in the game. I think just getting in every night, you have to be there and prepare.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Connor Nee \/ Boston Hockey Now<\/a><\/p>\n

Chandler needs time, and he will get it with another year in the QMJHL before college. Adam McQuaid<\/a>, the Bruins\u2019 director of player development, wants to see more consistency out of the fifth-round pick. The hands and the shot are there; he put those on display during both development camps, but fine-tuning the smaller details will put Chandler in a great spot before he lands with Jerry Keefe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAn important thing for him is going to be to continue to work on his skating, work on his first few steps. For all young players, just the consistency for him,\u201d McQuaid said Thursday. \u201cHe\u2019s getting a fresh start at Cape Breton. He should have a really good team. So I think mostly just seeing the consistence, compete, competitive nature of his game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he\u2019s on, he\u2019s really hard to handle. And again, that kind of comes with continuing to mature as a player.\u201d<\/p>\n

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