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Two years ago — following the Ohio State Buckeyes’s defeat of Harvard in the 2023 NCAA tournament — a score of the Crimson’s top talent jumped to the National Hockey League, leaving the team without much of its top talent. Since then, Harvard head coach Ted Donato ’91 has attempted to recruit a freshman class that can bring the school back to its former glory.

Enter freshman forward Mick Thompson. The Mississauga, Ontario native has already left a mark on the team, earning NCAA Rookie of the Month honors in March.

He is also the first rookie at Harvard since 2002 to pick up three three-point games in a month and just the seventh to net more than 25 points in a season.

Thompson’s impact on the team was immediate. He scored his first goal in the overtime period of the second regular season game against the Princeton Tigers — a team that had beaten Harvard in both meetings in the 2024 season.

By the end of the season, Thompson was still proving clutch for the team. In Harvard’s penultimate ECAC playoff game against the Clarkson Golden Knights, Thomspon assisted the winning goal.

“I think his ability to make plays at full speed, his ability to make plays in the tougher areas of the ice, even with maybe not the largest frame is really impressive,” Donato said. “He seems to elevate his game when the game is on the line, which is a great attribute.”

However, Thompson was sure to make note of his teammates’ contributions in helping him achieve success this season, calling the team culture “so special.”

He is one of several electric playmakers in this year’s freshman class, including forward Justin Solovey, defenseman Lucas St. Louis, and goaltender Ben Charette, who posted a better goals-against average and save percentage than junior netminder and recent Vancouver Canucks signee Aku Koskenvuo, having played just four fewer games.

“It means a lot, but it wouldn’t be possible without my teammates, and they all made it happen,” Thompson said.

In his first year at Harvard, Thompson said he’s also enjoyed his life off the ice.

“I've loved every part of it,” he said. “I’ve made some incredible friends away from hockey, which I’m very grateful for. And classes have been great.”

Thompson also said he has valued learning time management skills in his first year at Harvard, noting that he’s had to work harder to balance schoolwork and hockey.

“I definitely feel like I’ve grown in that aspect,” he said.

In addition scoring 14 goals of his own — second on the team behind junior forward Casey Severo with 16 — he secured 18 assists, tying him for most with junior forward Joe Miller.

As well as his game-winning assist against Clarkson in the playoffs, he scored the final three points in Harvard’s 6-2 victory over the St. Lawrence Saints with two assists and a goal.

Within a span of six days, he secured two more three-point performances in back-to-back games, first by assisting on the Crimson’s opening two goals and setting up the game-winner late in the third period against the Rensselaer Engineers, then reversing the scoring pattern with a first-period goal and two assists late in the win over Yale.

“He was consistent throughout the season, being productive — helped us in all situations, which is very impressive for a first year,” Donato said. “He killed penalties, he played on the power play.”

“He played on one of our top couple lines all year, and whether we were up a goal trying to protect the lead, or down a goal trying to score to tie the game, Thompson was usually an important part of that,” he added.

In early April at the annual team banquet at the Harvard Club of Boston, Thompson received the George Percy Award, an honor bestowed upon a freshman who exemplifies enthusiasm, sportsmanship, team spirit, and loyalty.

Looking again beyond personal accolades and toward his future at Harvard, Thompson focused on the team’s success in the years ahead.

“The big three for us are ECAC championship, a beanpot championship and national championship,” he said.

Thompson comes into the fray as a young, win-focused leader committed to constant improvement and hoping to win a national championship one day.

“Whatever I need to do to help,” he said. “I want to help this team win as much as possible.”

Donato echoed Thompson’s sentiment in describing his hope for the team’s future.

“We're able to have more success and be able to put him in situations where we have a chance to win some championships.”

With a determined mindset and a core of driven young talent led by Thompson and his captains, junior defenseman Mason Langenbrunner and Miller, Harvard hockey is well on its way to a return to the podium.

—Staff writer Nate M. Bolan can be reached at nathan.bolan@thecrimson.com.