It’s been decades since Michigan State hockey was producing — and attracting — NHL talent at the rate that Adam Nightingale currently is.
The Spartans’ head coach has caught a lot of flak for not reaching the Frozen Four in his four seasons at Michigan State, especially since he’s won three Big Ten regular season titles. Michigan State has been dominating the conference since he took over, but Nightingale can’t seem to crack the Frozen Four code and the only real solution is adding more talent and depth.
A lot of the talent that he’s been adding each offseason has the “NHL draftee” tag attached to it.
This offseason is no exception. Michigan State is expected to be very well represented in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft on Friday night.
Six future Michigan State hockey stars projected as first-rounders
With 2026 NHL Draft day officially upon us, the final mock drafts are being posted and experts are sharing their thoughts on who may end up where and which prospects would fit best with each organization.
Many of those draft experts believe that six future Michigan State stars are going to fit in well with their new organizations as first-round picks on Friday night. In fact, there are a handful of experts that have six Spartans projected to go in round one in their final mocks.
- Scott Wheeler, New York Times
- Corey Pronman, The Athletic
- Rachel Kryshak, ESPN
- Hannah Stuart, Bleacher Report
The consensus opinion is that Chase Reid will be going in the top five of Friday night’s draft, followed by fellow Spartan newcomer Ethan Belchetz who was a recent commit. Those two are the most likely top-10 picks that the Spartans will have in this year’s class, but they’re followed by even more talent.
Nikita Klepov has been projected in that 10-20 range and some experts even have him getting selected before Belchetz. The trio of Belchetz, Klepov, and Reid are going to be fun.
After those three, there’s Tommy Bleyl, Brooks Rogowski, and Jack Hextall who are all projected to go somewhere near the end of the first round. This would be the most successful draft class that Michigan State has ever had if this all goes according to the projections.
With this influx of first-round talent, I think Nightingale finally gets over that hurdle keeping him from the Frozen Four this season.
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