Michigan State hockey is already down a key player ahead of the 2026-27 season. There are almost a dozen other first-rounders who could help replace him, but Nikita Klepov signed an entry-level contract with the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday, making him immediately ineligible to play in the NCAA.
According to the Ducks' official Twitter account, Klepov signed a three-year entry level contract with the organization, effectively ending his Michigan State career before it even started.
The incoming freshman was selected in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft along with a handful of other Spartans. He was supposed to be part of the elite 2026 recruiting class that headlined this year's draft class and he appeared on the newly-released roster that Michigan State shared over the weekend but it appears that he's already been removed.
It's weird timing that he would be named on the upcoming roster and then to sign an NHL contract just hours later. Obviously that could mean anything, but this feels like it was as shocking to Adam Nightingale and the coaching staff as it was to the rest of us.
Michigan State needs to quickly patch up that absence and move forward because Klepov figured to have a pretty large role for the 2026-27 team.
Fortunately there's a ton of talent left on the roster.
Michigan State’s freshman class will be just fine
Down a first-rounder and there are a handful of others in the same draft class ready to make up for that loss? Yeah, not many teams around college hockey have that luxury, but Nightingale has assembled what’s essentially a team full of first-round draft picks.
Although I think I speak for everyone when I say that I was excited for Klepov in the green and white, but he’s going to live his NHL dreams in Anaheim while the Spartans should be just fine.
Michigan State still has Ethan Belchetz, Jack Hextall, Tommy Bleyl, and Chase Reid coming in with the 2026 recruiting class as first-rounders, joining former first-round picks like Ryker Lee, Cayden Lindstrom, Joshua Ravensbergen, and Mason West on the 2026-27 roster.
This team is going to be just fine even though I think Klepov was about to become a star. To make this worthwhile, he’ll need to expedite his road to the NHL.
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