Adam Nightingale had himself quite the weekend as the star of the 2026 NHL Draft. That’s right, an NCAA hockey coach stole the show at the draft because of how many picks he had.
Every draft expert was hyping up Michigan State and Nightingale all weekend because of the pure dominance of having five first-round picks (more than all Big Ten teams combined) as well as a draft-high nine picks. That success actually set up the 2026-27 roster to have nine first-rounders which breaks a record that was previously held by Michigan.
The Spartans are going to be loaded in 2026-27 but there might be one more roster surprise.
According to a well-connected hockey publication, Elite Prospects, Michigan State will be adding another piece to the national title puzzle in seventh-round pick Cullen McCrate.
Elite Prospects named McCrate one of the 16 most surprising picks in the draft simply because he was nothing more than a depth piece a couple of years ago before a trade to Fargo where he became an “all-around force” and earned an exceptional amount of ice time.
They also said that he needs to work on his aggression and physicality at Michigan State which is where he plans on being this fall.
Before this report, no one knew what McCrate’s plans were, but the Adrian, Mich., native will be joining one of the most loaded rosters in the NCAA and now he’ll have to fight for minutes again.
Adam Nightingale is going to have endless options
I took a glance at the projected 2026-27 roster earlier today and counted 15 (!!) draft picks who will be on the Spartans’ roster. McCrate makes it 16.
With 16 draft picks on the roster, Nightingale is going to be able to form nothing but elite lines and there’s not going to be a huge drop-off when first-liners are off the ice.
Michigan State will have guys like Cayden Lindstrom and Ryker Lee who have sky-high potential and could be stars for the Spartans this year, Joshua Ravensbergen is one of the top incoming goalies in the country, and there’s four-man incoming class of first-rounders is going to be really good right away. Oh, and Cullen Potter is one heck of a transfer addition.
Having all of these guys and only a limited number of minutes to go around is the problem that every coach wants to have. It’s on Nightingale to coach this team to the promised land.
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