There’s a new hotbed for hockey talent in the Big Ten and it’s a city in the middle of Michigan. East Lansing is home to over a dozen NHL draft picks and nearly a dozen first-rounders.
Michigan State hockey coach Adam Nightingale has been blistering hot on the recruiting trail and he was rewarded with a huge 2026 draft class that included nine picks and five in the first round alone. With those five first-rounders set to join the roster for 2026-27, the Spartans actually broke Michigan’s record of most first-round picks on a single NCAA roster with 10. The previous record set by the Wolverines was just seven.
The Spartans obliterated that record and now they’re ready to chase a title.
With the draft in the rearview mirror, development camps wrapping up, and recruiting classes for the 2026-27 season set, the Big Ten‘s final pecking order from the 2026 class is set.
Puck Preps shared its final 2026 class rankings and while Michigan fans will tell you that they have the most talented team in college hockey, show them this list below.
Updated 2026 recruiting class rankings for the BIG 10 are live! Things are really tight at the top of the conference between Michigan & Michigan State. Expect a few more big names added before rosters are solidified.
— Puck Preps (@PuckPreps) June 30, 2026
Full recruiting class rankings👇
🔗 https://t.co/ZMZAoqhsNz pic.twitter.com/6jckq29OW4
Michigan State just edged out Michigan as the No. 1 recruiting class in the Big Ten even after the Wolverines picked up a commitment from the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2027 NHL Draft over the Spartans. Not even Landon DuPont could vault the Wolverines over the Spartans.
It was clearly a close race so the belief that not only the Big Ten, but college hockey runs through the state of Michigan holds true. The Spartans and Wolverines are just not going to be fair for teams like Wisconsin and Notre Dame and even Ohio State.
Raise your hand if you wish the Big Ten football recruiting rankings looked like this.
Michigan State’s 2026 class will be remembered fondly
I’m going to make a bold prediction: Michigan State’s 2026 class is going to be the driving force behind Nightingale’s first-ever Frozen Four and national title.
Looking up and down at the class, it has pretty much everything.
There’s elite defenseman talent, there are several highly-regarded goal scorers, and there are first-rounders galore. Michigan State has five incoming first-round picks in the 2026 class and that’s not even counting incoming transfer Cullen Potter. This team is going to be absolutely loaded and it’ll have enough to compete with the projected No. 1 Wolverines.
There’s a very good chance the national title game is Michigan vs. Michigan State. I don’t know if the internet could handle that toxicity.
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