Adam Nightingale is building something special in East Lansing.
The fifth-year Michigan State hockey coach has taken a program that was a laughingstock in the Big Ten for about a decade and immediately turned it into one of the biggest wagons in the NCAA. That, however, has yet to translate to Frozen Four success. Although the Spartans have won three straight Big Ten titles, proving to be the class of the conference, they have yet to make a Frozen Four under Nightingale.
You can bet that he feels the pressure to change that. He’s building one of the best rosters in the country to make sure that the Spartans don’t fall short of the Frozen Four yet again and people are noticing.
The Spartans have around 5-6 first-round prospects in the 2026 NHL Draft, including the projected No. 2 overall pick in Chase Reid. The 2026-27 squad should be absolutely loaded.
College Pick NXT, an outlet focused on NCAA hockey recruiting, posted its never too early 2026-27 power rankings and the Spartans made the top five.
Here’s what the top five looks like:
- Denver
- Michigan
- North Dakota
- Michigan State
- Minnesota Duluth
Denver is the reigning national champion so it only makes sense that they should be No. 1 to start the year, especially if they’re bringing back a ton of talent. Michigan at No. 2 is also valid because the Wolverines always have one of the nation’s top rosters and Michigan State is at No. 4 where it’ll have to prove itself a little bit.
The team that eliminated Michigan State in the 2026 NCAA Tournament, Wisconsin, is No. 9.
Michigan State is going to be absolutely loaded
As I mentioned above, the Spartans are going to have one of the most loaded teams in the country with several key players coming back and probably the best incoming class that Michigan State has ever seen.
Nightingale is essentially piecing together an all-star team with all of the projected first-round picks he has coming in and how many draft picks he already has on his roster like Ryker Lee, Cayden Lindstrom, and Joshua Ravensbergen. The Spartans also just landed another projected top-10 pick this month and they’re in the final three for another one.
If anyone was worried about a potential drop-off or rebuild this season with Porter Martone and Trey Augustine gone, those concerns should be squashed by taking one look at the projected roster.
This team is going to be fun to watch.
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