Michigan State hockey roster outlook heading into the 2025 offseason

OK, everyone. I get it. Michigan State hockey’s season is over earlier than most of us would have hoped for sure, but unfortunately the season ended with a 4-3 upset loss to Cornell last week in the NCAA Tournament.

Many fans of MSU were left wondering just exactly if an opportunity like this would come around again. For the better part of this season, MSU was ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in most polls. It seemed destined that either us or Boston College would be hoisting an NCAA title trophy come next weekend in St Louis.

Now we sit at home and neither us nor Boston College even advanced to the Frozen Four.

After the appropriate time to let the loss sit, I think I’m ready to take stock at MSU’s roster going into next season. So in this article, I’ll try to examine who will be leaving, who may be coming in, and what Michigan State hockey could look like after the offseason transfers start to take shape.

Spoiler alert: I think we will be just fine. Let’s look into it.

Who is leaving?

I don’t want to sugar coat it, this offseason could see some major turnover. To be honest, it already has and we aren’t a week out from the loss. Let’s start with who for sure is going to be gone next year. 


The seniors

• Red Savage (Captain): Forward. Detroit Red Wings draft pick. Expected to sign ELC and start pro career.

• David Gucciardi: Defenseman. Washington Capitals draft pick. Signed ELC with Capitals as of Tuesday. Will be starting pro career next season.

• Tanner Kelly: Forward. Scored eight goals this season. Finished MSU career with 58 total points.

• Nicklas Andrews: Defenseman. Lead the team in blocked shots and plus/minus.
  

The players above were not going to be coming back due to eligibility regardless. Savage and Gucciardi will be starting their pro careers most likely with the latter signing a contract with the Capitals as of Tuesday. Congratulations to both of them and best of luck in their future careers.

A special thanks has to go out here to all four seniors. Your hard work and dedication helped make this season as special as ever.

Underclassmen who are for sure leaving

For this list, we will have the underclassman who have already announced they will not be coming back to MSU next season. 



• Karsen Dorwart: Junior forward. He signed a three-year ELC with the Philadelphia Flyers. He is joining the team in Philadelphia and expects to make his NHL debut before their season ends. 


• Joey Larson: Junior forward. He announced today that he has signed an ELC with the New York Islanders. He will start his pro career next season in their organization.

Underclassmen who may be leaving

For this list, we will have players who could turn pro or that have entered the transfer portal. Most players who will enter the portal probably won’t be back, but there is a chance they may not find a better scenario and want back in East Lansing.

• Isaac Howard: Junior forward. This one is expected but not set in stone. MSU’s leading scorer was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round in 2022. Howard's junior season in East Lansing was a memorable one to say the least. The Spartan forward led the team in goals and total points. He won the Big Ten Player of the Year Award and is a top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award (college hockey’s best player). It’s pretty clear that the Lightning are ready for Isaac to turn pro, but until an ELC is inked, it won’t be official. Isaac does have one more year of eligibility should he want to come back to East Lansing.

• Austin Oravetz: Sophomore defenseman. Oravetz has entered the transfer portal. He appeared in 46 games for the Spartans and added eight assists. He most likely will not be back as he will probably have several potential new teams interested.

• Luca Di Pasquo: Sophomore goaltender. Di Pasquo entered the transfer portal on Monday and it came as part of a shock for most MSU fans. MSU’s back up goalie finishes his Spartan career with 11 games played and 1.94 career goals against average. The Spartans do have a highly-touted goalie coming into the program next year in Melvin Strahl, however. He will have a lot of potential suitors so I can’t imagine he comes back.
  

Who is expected to stay?

Okay enough of the doom and gloom. Let’s look at some positives here. While Michigan State hockey has a lot of players leaving, it is still expected to return a lot of its strong core of players. The following players listed below are all expected to remain in East Lansing even though they could be leaving for different reasons.

• Charlie Stramel: Junior forward. Stramel matched up well for the Spartans this year as our first line center between Isaac Howard and Daniel Russell. With Howard potentially gone, that line could be shaken up, but Russell will be back. Charlie is a Minnesota Wild draft pick, so he could turn pro. Rumors circulating around the NHL state that the Wild aren’t quite ready for him to sign his ELC yet, so all signs point to a return to East Lansing.

• Maxim Strbak and Patrick Geary: Sophomore defensemen. Strbak is one of two defenseman on MSU’s roster that are Buffalo Sabers draft picks. He and defense partner Patrick Geary both were selected by the Sabers and both are expected to return to Michigan State next season. It appears the Sabers are not going to have them sign this offseason so that will allow MSU to return its No. 1 defensive pairing. A welcome sign for Spartan hockey fans with our second pair of Gucciardi and Andrews both leaving.

• Matt Basgall: Junior defenseman. While Basgall doesn’t currently have an NHL option to explore, it is big for the Spartans to return him as one of their top defenseman. The alternate captain from this past season is a big leader on and off the ice for the Spartans and will very much be a welcome addition back to the lineup for his senior season.

• Trey Augustine: Sophomore goaltender. It would be hard to imagine having someone with more accolades to list than Isaac Howard, but Trey Augustine is that person. He has won almost everything at every level. Has multiple gold medals competing for Team USA, as well as Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player last year. He also is Team USA hockey’s winningest junior level goalie of all time. Michigan State's goalie wonder is a Detroit Red Wings draft pick and was expected by most to turn pro after this season ended.

April 1 edit: In some early breaking news this morning, it is confirmed that Augustine is indeed giving it one last ride in the green and white. According to multiple people, Trey has informed the Red Wings he wants to return to East Lansing next year. The Spartans will welcome back the best goalie in the country.

Incoming freshmen and potential portal adds

Reinforcements are on the way for MSU hockey. Some maybe even bigger potential impacts than we originally thought. Let’s take a look and a couple potential incoming freshman and transfer portal adds the Spartans are trying to bring in to help reload.

• Ryker Lee: Incoming freshman forward. Lee is a name that you should get to know quickly. He currently is playing in the USHL with the Madison Capitals and he is making a name for himself this season. He has 29 goals and 34 assists in 54 games played for Madison this year. His play so far this season is causing him to shoot up NHL draft boards for this year’s upcoming draft as well. At this point, it should not be a matter of if Lee gets drafted into the NHL, but a matter of when. Regardless of draft stock, he has committed to the Spartans and plans to play at least a little hockey in East Lansing before turning pro. Whenever that may be. He is expected to join MSU this fall. 


• Melvin Strahl: Incoming freshman goaltender. As previously mentioned, Strahl is MSU’s latest big-time goaltending prospect inbound for East Lansing. The 20-year-old is currently playing in the USHL with the Youngstown Phantoms. In 44 games this year for the Phantoms, Melvin has recorded 30 wins, a 2.48 goals against average, and a .900 save percentage. Melvin was a fifth-round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets this past year. He also played for Team Sweden at this past year’s World Junior Championships. He is in line for a pretty decent role at MSU next season. Especially now that Luca Di Pasquo is transferring.

• Austin Baker: Incoming freshman forward. Baker is a talented forward currently playing this season in the USHL for the Sioux Falls Stampede. There he is an alternate captain and has 29 points in 53 games. He is a solid two-way forward with great speed and is a great leader. He has also participated in two World Junior Championships for Team USA and was part of the USNTDP for one year as well. Baker is a Detroit Red Wings prospect as well. He will be arriving at Michigan State this fall as well. 


• Tyson Jugnauth: Incoming junior defenseman. The Seattle Kraken draft pick is a potentially huge addition for the Spartans on the blue line. The defenseman spent one year at Wisconsin before transitioning to the USHL to play for the Portland Winterhawks. This season in Portland, Tyson has tallied 13 goals and a whopping 76 assists in 65 games played. A crucial part of their blue line, Jugnauth has made the most of his time in Portland. He now wants to come back to the NCAA and will be joining the Spartans in the fall.

• Colin Ralph: Incoming sophomore defenseman. OK, this one I’ll say is probably the least confident one I’m hearing on. Ralph has officially entered the transfer portal and rumors are linking the Spartans as a possibility. If this were to come to fruition, that would be another huge get for the Spartans on the blue line. He was a second-round draft pick in last year’s draft by the St. Louis Blues. All indications are that he plans on playing one more year of college hockey before turning pro and probably being in St. Louis sooner rather than later. His game is certainly sound. He also is a whopping 6-foot-3, 210 pounds and would bring some much needed size and physicality to the Spartans. Ralph totaled 20 points in 25 games this year for Saint Cloud State.

• Cayden Lindstrom: Incoming freshman forward. No disrespect to anyone else on this list, but I may potentially be saving the best for last. Let me start by saying this is not a done deal yet, but multiple people are pointing out that it's close. Lindstrom is a stud, simply put. He was last year’s No. 4 overall pick in the NHL draft for the Columbus Blue Jackets. He currently plays in the Canadian Hockey League’s WHL for the Medicine Hat Tigers. He is expected to join the NCAA ranks this year and will most likely be coming to East Lansing as news broke late last week. Now because of the WHL playoffs still going, Lindstrom can’t officially commit until his team is eliminated so make sure to check back here for updates. Should he join MSU, the Spartans will be getting a future NHL star who has put up 46 points in just 32 games this year coming off injury. This would be huge for Adam Nightingale.

Conclusion

If you’re still here, thank you for getting this far in my hockey recruiting session. It is no secret that the Spartans may be faced with the tough task of replacing a lot of their scoring and overall play from this pastseason. Losing the likes of Trey Augustine and Isaac Howard would definitely be tough to see. However, neither are officially gone as of yet and if they do decide to leave MSU, the amount of talent coming in is off the charts. Should Nightingale land the targets I talked about above, the Spartans will likely again be one of the few favorites to land in Vegas for next year’s Frozen Four. 



Saying that again points to the crazy amount of work Coach Nighty and staff have done in turning around the program. The coaches, along with the players, and new facility upgrades from donors have MSU hockey as one of the premiere destinations in all of college hockey for recruits. If they are able to keep up recruiting like this, more trophies are going to be landing in East Lansing very soon. 



Thank you all for checking this article out and keep it here with Spartan Avenue for all hockey updates. Go Green, everyone.