Over the past couple of days, we’ve talked at length about the amount of talent that Michigan State hockey is set to have on its 2026-27 roster.
This conversation was sparked by Michigan State landing yet another projected first-round pick in Ethan Belchetz who committed to the Spartans on Tuesday. Like a few other Spartan commits and signees, Belchetz is a projected top-10 pick, joining guys like Chase Reid and Nikita Klepov.
The post-lottery mock drafts are kind to Michigan State hockey players with Reid going second in ESPN’s latest mock with Klepov and Belchetz also going in the top 10.
Reid is receiving a ton of love entering the 2026 draft next month. According to Corey Pronman of the New York Times, Reid is his No. 1 overall NHL draft prospect.
New York Times listed Chase Reid as the No. 1 NHL Draft Prospect in their top 112 prospect rankings. pic.twitter.com/NRWMHZxnXr
— Spartans Sports Coverage (@michstsquad) May 13, 2026
Pronman divided his prospect rankings into tiers and had Reid as the top overall prospect in Tier 1, ahead of Penn State star Gavin McKenna who many believe will be the No. 1 pick.
He put Belchetz in Tier 2 labeled “bubble top and middle of the lineup player”, Jack Hextall and Brooks Rogowski were in Tier 3 labeled “middle of the lineup player”, and Tier 4 labeled “NHL prospect” listed Tommy Bleyl and Klepov. This is obviously just one man’s opinion, but the Spartans have six of the top 44 prospects on his list and they could have three top-10 picks next month.
If you’re Nightingale, how could you not be thrilled about the 2026-27 season?
Michigan State is reloading, not rebuilding
After losing the best goalie in college hockey and one of the best freshmen who just starred in the NHL Playoffs, most programs would regress a little bit talent wise.
Michigan State under Nightingale is not most programs.
Losing Charlie Stramel, Porter Martone, and Trey Augustine, among others, would crush a lot of teams, but Michigan State is reloading with several first-round picks and it should have no problem fielding a championship-caliber roster.
Rarely do we see NCAA hockey teams this loaded, but Nightingale has been a machine on the recruiting trail and he’s bringing in first-rounders every offseason.
The newcomers for next season may be his best class yet. He’s got Mason West, Ryker Lee, Cayden Lindstrom, Joshua Ravensbergen, Reid, Klepov, Cullen Potter, and now Belchetz all coming in to join a Big Ten championship roster. A four-peat may be on the way for the green and white. Now it’s time to parlay that into a Frozen Four.
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