Seven NHL draft rounds are in the books and Michigan State hockey had quite the showing.
Adam Nightingale was the talk of the draft due to the ridiculous amount of talent that he’s assembled ahead of the 2026-27 season. Although not all of his draft picks are expected to join the roster for the upcoming season, he set the Spartans up for success for the next few years via this class.
Just how good was the 2026 NHL Draft for the Spartans? It actually broke a program record for the most Spartans selected in a single draft class, according to Connor Earegood.
Nine (!!) Spartans were selected in the draft on Friday and Saturday, capped off by defenseman Cullen McCrate who was picked in the seventh round. He was the record-breaking draftee but he’s not going to be joining the roster until at least next season.
Michigan State hockey is fun again. Who thought we’d be saying that five years ago?
Michigan State set the tone in round one
The record felt very attainable on Friday night thanks to a huge first round.
Chase Reid went No. 7 overall to the Seattle Kraken, Nikita Klepov went No. 15 overall to the Anaheim Ducks, Ethan Belchetz was picked No. 17 by the Utah Mammoth, Jack Hextall went 30th to the Calgary Flames, and Tommy Bleyl was picked No. 31 by the Nashville Predators.
That huge first round with five picks (four of which will be joining the roster for the upcoming season) really set the tone for the rest of the draft.
Brooks Rogowski went first in the second round on Saturday afternoon and he was followed by fellow 2027 prospects Jonas Kemps and Nick Bogas who went No. 98 and No. 139, respectively.
And as stated earlier, McCrate capped off the draft for the Spartans at No. 216, breaking the record.
I have a feeling that Nightingale is going to break the record again before his time at Michigan State is over. Hopefully by then he’ll have at least one national title under his belt.
Add us as a preferred source on Google