The first round of the 2026 NHL Draft yielded five Michigan State hockey selections to teams like the Seattle Kraken, Calgary Flames, Nashville Predators, Anaheim Ducks, and Utah Mammoth.
Spartans were dominating the draft board on the opening night and people were noticing.
The tone was set from the get-go as Michigan State was well on its way to either tie or break the program record for draftees in a single class. The previous record of eight was hit two times by the Spartans decades ago, but with five going in the first round and then Brooks Rogowski kicking off round two as the first pick, Michigan State just needed a few more guys to have their names called.
Fortunately, they did as talented 2027 defenseman commit Jonas Kemps was selected No. 98 overall by the Florida Panthers.
The picks made sense because Florida had selected a center and a forward with its first two picks just rounds earlier, so it needed to address the defenseman position. The Panthers did that with the Michigan State commit who is just 18 years old.
According to the Elite Prospects scouting report via the Miami Herald, Rogowski is “mobile with seemingly endless reach” and they go on to say that even when he gets beat, it doesn’t much matter because he just reaches his stick out and has the reach to poke the puck loose. He’s also a towering 6-foot-6 and 195 pounds.
Michigan State will be getting a good one when his 2026-27 season with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds is over.
Adam Nightingale received a ton of praise this weekend
Michigan State was the topic of conversation during the NHL draft this weekend and Adam Nightingale’s name came up often as his commits and signees were coming off the board at record pace.
The fifth-year head coach saw nine of his players drafted which also matches the number of first-round picks that the Spartans will have on the roster for the 2026-27 season, breaking an NCAA record previously held by the University of Michigan.
Nightingale is one of the nation’s best recruiters and he’s obviously a great coach with three straight Big Ten titles under his belt, but that Frozen Four is his white whale. He’s going to have more than enough talent this season to get the job done and prove the doubters wrong. Actually, he’s going to have enough talent for years, and this draft proved it.
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