Other programs across the country have already announced their plans for seniors returning next season. Arizona State, who was included in the Big Ten schedule this past season, announced earlier this month that four seniors will be returning next season including elite goal-scorer Johnny Walker after playing in just 16 games in 2020-21 due to injury. 

Michigan State Head Coach Danton Cole announced on Monday in a postseason press conference that MSU may have a few seniors of their own returning for next season. Cole initially mentioned that they were looking at two players in particular but later elaborated that it could be anywhere from zero to three seniors returning, without naming any names.

“I’d say zero, one, two or three," he said. "I’d say three is probably not a good chance of three, but it is possible."

The Spartans currently have seven seniors on the roster as well as a graduate student in Charlie Combs. If they are able to get seniors like Mitchell Lewandowski, who recently reached the 100 career point mark, or Tommy Apap, who is one of the better faceoff winning centers in the nation, to return it could be monumental in the effort to jumpstart the offense that struggled to put pucks in the back of the net all year long. 

Or they could possibly get defenseman Tommy Miller, the nation’s third-best shot-blocker, to run it back for one more season. That would be a big keep for the Spartans, especially if junior defenseman Dennis Cesana decides to leave after he kissed the Spartan logo at center ice following the final home game against Wisconsin, a tradition usually done by seniors after their last home games to signify their farewells. 

It is an interesting and unique puzzle that has many moving parts. The coaching staff and athletic department have multiple factors to juggle such as roster size and money. 

“That’s still kind of being worked out just academically and athletically,” Cole said. “... We hope to know sooner rather than later so we can start planning, but there's not a huge deal of urgency on that. Within a month we would like to know where we are at with those guys.”

MSU adds another player to incoming class

Back in early February, MSU announced the signing of five players who will be joining the green and white for 2021-22. Another player will be added to the incoming class, as Cole announced on Monday.

This mystery player whose name, position and age are all unknown joins a class of forwards Jeremy Davidson, Jesse Tucker, Erik Middendorf and Tanner Kelly as well as defenseman David Gucciardi. From what it sounds like, this newcomer will be joining MSU as a transfer student. 

“We still have to get through some transfer things, so it’s not really an NLI (National Letter of Intent) signing type situation,” Cole said.

As the offseason continues to progress and the transfer portal begins to work its magic as it did for Combs, along with the NCAA Tournament starting this weekend, fans should start to get a better picture of what the roster will look like not only for Michigan State but for other teams in the Big Ten too.