Michigan State hockey’s senior center Charlie Stramel and junior goaltender Trey Augustine have been named semifinalists for the 2026 Hobey Baker Memorial Award, announced by the organization this afternoon.
The Hobey Baker is widely considered the most prestigious honor in college hockey, equivalent to NCAA football’s “Heisman Trophy.” Winners are selected based on character and performance on and off the ice, such as skills, sportsmanship and scholastic achievements.
The semifinalists were selected through voting by all Division I college hockey head coaches, as well as online fan voting. Michigan State is the only program to produce multiple semifinalists this season.
Three finalists, the Hobey Baker 2026 Hat Trick, will be chosen by a 30-member Selection Committee as well as a round of fan balloting, announced on April 2, 2026. The winner will be revealed on April 10, 2026, during the NCAA Tournament’s Frozen Four weekend in Las Vegas.
If Stramel or Augustine wins the award, it would mark the first time Michigan State has produced back-to-back Hobey Baker Award winners, as former MSU forward Isaac Howard received the honor last season.
Senior Center Charlie Stramel
Stramel has made his case for the award as one of the team’s leading scorers throughout the season. He’s been a central component of the Spartans' offense as a front-net player with a 6-foot-4 frame.
Stramel stands out because of his growth at MSU. He spent two years at Wisconsin before transferring to MSU last season, in which he set his previous career best of 28 points. His point production has nearly doubled this season with 44 points (19 goals and 25 assists) in 35 games.
He recorded his first career hat trick this season in front of over 70,000 fans at Beaver Stadium, scoring both the game-tying goal and the game-winning goal in overtime to help Michigan State sweep then-No. 5 Penn State on the road. The win was pivotal for the Big Ten standings, moving MSU up to No. 2.
Stramel is tied for the NCAA’s lead in game-winning goals with seven. He averages 1.26 points per game, which ranks No. 11 in the country.
Stramel ranks No. 2 nationally in faceoffs won with 461 and No. 1 in the Big Ten. His consistency from the faceoff circle has been a reliable component of MSU’s game, allowing more possessions and helping the Spartans’ penalty-kill unit, which led the Big Ten during conference play at .802%.
Stramel’s turnaround mirrors that of Howard, whose point production also drastically shot up in his second season at MSU, after transferring from Minnesota Duluth.
Junior Goaltender Trey Augustine
Augustine was the Spartans’ backbone en route to their third-straight Big Ten regular-season title this season. He was named the Big Ten Goaltender of the Year earlier today, for the second year in a row.
Augustine’s statistics have hung around the nation’s best all season.
He holds a .929 save percentage (ranked No. 6 nationally) and a .209 goals-against average (ranked No. 11). His numbers are the best in the Big Ten.
Backed by Augustine, MSU’s scoring defense ranks No. 4 in the NCAA, and has been No. 1 on several occasions this season.
“If you ask anyone right now, I think they'd probably all agree that [Trey’s] the top goalie in college,” said MSU coach Adam Nightingale earlier in the season. “He's been really consistent. His longevity of being consistent, too. He's improved every year. One of the things I've always loved about Trey is that his numbers are good, but you look at the top five, he's not in there, but his ability to make timely saves, and that's what winning goalies do.”
Augustine holds a career record of 16-6-2 against Top 5-ranked opponents and 36-18-2 against all ranked opponents.
Trey Augustine is also a semifinalist for the Mike Richter Award for the third consecutive season, though he has yet to win it. The award honors the best goaltender in college hockey, and Augustine’s 65 career victories are tied for the most among active Division I goaltenders, despite playing 16 fewer games than his peers.
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Other Spartans, Other Semifinalists
Only three Spartans have won the Hobey Baker Award: two forwards and one goaltender.
In addition to Howard, MSU alumni and cousins Ryan Miller and Kip Miller (1990) also won the award. Ryan Miller won the award in 2001 as a goaltender, while Kip Miller won it in 1990 as a forward.
The other semifinalists are James Hagens (Boston College), T.J. Hughes (Michigan), Gavin McKenna (Penn State), Max Plante (Minnesota-Duluth), Erik Pohlkamp (Denver), Hayden Stavroff (Dartmouth), Felix Trudeau (Sacred Heart) and Ethan Wyttenbach (Quinnipiac). The
Only five Hobey Baker winners have also captured the national title in the same year. The award has been presented 44 times since its inception in 1981.
