The MSU hockey team lining up in the spotlight before the MSU versus Penn State Men's Hockey game at Michigan State University's Munn Ice Arena on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025
Freshman forward Austin Baker is the fourth Michigan State hockey player to enter the transfer portal, following freshman goaltender Melvin Strahl, sophomore forward Nathan Mackie and senior goaltender Dolan Gilbert.
Baker has committed to Miami Ohio (18-16-2 last season) according to Sydney Wolf. Mackie and Gilbert have yet to commit and Strahl is reported to have transferred to Minnesota.
Baker played 14 games for MSU this season, and only two in the 2026 part of the season. He tallied one assist and a zero on-ice rating. Baker was a part of the position battle on the fourth line, along with Mackie and junior forward Griffin Jurecki. Jurecki took the spot for most of the games in the second half of the season.
Baker was drafted in the seventh round of the 2024 NHL Draft by the Detroit Red Wings. He played for the U.S. National Team Development Program (NTDP) before competing in the USHL for the Sioux Falls Stampede, where he put up 31 points.
Baker was recruited to MSU by head coach Adam Nightingale.
“Nightingale was actually supposed to be my coach at NTDP and then he got the job here,” Baker said in January. “He gave me a phone call a couple days later, maybe a week, but yeah, he asked if I wanted to come check it out. And I fell in love with the place right away, especially the way they wanted to run things and keep developing guys.”
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