The 2026-27 Michigan State University hockey season is officially underway. The Spartans held their first press conference of the season Wednesday before they open with an exhibition against No. 16 Boston College on Oct. 2.
With a completely new leadership group, three new goaltenders, nine freshmen and three transfers, the team is looking to build on three consecutive Big Ten regular-season championships and finally make a deeper run in the NCAA Tournament.
Despite MSU's successes under fifth-year head coach Adam Nightingale, the team has yet to reach the Frozen Four during his tenure. Now, with another roster turnover and several key pieces from last season gone, MSU looks to turn its recent conference success into a national championship.
The biggest question facing MSU will come between the pipes.
Trey Augustine, who started nearly every game for the Spartans over the past three seasons, is no longer in net after signing an entry-level contract with the Detroit Red Wings in March. MSU instead enters the season with three new goaltenders: freshmen Joshua Ravensbergen and JJ Salajko and junior transfer Quentin Sigurdson.
Ravensbergen is expected to start after three seasons with the Prince George Cougars of the Western Hockey League. The San Jose Sharks selected Ravensbergen 30th overall in the first round of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, giving MSU a highly regarded prospect to replace Augustine.
“We’re excited about our goal team. We got three new goalies, and Berger’s (Ravensbergen’s) got a pedigree, right? He’s played a lot of really high-level hockey, and he’s looked good in that,” Nightingale said. “Our job is to make sure we do a good job to limit opportunities in front of him.”
Senior defenseman Patrick Geary has already seen similarities between Ravensbergen and the goalie he's swapping with.
“He’s one of the top goalies I’ve ever played with. Same with Trey,” Geary said. “He’s just like Trey, composed in the net, and has a strong mentality, which is huge for a goalie.”
The transition will be one of the first tests for a team that has relied heavily on Augustine throughout its recent run.
MSU begins the season with a new leadership group led by Geary as captain, while senior forward Tommi Männistö and junior forward Shane Vansaghi serve as alternate captains.
The three veterans have taken different paths through the program, but all have spent multiple seasons learning Nightingale’s expectations.
Geary's path included a difficult start. He was a healthy scratch for the first one to two months of his freshman season before eventually earning a regular role. Now, as a senior, he sees that experience as part of what allows him to lead players throughout the roster.
“I’ve been scratched, I’ve been in the lineup, I played in big games. Like I could kind of relate to the whole team,” Geary said. “Whenever a guy’s down or not being themselves, it’s easy to be like, hey, like I know how you’re doing. You’re always going to get your chance. Just be ready for your chance.”
Nightingale pointed to Geary and Männistö as examples of players who stayed committed when they had not yet earned the roles they wanted.
“They really embody what we are as a program. It’s put your head down and work, and you have to earn everything,” Nightingale said.
That mentality will be particularly important with so many new players joining the roster.
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MSU enters the season with 12 new Spartans, including nine freshmen and three players transferring from other college programs. The group brings plenty of NHL draft pedigree, with seven having been selected in the first round.
Four incoming freshmen were selected in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft. Defenseman Chase Reid went No. 7 overall to the Seattle Kraken, forward Ethan Belchetz went No. 17 to the Utah Mammoth, forward Jack Hextall went No. 30 to the Calgary Flames and defenseman Tommy Bleyl went No. 31 to the Nashville Predators.
The other three first-round selections joined MSU after being drafted in 2025: freshman forward Mason West went No. 29 to Chicago, Ravensbergen went No. 30 to San Jose and junior transfer forward Cullen Potter went No. 32 to Calgary.
Those additions put MSU at nine first-round NHL Draft picks and 17 total NHL Draft picks from the 2023 through 2026 drafts on its current roster. The challenge for Nightingale is turning that individual talent into a cohesive team.
“You can’t start on chapter three or four, right? You got to assume they know nothing and start with the base,” Nightingale said. “Hockey is a fundamental sport. We want to pride ourselves on being fundamentally sound and playing fundamental hockey.”
The returning players have a role in that process, helping the freshmen learn the system in what Geary called the “Michigan State way.”
Despite the roster turnover, the expectations around the team remain the same.
“The one thing I came here to do was win a national championship,” Geary said. “The last three years we’ve gotten pretty close, but we haven’t even made it to the Frozen Four, so honestly you can’t really say it’s been that close.”
