Sunday, September 28, 2025
While each college hockey season features new players and matchups, this one marks a new era.
After last-minute departures and new eligibility for former Canadian Hockey League players, Michigan State’s ice hockey team will face its first test of the season, an exhibition game against Windsor on Friday, Oct. 3, at 6 p.m. While this game will serve as an early showcase for the Spartans, only time can answer some of the team’s biggest questions.
How will they fare after losing former forward Isaac Howard to the NHL? Is their forward depth good enough to compete in the Big Ten? Can the new Spartan defensemen keep up? Is a Frozen Four within reach?
This season’s roster is defined by youth.
New players hold 13 of the 27 spots on the Michigan State roster – including three from the CHL: freshman forwards Porter Martone, Cayden Lindstrom and Anthony Romani.
Head coach Adam Nightingale’s squad lost four defenseman, seven forwards and one goalie – but replaced all positions.
However, Michigan State’s youth may serve as an advantage.
“We got a lot of creativity,” senior defenseman Matt Basgall said. “You look at the lineup and you have different players all over the place, some super skilled, all put great effort. Some are very, very physical. We’ve got a great, great, great variety of players on our roster here.”
Just because the Spartans have 11 freshmen on the roster, doesn’t mean they’re inexperienced.
Lindstrom spent three years in the WHL with the Medicine Hat Tigers – alongside new Nittany Lion freshman forward Gavin McKenna. McKenna toured Michigan State, but ultimately chose Penn State. He is expected to be the first overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. Despite injuries, Lindstrom was drafted fourth overall in the 2024 NHL draft.
“He’s ultra competitive,” Nightingale said. “He plays the game violent, you know, which I think is the right way to play the game. And so we’re excited about him, I think that he’s still got a lot of room to grow but he wants to be coached and wants to be held accountable. And much like the rest of the guys in the group right there, they’re kind of cut from the similar type cloth.”
Martone, another CHL addition, was selected sixth overall in the 2025 NHL Draft, after playing three seasons with the Brampton Steelheads. Martone captained the 2024-25 team, marking 98 points – 37 goals and 61 assists. Freshman forward Ryker Lee was also a first-round draft pick in 2025.
For Nightingale, it’s not just about getting the best players, but the right players. He wants to form a team that wants to be at MSU, the ones that are bought into playing team hockey. Nightingale said the biggest thing he needs to see from the Spartans within the first month is playing team hockey.
“It’s acquiring the right type of talent,” Nightingale said. “The kids and families that are, they’re bought into it being a team sport. That’s what hockey is. It’s a team sport. It’s not about you and your brand, and you’re coming here to help our university be a great hockey team and a byproduct is individual success and a chance to move on.”
Nightingale started the pre-season talking about scars. While much of his team is new, the 14 returners remember how last season ended – with a buzzer-beater goal that ended in a 4-3 loss to Cornell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Last season Nightingale talked about the challenges of maintaining success as a team that wins so often – how difficult it is to avoid getting high or low after a game. He named Basgall captain for this season, partially because of the senior’s even keel approach.
“I’ve always thought of myself as a calming presence,” Basgall said. “Not ever getting too high or getting too low on the bench and expecting guys to put out the same effort, regardless of the game situation. So that’s what the expectation will be this year.”
Basgall and senior forwards Tiernan Shoudy and Daniel Russell are the only three Spartans to have been with MSU for four years now – their freshman year being Nightingale’s first season as head coach.
“I give them credit, they had to earn a crowd here,” Nightingale said. “I think they’ve done that, and we got to maintain it, but I do think there’s a ton of merit in (Basgall) seeing where it was at and where we’re trying to get to.”
In the 2025-26 Preseason Big Ten Coaches Poll, Michigan State ranked No. 1.
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Nightingale couldn’t care less about the rankings. He cares about the team’s performance on the ice, regardless of what the scoreboard says.
“People tell you, you know, how good your team should be, or it’s going to be, and none that really matters,” Nightingale said. “Rankings don’t matter. All that matters is we reach our potential and we improve every day.”
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