The Michigan State Spartans were one of the nation’s top teams for the entirety of last season and are already beginning the 2025-26 campaign in the driver’s seat once again. A recent preseason ranking has the Spartans atop the mountain, primed for another run at a national title.

College Puck NXT released its “NEVER Too Early 2025-26 NCAA Hockey power rankings,” and placed the Spartans at No. 1 overall.

Other notable teams that come in just behind Michigan State are No. 2 Boston University, at No. 3, the defending national champion Western Michigan Broncos, No. 5 features Penn State, and No. 8 is bitter rival, Michigan. The outlet is expecting a Big Ten-heavy top 10 this season.

The Spartans finished last season with a 26-7-4 record, capturing both the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles. They were bounced from the NCAA Tournament in the first round in a devastating upset loss to Cornell. They are hungry to bounce back with a deeper national run this year.

With two of the country’s top players returning to East Lansing next season, it is a no-brainer that the Spartans are the preseason No. 1. Hobey Baker winning forward Isaac Howard is entering his senior season, while junior goaltender Trey Augustine returns after winning Big Ten Goaltender of the Year.

There is a lot to like about the Spartans next season, especially because they are bringing back so many productive pieces from last season. This upcoming team could certainly exceed the accolades that were met last season and some. Michigan State has become a powerhouse hockey program.

Michigan State coach Adam Nightingale is entering his third season at the helm of the program and has already hoisted several conference trophies, bringing the Spartans to the forefront of the Big Ten. The next step is truly being the No. 1 team in the nation and winning a national title.

The season does not begin until early October, and there is a lot of time for recruits to commit and transfer portal changes to be made, impacting the preseason rankings across the numerous publications. The Spartans hold steady right now, but a few moves in the future could change things.

Make sure to follow the official Spartan Nation page on Facebook, Spartan Nation, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be a part of our lively community group, Go Green Go White, as well WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.

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Saturday was a relatively slow news day, but we got official word that a Russian prospect will not join the Chicago Blackhawks next season. Meanwhile, across the NHL, a young forward still wants out of Toronto. There were exit interviews in Dallas and some injury updates out of Florida.

Blackhawks Chirps

• Ilya Safonov will not be coming to North America this season. Scott Powers confirmed he signed a one-year extension with Ak Bars in the KHL. A few weeks ago, there were reports that Safonov was interested in signing with the Blackhawks, but it appears the interest wasn’t mutual. The 2021 sixth-round pick has had two rather pedestrian seasons after breaking out in 2022-23. We’ll see where he stands a year from now, but it’s not looking good that he’ll make it to the NHL.
• On June 1, 1992, the Stanley Cup made an appearance at Chicago Stadium. The Pittsburgh Penguins completed the sweep of the Blackhawks with a 6-5 win in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. The win was the Penguins’ 11^th straight of the postseason, tying a record the Blackhawks had set heading into the series with Pittsburgh.
• Three years later, the Blackhawks lost 2-1 in overtime to the Detroit Red Wings in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final. Joe Murphy gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal in the first period. After Keith Primeau tied the game in the middle frame, Nicklas Lidstrom scored a minute into overtime. This was the Red Wings’ first overtime playoff win at home since 1960, ending a 10-game losing streak.
• On this date in 2013, the Blackhawks opened the Western Conference Final by beating the Los Angeles Kings 2-1. Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa scored four minutes apart in the second period to provide the offense. Corey Crawford stopped 21 of the 22 shots he faced, only allowing a first-period Justin Williams goal.
• The Blackhawks and Kings wrapped up the Western Conference Final one year later. This time, it was the Kings advancing to the Stanley Cup Final with a 5-4 overtime win in Game 7. Sharp scored twice as the Blackhawks took a 4-3 lead into the third period. After Marian Gaborik tied the game late in regulation, future Blackhawk Alec Martinez scored the series-clinching goal in overtime.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, June 1: Larry Zeidel, Paul Coffey, Jeff Hackett, Michal Grosek, and Dylan Sikura.

NHL Chirps

• According to The Athletic’s Chris Johnston, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nicolas Robertson’s trade request from last year still stands. The 23-year-old scored 15 goals in 69 games this past season, both career highs. He is the perfect “change of scenery” guy and could get a bigger role in Chicago. I’m sure Kyle Davidson will inquire about the asking price.
• While speaking with reporters on Saturday, Matt Duchene indicated that he wants to stay with the Dallas Stars, but wants more than just a one-year deal. This is not a guy I want the Blackhawks to pursue this summer, plus, Duchene sure feels like a guy who wants to play for a contender.
• Staying in Dallas, general manager Jim Nill confirmed Roope Hintz sustained a foot fracture after being slashed by Edmonton Oilers’ defenseman Darnell Nurse in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final.
• According to Florida Hockey Now, Florida Panthers forwards Eetu Loustarinen and Anton Lundell are expected to play in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final after missing Saturday’s practice. However, head coach Paul Maurice called A.J. Greer a “question mark.”
• Finally, ESPN’s John Buccigross posted on X last night, suggesting that top 2026 draft prospect Gavin McKenna could be headed to Michigan State University.

SEWELL, N.J. — In the hour before the Gaudreau Family 5K on Saturday morning, with the sidewalk still wet from a rainstorm the previous night, hundreds and hundreds of participants filed into Washington Lake Park and headed toward a clearing where the race was to begin.

A rainbow in the sky greeted all of them.

“The boys are here,” said Deb Vasaturo, one of the event organizers.

Nine months ago, mere days after John and Matthew Gaudreau were struck and killed by an SUV driver while riding bicycles together on Aug. 29, a group of close friends, including Vasaturo, had gathered at the family home in Penns Grove, N.J., hoping to offer support to the brothers’ parents, Jane and Guy. That day, a double rainbow had split through the sky — a tiny comfort in a period of unimaginable grief.

The 31-year-old John, better known as Johnny among fans, was playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets when he and 29-year-old Matthew died, and Zach Aston-Reese felt his presence throughout the NHL season. In February, on the first birthday of John’s oldest son, a beautiful sunset graced Columbus; late in the season, before a must-win road game for the Blue Jackets, a rainbow appeared above the Philadelphia Flyers’ arena. He was touched again when another rainbow emerged before the 5K, as throngs of runners and walkers gathered for the race.

“It’s almost a year since (the accident), but I think it’s something that can take a lifetime to heal from,” Aston-Reese said. “Any time you get a chance to support, especially the bigger events, it’s really special.”

Around 1,100 people signed up for either the competitive 5K, which kicked off at 8 a.m., or a more casual 8:45 a.m. race of the same distance. Kids had their chance to compete in a one-mile run later in the morning. Multiple race participants wore jerseys of John, a seven-time NHL All-Star nicknamed Johnny Hockey, who played for the Calgary Flames and Blue Jackets. Some also wore gear for Matthew, who reached the AHL after a four-year career at Boston College and most recently suited up with the ECHL’s Worcester Railers in 2021-22.

The park was alive with activity throughout the morning. One tent showcased signed jerseys up for a silent auction, as kids played lawn games nearby. Baskets sitting on the covered stage were raffled off. Below them, attendees wrote memories and messages of support for the Gaudreau family on a big white banner.

The event raised money for an adaptive playground at Archbishop Damiano, a special education school in Westville, N.J. The Gaudreau family has deep family connections with the school: Jane’s brother has special needs, and their mother worked there for more than 40 years. All four of the Gaudreau kids — Kristen, John, Matthew and Katie — have either volunteered for or worked at the school too.

“The playground has been a project for I think four or five years, and there just never was enough funding,” Vasaturo said. “(The 5K) was a perfect marriage of doing something good to honor the boys and seeing children laugh and smile.”

Jane, Guy, Kristen and Katie were present throughout. Both boys loved children, Jane said, so seeing all the smiling kids would have been everything they would’ve wanted in the event. “I think they would just be so proud of us that we did (this),” she said.

Guy noted that Matthew would have run the 5K and won. He frequently beat John in off-ice exercises growing up, leaving his older brother “so mad he couldn’t see straight,” their dad said with fondness.

Professional hockey players went out of their way to attend as well. South Jersey natives Buddy Robinson, who played 62 NHL games and is now in the KHL, and Tony DeAngelo, who played with the New York Islanders this past season, were both there. Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, a teammate of John Gaudreau’s for the United States at the World Championships last summer, traveled from his offseason home on the Jersey Shore and wore a black sweatshirt that read “Johnny Hockey.” Aston-Reese and Erik Gudbranson represented the Blue Jackets.

“Our family wouldn’t have missed this,” said Gudbranson, who came with his wife and kids straight from a trip to Disney World. “There’s no way.”

In the aftermath of John and Matthew’s deaths, the Gaudreau family’s friends wanted to find ways to help. Vasaturo initially thought of the charity 5K. When she approached Guy and Jane in October, Jane thought it was a wonderful idea but felt the family didn’t have the emotional bandwidth to provide much help.

That wasn’t an issue. Their friends — a committee of around 18 people — took care of it all.

“They did everything, organized everything,” Guy said. “They just wanted us to be here.”

Community members beyond the committee, including Aston-Reese, helped too. The Blue Jackets forward studied graphic design while playing college hockey at Northeastern University, and one of Jane’s friends reached out and asked him to create the event logo. Honored, the Blue Jackets forward came up with a design — two interlocking hockey sticks with doves above them and the Gaudreau family name across the middle — that ultimately went on the race shirts and medals.

“It was pretty surreal pulling in and seeing everyone with their shirts on and the logo you created,” Aston-Reese said.

Along with the race in Sewell, more than 1,300 people signed up to compete in a virtual 5K, with participants across the U.S. and Canada, as well as in multiple other countries, including Ireland, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates. Florida Panthers players, who are preparing for the Stanley Cup Final, participated from Fort Lauderdale.

“Thursday, yesterday and even this morning I woke up, (and) I can’t clean out my inbox because I get all the notices of all the donations and all the registrations,” said Paul O’Connor, an organizing committee member whose son was a childhood friend of Matthew. “It just keeps growing.”

Jane Gaudreau said it was emotional pulling into the park and seeing how many people were there. She and Guy initially expected the 5K to draw maybe 100 or 200 people. To see it balloon into an event with more than 1,000 was “overwhelming, but in a good way,” she said.

After the races, the family stood on stage for an award ceremony. The public address announcer listed off the overall top finishers, then the winners of each age group. The NHL players on hand presented awards: In place of trophies, each person received a gift card and one of the hockey sticks left at public memorials after John and Matthew’s deaths.

“Just to be able to show support for this amazing family and see this amazing turnout, it was pretty great to be a part of,” said Tkachuk, who walked the more casual 5K. “I’m just so thankful they had me here.”

Every finisher received a medal that read “1st annual 5K run/walk,” indicating Saturday wasn’t a one-off event, and indeed the current plan is to continue it in the future. Jane has seen messages asking if the family would host the race in Calgary or Columbus, which has given her ideas. She saw requests from Calgary first, so she said she’ll perhaps run next year as a virtual participant with people there.

But this year the Gaudreaus were home in New Jersey, only a five-minute drive from Hollydell Ice Arena, the rink where the boys spent countless hours as kids. Jane stood near the end of the course as the fastest runners wrapped up the competitive race. She clapped and whooped as they neared the finish line.

Guy, meanwhile, ran the race. He wore a bright orange long-sleeved shirt, and the crowd burst into applause when the public address announcer pointed him out as he came around the final turn. Vasaturo, the friend whose idea led to Saturday’s event, cheered and cheered from the stage.

“His strength and Jane’s strength and their resiliency is just amazing,” she said. “We just want to be there and help them along the way, take these steps with them.”

(Top photo of the Gaudreau family and NHL players: Gillian Kocher / Gaudreau Family 5K) 

James Hagens is no stranger to the Utah Mammoth.

When asked which players he has looked to in the NHL to model his game after, a familiar name surfaced.

“I grew up watching Patrick Kane, I grew up watching John Tavares. Now, Jack Hughes and Logan Cooley,” Hagens said. “The way [Cooley] has been able to jump in the league and the things he’s done, it’s special. He’s a special player. He’s always been so good in the way he controls the game and the way he thinks it — it’s something that separates him.”

Hagens, who is one of the top players in the 2025 draft class, has taken a path that somewhat resembles Cooley’s. Both centers played for the United States National Team Development Program (USNTDP) before jumping to NCAA hockey. Each went into their drafts as highly-touted, undersized options, too. Cooley went third overall in 2022 to the Arizona Coyotes.

Utah now has the fourth overall selection this year and Hagens sees landing in Salt Lake City as an option.

“I’ve watched a ton of the Utah games,” Hagens said. “I’m a big fan of the new logo as well, the Mammoth. It’d be super cool to be able to be a draft pick for the new logo Mammoth.”

A year ago, Hagens was widely viewed as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Since then, Matthew Schaefer, Michael Misa and Caleb Desnoyers have drawn more attention and bubbled to the top of mock orders.

Part of it is because players like Misa, a 6-foot-1 center, tore it up in the Ontario Hockey League this season. Misa had 134 points (62 goals, 72 assists) in 65 games. Hagens played for Boston College last year and had 37 points (11 goals, 26 assists) in 37 games. It is not a fair comparison, though. The level of the NCAA sport — particularly in Hockey East, which is one of the best conferences — is much more of a challenge than the Canadian Junior routes.

Hagens has also been knocked for his size. The 18-year-old stands at 5-foot-11, 176 pounds. His draft-class counterparts are bigger.

There has been a lot of noise around Hagens. He is trying to stay grounded.

“You just kind of have to be grateful about it. Being able to hear your name in those conversations. Obviously, leading up to the draft now — having the opportunity to get drafted to any organization in the league, it’s something you have to be grateful for,” Hagens said. “The noise will always be there, but you just have to make sure you’re living in the moment and taking it day by day.”

The ambiguity around Hagens’ ranking makes the possibility of him being available for Utah at No. 4 real. If it were up to his former head coach, Nick Fohr, who had Hagens at the USNTDP, the decision would be easy.

“I’ve had NHL teams calling and talking to me about him. I tell them all, ‘If you get a chance to pick him, pick him. You’re not going to be disappointed,’” Fohr said. “This kid has just proven it over and over again everywhere he goes.”

Fohr and his staff knew about Hagens far before his name started hitting the NHL headlines. The USNTDP selects the best 16- to 18-year-old players around the country for its U-17 and U-18 teams. Accordingly, scouts and coaches are following these guys through their youth careers.

Some players don’t pan out. Others take the opportunity and run with it. That is what Hagens did.

“I think his coming out party for everybody on the world stage was the Under-17 World Challenge where he set the record for the most points in the history of that tournament,” Fohr said. “I think that’s when everybody went, ‘Oh boy, this kid’s pretty good.’ They started talking about him being a really high pick for this coming draft.”

Hagens posted 102 points (39 goals, 63 assists) in 58 games with the U18 Team in 2023-2024 before transitioning to Boston College. He was dominant in all three zones against older, stronger opponents. Fohr never saw Hagens’ size as a deterrent.

“It hasn’t affected his game at the younger levels at all. His intelligence, his hockey IQ, his skating ability, his ability to make plays and to think the game at a higher level — size doesn’t impact him with those types of assets and attributes,” Fohr said.

“People fall in love with size because it’s size and you can’t coach it, but I think you see guys like Jack Hughes, Clayton Keller and Logan Cooley — the success that they’re having as undersized guys. There’s a place for him in the game.”

While Hagens no doubt got knocked around a bit more in college hockey, he still centered Boston College’s first line between Gabe Perreault and Ryan Leonard (who are both now in the NHL).

“I love making plays. I love being able to find a guy backdoor. That’s something that I feel like is a big part of my game my whole entire career here. I wouldn’t say that I ever deflect away from shooting the puck,” Hagens said. “I know when to shoot and when to pass. Just something that really helps take my game to the next level is the way I’m able to find other guys.”

Some were expecting Hagens to make a bigger splash in terms of production in the NCAA, though.

In the past few years, centers like Macklin Celebrini and Adam Fantilli played in college ahead of their respective drafts. Celebrini had 64 points (32 goals, 32 assists) in 38 games with Boston University in his freshman season in 2023-2024. Fantilli had 65 points (30 goals, 35 assists) in 36 games in his freshman season with the University of Michigan in 2022-2023. Both won the Hobey Baker Award (given to the top men’s ice hockey player in the NCAA Division I). Celebrini was selected first overall in 2024 by the San Jose Sharks; Fantilli went third overall in 2023 to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Hagens did not close in on any of those numbers or accolades. He still took lessons from his first year with the Eagles. Hagens said no decision has been made if he will return for his sophomore campaign; that will be discussed after the draft. But he will be focused on “maturing [his] game — especially off the ice as well, making sure you’re doing all those little things that help you get ready for the games and prepare.”

Hagens’ focus now shifts to the NHL Scouting Combine, which will take place in Buffalo, New York, from June 2 to 7. All of the top prospects attend and go through interviews with prospective organizations and fitness testing. Hagens will meet with Utah general manager Bill Armstrong and his staff.

What does he want to get across in these conversations?

“Going into these meetings just really expressing how hard I compete and how badly I want to be on a team and hopefully win a Stanley Cup one day,” Hagens said. “I love winning. I will do anything to win. Something that’s helped me get to the point where I am today is just how hard I’ve been able to work my whole life. Nothing’s ever come easy. I’ve had to work for everything that I’ve ever gotten before.”

There is no saying for certain where Hagens will end up. Utah has been looking for size, but with the recent signing of Daniil But, its mindset going into the draft could change. Cooley and Hagens as the No. 1 and No. 2 centers could be the makeup of a contending team.

It seems Hagens wouldn’t mind playing with one of his role models, either.

“It is one step in your process but you just have to be ready. Getting drafted has been my dream my whole entire life,” Hagens said. “That’s why I started playing hockey, that’s why I still play. I’m really just grateful for everything right now.”