Michigan State will need to shore up its blueline a bit next season.
First, Brock Krygier gave up his final two years in East Lansing to transfer to Arizona State's nascent Division I program as a graduate student in April.
Earlier this week, Josh Jacobs made it one-and-done with the Spartans to join the OHL's Sarnia Sting. A second-round NHL draft choice (41st overall) by the New Jersey Devils last year, and was a fourth-round choce by Sarnia in the 2012 OHL Draft, Jacobs tallied nine assists in 35 NCAA games last season with MSU.
According to the MSU website, the Spartans are still expected to return five of their eight defensemen from the 2014-15 season, a campaign in which they finished 17-16-2 overall, and second in the Big Ten with an 11-7-2 conference mark. MSU was also one of the nation’s top defensive teams all season, finishing first in the Big Ten and 13th in the country in goals allowed per game (2.29).
Chicago Blackhawks blueliner Duncan Keith, who begins the Stanley Cup Final tonight in Tampa, is believed to be the last Spartan to leave Michigan State for the major junior ranks, having joined Tacoma (WHL) in 2002. Lansing native and former MSU recruit Reid Boucher jumped to Sarnia in 2011 before ever playing a game for the Spartans, and is now in New Jersey's system.
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