This past season, Michigan State hockey had the top player in all of college hockey, Isaac Howard, who won the Hobey Baker award for what many thought would be one last ride. After a trade on Wednesday between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Edmonton Oilers, Howard will be leaving East Lansing after all.
It was a fairly shocking surprise when Howard announced he would return to the Spartans for one more year back in April. At the time, there was some friction between Howard and Tampa Bay, who had drafted him in the first round of the 2022 NHL Draft, and Howard cited a ‘philosophical divide’ between him and the Lightning as a major reason he would return to MSU.
Now, Howard is in Edmonton, and he signed a three-year contract to start his professional career with the Oilers. While this marks the end for Isaac Howard with MSU, Spartan hockey fans can at least be consoled by the fact that Trey Augustine, one of the best goaltenders in college hockey, will be delaying his pro career and staying with MSU for one more year.
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