Goalie Joshua Ravensbergen arrives at Michigan State as the best goaltender in the Western Hockey League. The San Jose Sharks took him 30th overall in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft, and in 2025-26 he went 32-13-0 in 46 games for the Prince George Cougars with a .919 save percentage, a 2.51 goals-against average and four shutouts.
Those numbers led the WHL in wins and save percentage and won him the Del Wilson Memorial Trophy as the league’s Goaltender of the Year. He is the first Cougars goaltender to take it home. Now he replaces Trey Augustine as the Michigan State starting goalie at 19 years old, as a freshman.
What Joshua Ravensbergen Brings to the Michigan State Net
What stands out first is the frame. The Spartans list him at 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds. He spent his last three seasons in Prince George and went 91-30-4-2 there, the best winning percentage by a goaltender in Cougars history, and his 17 playoff wins are a franchise record.
Head coach Adam Nightingale has three new goaltenders on his roster this season and no questions about the one who went in the first round.
We’re excited about our goal team. We got three new goalies, and Berger’s got a pedigree, right? He’s played a lot of really high-level hockey, and he’s looked good in that. Our job is to make sure we do a good job to limit opportunities in front of him.
Adam Nightingale, to The State News
Trey Augustine’s Exit Opened the Door
On March 31, 2026, Trey Augustine signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Detroit Red Wings that begins with the 2026-27 season, and he finished last season with the Grand Rapids Griffins on an amateur tryout. Detroit’s second-round pick in 2023 left East Lansing with a 66-25-7 record and a .922 save percentage over 99 games. He could very well be the future starting goalie of the Red Wings.
The Big Ten Will Be a Tougher Test
With Augustine no longer in the picture for Michigan State, the Sharks prospect takes the job. Ravensbergen has a lot of potential. With him being the top goalie in the WHL last season, he could very well be one of the best goalies in the Big Ten as a freshman. The competition in the conference will no doubt be tougher than the WHL this season.
Michigan State should be excited going from one excellent NHL prospect goalie to another, and the first look comes quickly. No. 3 Michigan State hosts No. 12 Boston College in an exhibition Friday at 5 p.m. ET at Munn Ice Arena, with the Spartans expected to split the night between two goaltenders, then opens the regular season at home against Northern Michigan on Oct. 9.
