The 2023 NHL Entry Draft is less than one month away. Elite Prospects has released its annual NHL Draft Guide featuring hundreds of player profiles and scouting reports.

As it stands, several Michigan State hockey players' professional rights are with NHL teams. Defenseman Viktor Hurtig was selected by the New Jersey Devils in the sixth round of the 2021 NHL Draft; Defenseman David Gucciardi was a seventh-round selection by the Washington Capitals last year; center Red Savage was selected in the fourth round by the Detroit Red Wings; left wing Isaac Howard was picked No. 31 overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Additionally, MSU prospect Jack Sparkes was a sixth-round selection by the Los Angeles Kings last year. He's expected to come to campus in 2024-2025.

Two incoming freshman are eligible for this year's NHL Draft, which takes place in Nashville at the end of the month. Those freshman are goaltender Trey Augustine and defenseman Maxim Štrbák. One other prospect is also eligible for the draft, left wing Michael DeAngelo.

Fans interested in learning more about the upcoming draft can download Elite Prospects' Draft Guide here.

Elite Prospects ranks Augustine as the top goaltender in this year's NHL Draft. The player that Elite Prospects compares Augustine to is Philadelphia Flyers' goaltender Carter Hart.

"Augustine is one of the most-polished skaters among the goaltenders available in this entire draft," the scouting report reads. "He is extremely patient on his edges as well, which makes him an incredible play-reader off the rush."

The ceiling on Augustine is hard to scout, as it is with most goalies. But regardless, teams will be drafting an exciting prospect with a very high floor. There isn't an A-tier goalie in this year's draft, but Augustine is as close as you can get to one. His frame — at only 6-foot-1, 179 pounds — may scare some teams away, but he has the skills to put those worries to rest.

"He’s a winner of a human being," Team USA U18 coach Dan Muse said back in April. "An unbelievable person. I was just telling him I’m proud of him."

Over the winter, I had a quick conversation with both Augustine and his U17 coach Nick Fohr, who told me that Augustine has an elite work ethic.

"Just like shooting, passing and skating are all skills, for a goalie, stopping the puck is a skill," Fohr said. "They might look the part, like, ‘Oh my God, this guy is 6-foot-3, and moves really well and he’s athletic,’ but if you can’t stop the puck, you’re still no good … Trey has that skill, stopping the puck.”

Teammate Ryan Leonard, a projected first-round draft pick this year, said, "Trey is Trey. Best goalie in the world. He had our back any time. That’s all I've got to say on Trey."

Augustine is projected to be taken in the second or third round at this year's draft. He should also be the starting netminder for Team USA at the World Junior Championships for the next two years.

Let me preface Štrbák's scouting report by saying this: he has all of the tools to become a No. 4 defenseman in the NHL. However, there's a lot of room to improve and I admire Elite Prospects' scouting.

Štrbák's games between playing in the USHL with Sioux Falls and with Slovakia are like night and day. That could have a lot to do with his role on Slovakia, which was fleshed out very well.

"He wants to make plays. He pulls off many of them, but there is also a collection of turnovers, as he doesn’t have the skill level of many of these Canadian defenseman," Elite Prospects lead scout David St-Louis wrote in April. "His NHL qualities are his desire to make plays and his ability to engage opponents."

In April, Štrbák said he looks up to Detroit Red Wings' defenseman Moritz Seider.

"He’s a good one," Štrbák said. "I think there’s some similarities that I can take from him. I like to just watch his game and learn as much as I can."

Scouts have gathered that there is a lot of potential for him, but his skating just isn't where it needs to be. In December, Joey Padmanabhan wrote, "He relies on poke checks and lunges when defending the rush rather than getting his feet to a spot and maintaining close gaps."

As mentioned, he had a rough season with Sioux Falls in the USHL. His turnovers were high and he has plenty of room for improvement in skating. But he still has a long way to go. Thankfully, Michigan State will be a great place to hone in his skills.

DeAngelo gets a "C" grade from Elite Prospects. He had 35 points for Green Bay last season and has a solid shot. Once he gets to Michigan State, he could be lethal.

"Without better tools, DeAngelo’s straightforward game might not be enough to make the NHL," the scouting report reads. "But with more of those exciting skill flashes, he could carve out a role deeper in the lineup, complementing point-producing forwards when given the chance."

My guess is that DeAngelo ends up somewhere in the mid-to-late rounds.

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