Waiting in the wings - The Oakland Press

RED WINGS

Waiting in the wings

Trey Augustine chose to return to Michigan State for his junior season, and chase a national title, rather than turn pro with the Red Wings. DAVID GURALNICK — THE DETROIT NEWS

United States’ goalkeeper Trey Augustine makes a save during the preliminary round match between United States and Germany at the Ice Hockey World Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic last year. ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

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By Ted Kulfan

The Detroit News

DETROIT >> Goaltender Trey Augustine has had a wonderful career at Michigan State and has been a huge part of the Spartans’ success the last two seasons.

Had Augustine, the Red Wings’ 2023 second-round draft pick (41st selection overall), chosen to turn professional this offseason, no one would have been shocked.

But Augustine didn’t go pro. He decided to return for his junior season at MSU. And listening to Augustine this week at the Red Wings’ development camp, it’s clear Augustine has not yet accomplished his ultimate goal in East Lansing.

“It ended on a negative note and there’s still something to prove there,” said Augustine of MSU’s last-second loss to Cornell in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. “I want to go back and win a national championship. A lot of good things happened in the year. I got to be a better hockey player and person. I hope do that next year (too).

“But I also want to a win national championship and go from there.”

The Spartans, under coach Adam Nightingale — a former Red Wings assistant coach — have one of the top programs in the country. They have a deep and talented roster returning, which makes their hopes of another championship run realistic.

And that made Augustine’s decision to return to East Lansing understandable, though is wasn’t an entirely easy decision.

Every young hockey player wants to play pro hockey, if given the chance. Especially if, like Augustine, 20, it’s your hometown team (Augustine is a South Lyon native) that drafted you.

“It was difficult,” Augustine said. “I didn’t feel there was a wrong answer. It was just kind of what worked best for me and my career. I still need to get stronger on and off the ice. Staying in college gives me a little bit of a better opportunity to kind of develop my body and get ready for the professional game.”

Augustine followed a sensational freshman season with an even better sophomore campaign. Augustine was 19-7-4, with a 2.08 goals-against average and .924 save percentage, and three shutouts, and also carried Team USA to a gold medal at the world junior championships.

The Wings would have been pleased to get Augustine into the organization and watch him develop professionally. But Dan Cleary, the Wings’ director of player development, felt Augustine really didn’t have a wrong answer to the situation, and there is a hunger at MSU currently after the way last season ended.

“Michigan State’s got a great program; Adam Nightingale does a really good job there,” Cleary said. “I like the program with Trey going back. That solidifies their team and net for sure. The Big Ten in general is a really good conference. It’s going to be very competitive and it’s good for Trey.

“He wants to go back, and maybe he’s got some unfinished business there with that club. So, we’ll watch, help him, and look forward to Trey becoming a pro.”

Statistics aside, Augustine felt he had a productive season in that he learned to be more under control in net. This coming season, Augustine wants to work on his body.

“That’s huge for career longevity,” said Augustine, who adds developing a consistent approach mentally is also important. “After a negative, how do you respond? Or if you make a big save, and if they have another good chance, you have to be focused again. Whether it goes right for me, it doesn’t matter. It’s the same approach and you have to be ready for the next shot.”Augustine is also excited about playing another season for Nightingale, who Augustine credits with the MSU turnaround. Nightingale has won Big Ten and national coach of the year awards for his work at MSU.

“It’s the culture coach Nightingale has brought in since he got there (in 2022),” Augustine said. “Really, he’s done a phenomenal job of getting good people first and into the building, and that makes it easy to work as a team and go from there.”

Augustine didn’t want to speculate too much about what he’ll do next spring when he’ll be confronted with the same decision about turning pro or returning to MSU. There’s the coming season to prepare for, with the stated goal of winning a national championship. But if everything goes right, next year Augustine will be starting his pro career.

“Ideally,” Augustine said. “(But) I still have to go out there and prove it and make a decision at the end of next season.”