A defensive-first blueliner, Kemps comes from the USHL’s Chicago Steel, where he scored two goals and notched seven assists in 57 games played. The previous season, Kemps played in 49 games for the U.S. National Team Development Program’s U17 team and finished the year with no goals and eight assists. He will play for the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds next season before arriving in East Lansing for the 2027-28 season.

More: Chase Reid made his own path to NHL Draft, Michigan State

Bogas came from the NTDP, too, playing there this most recent season though he suffered an ankle injury in November that derailed his draft year. He got a lot of support from his family, including his dad and Michigan State alum Chris Bogas (1995-99), as well as his coaches.

“I’d just say I had a lot of support,” Bogas said. “My dad’s friends, they had very similar injuries, they reached out. And my coach Kevin Porter had a very similar injury. He helped me a lot, too. Just trust the process and it’s all gonna work out.”

He spent most of the year rehabbing the injury, returning in March and finishing the season with two goals and two assists in 37 games. He’ll join Kemps in Michigan State’s 2027-28 class. And though he even knows what NHL organization he could one day play for now, he doesn’t know where he’s going to play next season.

“I don’t really know yet,” Bogas said. “So, we’ll see. … It’s kind of out of my control again.”

McCrate, a 6-foot-2 defenseman born in Adrian, played the past two seasons in the USHL, scoring 30 points in 61 games for the Fargo Force in his draft year. He also played AAA for Little Caesars. Whether McCrate, 19, will play for Michigan State this season or next isn’t known.

Bogas following CCHA champion father to Michigan State

Bogas was born in Royal Oak, and he grew up a fan of Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall. And much like those “Kronwalled” hits used to pull fans out of their seats, Bogas once had an aunt come up with his own tagline, “Bogied,” when he lined someone up at 13. He says he models his game after the Swedish defenseman.

Bogas got to decide the Michigan State part of his journey without much interference from his father, who was the 148th overall pick of Toronto in 1996. Then again, seeing him stay so close to his old teammates, 1998 CCHA champions, made him want to follow the same path. He’s already got one close friend at Michigan State: Hextall, who will play for the Spartans this year.

“We played against each other like our whole lives, but we never really knew each other,” Bogas said. “He’d usually score a lot of goals against my team, but now we’re almost best friends. We basically talk every day, like it’s awesome. I can’t say enough good things about him.”

Even if Michigan State is one of the Big Ten’s record-setting hockey programs, Bogas’ interests are more in what comes when those records collect dust.

“I know the coaching staff is unbelievable, and the facilities are unbelievable,” Bogas said. “I think the lifelong memories and friends (my dad) made from Michigan State was a big part.”

Two players with Western Michigan ties drafted

If one of Western Michigan’s draft hopefuls had to wait through almost the whole draft to hear his name called, it was worth it: Bobby Cowan is a draft pick in the NHL.

Cowan went 205th overall to the New York Islanders, who drafted the rising sophomore in th seventh round. From Edina, Minn., Cowan had five goals and logged 24 points in 39 games as a freshman in the bottom six.

Cowan is one of two Western Michigan players or commits picked in the draft. The Broncos also had a fifth-round pick, 154th overall to Tampa Bay in Cooper Soller. The 5-10, right-shot forward from Los Angeles scored 26 goals and 49 points in 62 games for the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede. He will be back there this season before joining Western Michigan in 2027-28.

Western Michigan finished the season third in the NCHC and made the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight year under Pat Ferschweiler, but the Broncos lost to eventual national champion Denver in a regional final. Western Michigan had beaten Denver in the Frozen Four en route to its 2025 national championship the year prior.

cearegood@detroitnews.com

@ConnorEaregood