Wings prospect Max Plante voted Hobey Baker winner as top NCAA player

Las Vegas — Red Wings draft pick Max Plante earned some heavy hardware Friday.

Plante received the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s top men’s player, announced in a ceremony at the Park MGM in Las Vegas. Plante, a 2024 second round draft pick of Detroit, scored 52 points in 40 games as a sophomore for Minnesota-Duluth.

Michigan center T.J. Hughes and Denver defenseman Eric Pohlkamp were the other two finalists for the award. Hughes is expected to sign an NHL contract in the coming days as a graduating senior and top undrafted prospect on the market. After knocking out Hughes and the Wolverines on Thursday, Pohlkamp and Denver will play Wisconsin for the national championship at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.

Forward Max Plante was a second-round pick by the Red Wings in 2024.

Injury woes set Plante back in his freshman season, a 28-point campaign that flashed the abilities that made him a top prospect in his class as he won a gold medal with the United States World Junior Championship team.

Healthy this season, 20-year-old Plante was the leading force behind a strong season for Minnesota-Duluth alongside his older brother, Zam, and close friend Ty Hanson. The Bulldogs lost to Michigan in the Albany regional final, though the appearance broke a three-year drought since Plante’s father, journeyman NHLer Derek, left to coach in the NHL.

Plante is the first Hobey Baker winner at Minnesota-Duluth since Scott Perunovich in 2020. Seven Bulldogs have won the award since it first went to Neal Broten in 1981, including Jack Connolly (2012), Junior Lessard (2004), Chris Marinucci (1994), Bill Watson (1985) and Tom Kurvers (1984).

Plante is expected to return to Duluth next season for his junior year. His NHL rights expire in 2028.

MSU's Augustine named top collegiate goaltender

Add one more piece of hardware to the cabinet for Trey Augustine, who won the Mike Richter Award as college hockey’s top goaltender Friday at an awards ceremony at the Park MGM in Las Vegas. He couldn’t make it, however, because it was the same day he made his professional hockey debut with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins.

Augustine, who signed his entry-level contract with the Detroit Red Wings on March 31, finished the season with a career-best .929 save percentage and 2.11 goals against average, his 24-9-1 junior season the best of his three-year stint with Michigan State. He backstopped the Spartans to a third straight Big Ten championship and No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

In the NCAA Tournament, Augustine made 75 saves over two games, including a 2-1 escape against UConn in the opening round. But he let in three goals in a five-minute span to lose the Worcester regional final to Wisconsin, ending his college career without ever making it to the Frozen Four.

Augustine finished his NCAA career with 99 games played, 10th most among all Michigan State goaltenders. His 66 career wins rank sixth all-time. His nine shutouts tie John Lethemon for sixth most by a Spartan. His 2.40 goals against average ranks fifth. Only Hobey Baker winner and 18-year NHLer Ryan Miller (.941) finished with a higher career save percentage than Augustine’s .922 mark.

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Michigan forward T.J. Hughes during practice at T-Mobile Arena, in Las Vegas, April 8, 2026, one day before the Wolverine’s matchup against Denver in the Frozen Four.

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: NCAA hockey handed out Hobey Baker award for top player