Six Spartans Earn Postseason Big Ten Honors

East Lansing, Mich. -- Michigan State freshmen Artyom Levshunov (Zhlobin, Belarus) and Trey Augustine (South Lyon, Mich.) lead the Spartans' selections to the postseason All-Big Ten Awards, as announced on Tuesday afternoon by the Conference office.

Levshunov earned four postseason honors – he was named not only the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and the Freshman of the Year, but also earned spots on the All-Big Ten First Team and the All-Freshman Team. Augustine joined his classmate on the All-Freshman Team and earned Second Team All-Big Ten accolades.

Head Coach Adam Nightingale was named the Conference's Coach of the Year, giving MSU three major award winners to cap off a regular season which resulted in the program's first Big Ten title, and the Spartans will play for a Big Ten Tournament championship on Saturday on their home ice.

In addition, a trio of sophomores earned Honorable Mention honors: Karsen Dorwart (Sherwood, Ore.), Isaac Howard (Hudson, Wis.) and Joey Larson (Brighton, Mich.) Nicolas Müller was named the team's recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

"With team success comes individual success," noted Nightingale. "We are super excited for the guys that both won awards and were honorable mention. What I enjoy about most about them is that it is never about themselves, but rather, the team."

Levshunov is perhaps one of the most dynamic players in the Big Ten, as the right-handed blueliner is the top scoring freshman at MSU since the early 1990's and ranks second nationally among freshmen at his position (and 12th among all defensemen). He is a Big Ten-best +25 and a 9-23-32 scoring line, while playing on MSU's top defensive pair in all 35 games. In addition to his four Big Ten Awards, the right-hand shot is on the fan Vote for Hobey ballot and is a candidate for the Tim Taylor National Rookie of the Year. A late 2005 birth year, Levshunov is the No. 2 ranked skater in the NHL Central Scouting ranking of North American skaters and is a projected top-10 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.

Augustine, a second-round selection of the Detroit Red Wings last summer, is the youngest starting goaltender in Division I, playing in perhaps the most skilled offensive league in the country – and in 32 games, owns a .919 save percentage, 2.86 GAA, and 21-8-2 record. He is first in the B1G in saves per game (31.75) and second in total saves (1016) and is one of just nine goalies in the country to earn 20 victories between the pipes. In the win at Wisconsin on March 1 which sealed MSU's Big Ten regular-season title, he came up with 44 saves - tying his career best in a huge road victory. It was the second championship for the freshman this season, as he also backstopped Team USA to a gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championships, boasting a tournament-best 1.75 GAA and .936 save percentage, including 24 saves in the gold-medal game.

The unanimous selection as the Big Ten Coach of the Year, Nightingale has turned around the fortunes of the Spartan hockey program in just under two years at the helm. He guided the Spartans not only to their first-ever Big Ten regular-season title (and first conference title since 2001), but also their first-ever Big Ten Tournament victories. MSU has been ranked as high as No. 4 in both national polls this season and with a pairwise ranking of No. 5, will return to the NCAA Tournament in 2024 after a decade absence. Nightingale owns a two-year record of 41-27-5, the second-most wins for any coach in program history over their first two years.

All three of the sophomores who earned Honorable Mention selections have surpassed their freshman season numbers and have contributed to an offense which ranks seventh nationally (3.86 goals per game). Dorwart and Howard skate together on the first line and share the team's current points lead (32 points). Dorwart is second on the squad in goals (14) while Howard leads the team in assists (24), more than doubling his freshman-season total (11). Meanwhile, Larson is the team leader in goals (15) and is second in points (31).

The team's Sportsmanship Award honoree is the fifth-year senior Müller, who is serving as one of the team's alternate captains and is putting up a strong season on the heels of his best career offensive numbers in 2022-23. The centerman owns a 7-20-28 scoring line with a +10 rating and 19 blocked shots. He is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection who was the team's Outstanding Offensive Player, Outstanding Senior, and also was voted the recipient of the Spartan Shield award last year.

2023-24 BIG TEN HOCKEY POSTSEASON AWARDS

PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Gavin Brindley, So., F, Michigan

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Artyom Levshunov, Fr., D, Michigan State

GOALTENDER OF THE YEAR:
Kyle McClellan, Sr., G, Wisconsin

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:
Artyom Levshunov, Fr., D, Michigan State

COACH OF THE YEAR:
Adam Nightingale +, Michigan State

SCORING CHAMPION:
Gavin Brindley, So., F, Michigan (29 points)

ALL-BIG TEN FIRST TEAM

Name	School	Yr.	Position	Hometown
Gavin Brindley	Michigan	So.	Forward	Estero, Fla.
Rutger McGroarty	Michigan	So.	Forward	Lincoln, Neb.
Jimmy Snuggerud	Minnesota	So.	Forward	Chaska, Minn.
Seamus Casey	Michigan	So.	Defenseman	Fort Myers, Fla.
Artyom Levshunov	Michigan State	Fr.	Defenseman	Zhlobin, Belarus
Kyle McClellan	Wisconsin	Sr.	Goaltender	Manchester, Mo.

ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM*

Name	School	Yr.	Position	Hometown
Dylan Duke	Michigan	Jr.	Forward	Strongsville, Ohio
Rhett Pitlick	Minnesota	Jr.	Forward	Plymouth, Minn.
Landon Slaggert	Notre Dame	Sr.	Forward	South Bend, Ind.
Ryan Chesley	Minnesota	So.	Defenseman	Mahtomedi, Minn.
Sam Rinzel	Minnesota	Fr.	Defenseman	Chanhassen, Minn.
Scooter Brickey	Ohio State	5th	Defenseman	Burtchville, Mich.
Trey Augustine	Michigan State	Fr.	Goaltender	South Lyon, Mich.

ALL-BIG TEN HONORABLE MENTION

Name	School	Yr.	Position	Hometown
T.J. Hughes	Michigan	So.	Forward	Hamilton, Ontario
Frank Nazar III	Michigan	So.	Forward	Mount Clemens, Mich.
Karsen Dorwart	Michigan State	So.	Forward	Sherwood, Oregon
Isaac Howard	Michigan State	So.	Forward	Hudson, Wis.
Joey Larson	Michigan State	So.	Forward	Brighton, Mich.
Bryce Brodzinski	Minnesota	Gr.	Forward	Blaine, Minn.
Jaxon Nelson	Minnesota	Gr.	Forward	Magnolia, Minn.
Stephen Halliday	Ohio State	So.	Forward	Glenwood, Md.
Aiden Fink	Penn State	Fr.	Forward	Calgary, Alberta
Cruz Lucius	Wisconsin	So.	Forward	Grant, Minn.
David Silye	Wisconsin	Sr.	Forward	Arnprior, Ontario
Luke Mittelstadt	Minnesota	So.	Defenseman	Eden Prairie, Minn.
Ryan Siedem	Notre Dame	Gr.	Defenseman	Madison, N.J.
Ben Dexheimer	Wisconsin	So.	Defenseman	Edina, Minn.
Justen Close	Minnesota	Gr.	Goaltender	Kindersley, Saskatchewan
Ryan Bischel	Notre Dame	Gr.	Goaltender	Medina, Minn.

BIG TEN ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

Name	School	Yr.	Position	Hometown
Garrett Schifsky	Michigan	Fr.	Forward	Andover, Minn.
Oliver Moore	Minnesota	Fr.	Forward	Mounds View, Minn.
Aiden Fink +	Penn State	Fr.	Forward	Calgary, Alberta
Artyom Levushnov	Michigan State	Fr.	Defenseman	Zhlobin, Belarus
Sam Rinzel	Minnesota	Fr.	Defenseman	Chanhassen, Minn.
Trey Augustine +	Michigan State	Fr.	Goaltender	South Lyon, Mich.

BIG TEN SPORTSMANSHIP AWARDS

Name	School	Yr.	Position	Hometown
Jacob Truscott	Michigan	Sr.	Defenseman	Port Huron, Mich.
Nicolas Müller	Michigan State	5th	Forward	Arisdorf, Switzerland
Carl Fish	Minnesota	Sr.	Defenseman	St. Paul, Minn.
Hunter Strand	Notre Dame	Jr.	Forward	Anchorage, Alaska
Damien Carfagna	Ohio State	So.	Defenseman	Wood-Ridge, N.J.
Simon Mack	Penn State	Jr.	Defenseman	Brockville, Ontario
Owen Lindmark	Wisconsin	Gr.	Forward	Naperville, Ill.

* Team includes a seventh player due to a tie in voting
+ unanimous selections

Players Mentioned

Trey Augustine

Karsen Dorwart

Isaac Howard

Joey Larson

Artyom Levshunov

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