Michigan State eyeing USHL center Jack Hextall as first-round draft pick

Jack Hextall’s rise with the Youngstown Phantoms has put him on the edge of first-round NHL Draft status and into Michigan State’s plans at center. The 6-foot-? details were never the headline here, the production was: 58 points in 59 games, 20 goals, 38 assists, six game-winning goals and a plus-8 rating for Youngstown. That kind of output is exactly why Hextall is being viewed as a back-half first-round pick when the draft opens June 26-27 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York.

For Michigan State, the fit is immediate. The Spartans are looking at openings down the middle after the departures of Charlie Stramel and Tiernan Shoudy, and Hextall arrives with the kind of junior résumé that makes a freshman hard to keep off the ice. Michigan State’s 2025-26 roster already reflects how heavily the program leans on the USHL pipeline, and Hextall extends that trend with a profile built in junior hockey, not merely projected from it.

The measurable evidence is strong enough on its own. Hextall finished 34th among North American skaters on NHL Central Scouting’s final list, after sitting 33rd in the midterm rankings. He also played in the 2026 Chipotle All-American Game, another sign that his game held up against top peers outside the USHL schedule. His stock has stayed steady through the spring because evaluators have seen the same thing repeatedly: a center who can drive offense, finish plays and stay involved in key moments.

His path into that conversation started early. Youngstown signed Hextall to a tender agreement on January 5, 2024, when he was with Chicago Mission 15U AAA and had already put up 24 goals and 48 assists in 50 games. Born in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, he moved quickly from elite youth hockey to a USHL scoring role, and that jump is part of what makes his draft case so compelling. The league is supposed to be a proving ground for college hockey and NHL futures, and Hextall has used it as both.

His international résumé only added weight. Hextall was part of the U.S. team that won gold at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and NHL.com noted that he stood out in Slovakia last August. That blend of USHL production, national-team success and first-round buzz is what now makes his Michigan State commitment more than a college pickup. It is a sign that the Spartans may be getting one of the most complete draft-and-develop centers in the league.