The Anaheim Ducks signed right wing Nikita Klepov, the 15th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, to a three-year entry-level contract carrying a $1.075 million cap hit. The deal, finalized Saturday, ends Klepov’s commitment to Michigan State before it ever reached opening night.
One day earlier, Michigan State had announced Klepov as part of its 26-member 2026-27 freshman class. By signing an NHL contract, he became ineligible to play NCAA hockey — a timeline that compressed a college career into roughly 24 hours of paperwork.
Klepov, 18, spent last season with the Saginaw Spirit and led the Ontario Hockey League in scoring as a rookie: 37 goals and 60 assists for 97 points in 67 games, with a plus-9 rating. He won the OHL’s Rookie of the Year award and earned a spot on the league’s First All-Star Team. He became just the third player in OHL history to win rookie of the year and lead the league in points in the same season, joining Patrick Kane (2006-07) and Jack Valiquette (1973-74). He was also the first American-born player to win the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as the OHL’s top scorer since Jason Robertson in 2018-19.
The 6-foot, 186-pound forward from Deerfield Beach, Florida, led all OHL rookies in goals, assists, and points, and set Saginaw franchise records for assists and points by a first-year player. He added five points in four playoff games. The previous season, he played for the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL, where he recorded 31 points and three game-winning goals in 59 contests.
Klepov also scored the championship-clinching goal for Team USA at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, finishing the tournament with six points in five games.
The Ducks drafted Klepov on June 26 in Buffalo. A month later, the American-Russian dual citizen was under contract. His agent is Dan Milstein, who also represents Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov and former Michigan State defenseman Artyom Levshunov, now with the Chicago Blackhawks.
For Michigan State, the loss stings but does not gut the roster. The Spartans still bring in a freshman class featuring Mason West, Ethan Belchetz, and Jack Hextall, plus transfer Cullen Potter. With sophomores Ryker Lee and Cayden Lindstrom returning and defensemen Chase Reid and Tommy Bleyl joining goaltender Joshua Ravensbergen, Michigan State will carry nine first-round NHL picks on its 2026-27 roster — breaking Michigan’s 2021-22 record of seven.
Head coach Adam Nightingale has not indicated how the program will fill Klepov’s vacated spot. He and associate head coach Jared DiMichiel are currently at the World Junior Summer Showcase in Windsor, Ontario, evaluating candidates for the 2027 U.S. World Junior Championship team.
Klepov himself would not have been eligible for World Junior play. The International Ice Hockey Federation banned Russia and Belarus from its events following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, closing that pathway despite his dual citizenship.
