Michigan State hockey head coach Adam Nightingale officially signed a new deal with the program on Friday, and there’s a new detail in the contract that should help keep in East Lansing, Mich. for the long haul.
Nightingale has experienced a ton of success in a short amount of time at Michigan State, winning the Big Ten regular season and conference tournament titles in back-to-back seasons, which resulted in No. 1 seeds in each of the last two NCAA Tournaments as well. That kind of success has resulted in some (including myself) worrying he may be a target for a NHL coaching position in the near future. Good news for Michigan State, though, is that his new contract extension (which is through 2030) has a greatly increased buyout should someone want to poach him away.
Connor Earegood of The Detroit News posted on social media platform X on Friday that Nightingale’s buyout over the next three years has more than doubled to $2 million. The buyout from there will drop but still a notable amount throughout most of his contract. You can see the exact numbers in Earegood’s post below:
MSU’s new contract for Adam Nightingale is clearly meant to dissuade an NHL departure. Retention bonus tripled to $300k. Buyout more than doubled over the next 3 years to $2 million.
The deal was signed by Tom Izzo and Kevin Guskiewicz.
Old vs. new buyout structures below: pic.twitter.com/6Tn1VPSb1b
— Connor Earegood (@ConnorEaregood) June 13, 2025
This is the type of move from both Michigan State and Nightingale that shows he plans to be with the Spartans hockey program for a longtime. Which is really good news for Spartans everywhere.
Michigan State will enter next season as a preseason top five team, with some already pegging them as the No. 1 team in way-too-early rankings. So, it’s safe to say things are great for Michigan State hockey right now, and the news out of Friday only furthered those positive vibes for the Spartans.
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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Buyout for Adam Nightingale to leave MSU hockey more than doubles with new contract