Geary is selected by the Sabres on the second day of the NHL Draft

Las Vegas, Nevada. – Aspiring sophomore Patrick Geary (Buffalo, NY) was the second current Michigan State hockey player selected in the 2024 Draft. He was selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the Upper Deck NHL Draft, Rounds 2-7 concluded Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Geary was selected in the sixth round (172nd overall pick) by his hometown team. A product of the Buffalo Junior Sabres program, Geary is a rapidly improving force on the Spartans’ young defense, which has had four freshmen in the lineup every night in 2023-24. Geary started 32 of 38 games and has appeared in each of the last 30. He scored five goals and eight assists (+1) on the season and scored one of the most important goals of MSU’s season – the game-winning overtime goal that secured the Big Ten Tournament win over Michigan.

Two future Spartans were selected in the seventh round – Michigan products and former USNTDP players Lucas VanVliet (Livonia, Michigan) and Austin Baker (White Lake, Michigan) were separated by six picks in the seventh round. VanVliet was the 197th selection by the Vegas Golden Knights and Baker was selected by the Detroit Red Wings with pick 203.

MSU 2024 – DRAFT NOTES

• MSU had four picks in the 2024 draft. Artjom Levshunov went to Chicago in the first round on Friday evening as number 2 in the overall rankings.
• Levschunov is MSU’s second highest selection in program history, along with Craig Simpson (1985, Pittsburgh). Joe Murphy’s Selected by the Detroit Red Wings in 1986, he was the first college player ever to be selected as the number 1 pick.
• The selection of Levschunov of Chicago was their first selection of a Michigan State player since the Blackhawks Duncan Keith (2nd round, 54th overall) in 2002. Keith won three Stanley Cup rings with Chicago (2010, 2013 and 2015). Chicago has selected seven Spartans in its draft history.
• A native of Belarus, Levschunov became the highest NHL draft pick of Belarusian descent in hockey history.
• MSU had the most selections (4) since 2002, when Jim Slater (ATL), Lee Falardeau (NYSE:NYR), Duncan Keith (CHI), Brock Radunske (EDM) and Colton Fretter (ATL) was the fourth-largest draft class for MSU. The Spartans had eight picks in 1990, seven in 1985 and six picks each in 1994, 1989 and 1991 – the most of any team in the program. MSU’s five picks came in 2002, 1984 and 1982.
• Geary joins classmate Maxim Štrbák (Košice, Slovakia) in the Sabres’ defensive pipeline. Štrbák was selected No. 45 in the 2023 draft. Buffalo has selected eight Spartans in total, the fourth most of any team.
• Austin Baker was also selected by his hometown team. The White Lake, Michigan native is one of eight selected by the Detroit Red Wings in 2024. Baker joins the 2021 selection Red Wild and choose 2023 Trey Augustine in the Wings pipeline.
• Lucas Van Vliet is the first future Spartan selected by the 2023 Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights.