Catching up with new Michigan State hockey captain Red Savage

The Detroit Red Wings prospect talks life at Michigan State and his future.

Photo courtesy of Michigan State Athletics.

Detroit Red Wings prospect Red Savage was named the new captain at Michigan State this week.

A fourth-round pick in 2021 (114th overall), Savage transferred from Miami to Michigan State before his junior season and found an instant fit with the Spartans. After posting 30 points over two seasons at Miami, Savage had 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in his junior season at Michigan State.

Savage didn’t wear a letter as a first-year player at MSU, but he was part of the expanded leadership group for coach Adam Nightingale.

Michigan State determines the captaincy by a vote of the team members, and I caught up with Savage this week about his new role and how his career has progressed over the past couple of seasons.

“It’s definitely humbling,” Savage said. “It’s a lot of respect from your coaching staff to be able to put this honor upon you, and I don’t take it lightly at all. I’ve been in leadership groups on teams in the past, and I think it’s something that comes pretty naturally to me … but it’s still humbling to be recognized by your teammates and coaching staff like that.”

Savage being named captain in his second year with the program, as a transfer, is a strong embodiment of how much the Spartans have turned a corner under Nightingale.

While Michigan State has recruited well, flipping Trey Augustine from Michigan for example completely flipped the balance of power in the Big Ten, the Spartans have also become an ideal destination for players in the transfer portal.

For Savage, fitting in at Michigan State started with the summer of 2023. He said arriving in East Lansing a couple of months early allowed him to build connections quickly with teammates, and it helped lay the foundation for the eventual Big Ten championship.

Michigan State did something similar this summer; the hockey team has already been on campus for more than a month. Savage said there’s a bit of unfinished business after the team lost to Michigan in the NCAA tournament after beating the Wolverines in the Big Ten title game.

“I think our culture is at an all-time high right now,” Savage said. “We have a group of 25 guys that are pissed off about how last year ended, so we’re super excited to get going. We’ve been working our asses off for the past six weeks or so, and all the new guys coming in here have been great … I look at that and think it’s going to be a really exciting year for us.”

There is a balance between living in the past and focusing on the future, Savage said, and for Michigan State, one of the keys has been using that loss to Michigan as a reminder of how hard it is to win in college hockey. While Michigan State never took Michigan lightly, the Spartans had entered the NCAA tournament with confidence after beating Michigan multiple times in the regular season and then the Big Ten tournament.

From a personal perspective, Savage is likely going to turn pro in the spring and sign an entry-level contract with Detroit. It’s not something he said he’s overly thought about, but he knows that it’s something he’ll personally build toward this season at Michigan State.

He could also become the second member of his immediate family to play professional hockey.

Savage’s dad, Brian Savage, played 12 seasons in the NHL and retired when Red was 3 years old.

“He’s never been one to scream or yell or force you to do anything; he’s just been a really good guide throughout my life,” Savage said. “I think that’s something that’s been really important throughout my whole life. It’s easy for parents to become too big of a figure in a kid’s hockey career and sports career. He always let me do what I wanted growing up; I was never pressured to play hockey or follow in his footsteps. Hockey was always just something I loved, and my dad let me develop that myself.”