brendan brisson

Typically we do a formal exit post when someone big from basketball or football leaves the team, and sometimes that is the case for hockey. We did not do one last week even though there was a spate of exits precisely for that reason: so many big name players were exiting for NHL/AHL deals that doing one post for each would have left you all drowning in exit posts. Instead, it felt better to do one big piece that gives a short farewell to each player that is heading to pro hockey, with a bonus take on how they will do at the next level. So here goes the Hockey Exit Bonanza. 

[James Coller]

Exit: Owen Power 

First up is Michigan's towering defenseman, the #1 pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. Power was signed by the Buffalo Sabres shortly after Michigan's season concluded and he made his NHL debut last weekend in Toronto against the Leafs. Power played two seasons at Michigan, scoring 32 points in 33 games this past season to earn All-America honors. Power's 6'6" height was his defining characteristic, but his ability to skate well and comfortability cycle down into the corners of the offensive zone made him a rare find. Given the typical dimensions of hockey players, it is quite possible Michigan will not have another player with Power's exact traits for several decades. Power played top minutes this season, often paired with either Nick Blankenburg or Keaton Pehrson, and also played heavily on the power play. 

His NHL potential: Power is someone I've generally been a bit lower on than some of the scouts, because I didn't feel like he was Michigan's best defenseman (I would say Luke Hughes for that) this season. I also was frustrated by Power's unwillingness to use his size while defending, but I will admit that the NCAA is a much softer game than the NHL. That said, the toolkit is absolutely there, and the Sabres will have plenty of opportunity to mold Power how they want him. Power was 17 when he enrolled at Michigan, meaning he's only 19 now, and defensemen take longer to develop in the league than forwards. Guys who are 6'6" and can skate don't come around every day. If he learns to be a bit more aggressive in his own end and plays the point well offensively, it's not inconceivable he could be Dougie Hamilton in three or four years. Even if he doesn't, Power will have a lengthy NHL career because Big Body Canadian Boys who play defense always do. 

[James Coller]

Exit: Kent Johnson 

The other name who signed quickly after Michigan's season ended was Kent Johnson, inking an entry level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets, who drafted him 5th overall last summer. Johnson played two seasons at Michigan, like Power, and was one of Michigan's highest scorers both seasons. Johnson never scored in double figures for goals, but racked up assists to boost his lofty point totals, scoring 37 this season in only 32 games. Like Power, Johnson played with Team Canada at the WJC and at the Olympics, meaning that he missed about a quarter of the season. Johnson spent most of his Michigan career on a line with Matty Beniers, playing the wing almost wire-to-wire, with one series against Minnesota in December 2020 being the exception. 

His NHL potential: Johnson is the player of this group that I'm most fascinated by when it comes to his NHL future. Johnson is a player with a clear set of skills, and also a clear set of weaknesses. Johnson has very good hands and the ability to make dangles/dekes that few other players can, even at the NHL level. His shot is also not bad at all. On the other hand, the aforementioned skill does not achieve as much as it should. He makes a lot of neat plays but they don't often lead to much of anything, and he had a tendency to rack up secondary assists that pad his point totals, which empirically are mostly random and not indicative of a player's success, generally speaking. Moreover, Johnson remains extremely skinny and does not engage physically in the corners. Finally, Johnson plays at a very slow pace, always preferring to slow the game down when the puck is on his stick rather than keep moving.

The concern with this approach to the game is pretty obvious when we're talking about the NHL: it is the fastest and biggest league in the world. Players in the NHL are far bigger, stronger, and more physical than the NCAA and if Johnson didn't want to play the physical side in college, what does that mean for the NHL? Additionally, NHLers take away time and space, and the hallmark of a great NHLer is one who can think and execute high-level plays on the fly. Johnson didn't show that much at Michigan. He's not going to get the same amount of time to stop and contemplate the play in the NHL.

Players who play a more meandering pace in the NHL tend to be big, burly players who give themselves that extra time because they can shield the puck from opponents with their body. These are folks like Ryan Getzlaf or Evgeni Malkin. Johnson is not that size and will never be. He's going to need to either figure out how to speed himself up, or completely change his approach. Drafting him in the top five was a major swing by Columbus and KJ will get his chance to make it work, but I have my concerns. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: More guys]

ESSENTIALS

OVERVIEW

The final weekend of the college hockey season is here and Michigan is still standing. The Wolverines made it through the testy Allentown Regional and booked their tickets to the Frozen Four, where they will meet the winners of the Loveland Regional, the Denver Pioneers. Two #1 seeds meet in the first of two semifinal games tonight at the TD Garden in Boston, and it figures to be an explosive battle of two high-powered offenses. 

[David Wilcomes]

THE US 

Michigan arrives in Boston after a healthy layoff following the heart-stopping Quinnipiac game in the regional final. The Wolverines have plenty to work on after a leaky defensive effort against the Bobcats, and I'm wondering whether the defensive pairings change tonight. The Nick Blankenburg-Ethan Edwards duo in particular looked very rough in that game, and we shall see if Mel Pearson decides to go back to the Owen Power-Blankenburg top pair, or if he sticks with this configuration. I'd expect the forward lines to stay the same, the Brisson/Beniers/Johnson line at the top, followed by the Bordeleau line, the Beecher line, and then the GVW line. When you score 12 goals in two NCAA Tournament games, it likely means the forwards aren't changing. 

Erik Portillo will get the start, as has been the case in every game this season. His numbers took a bit of a hit after giving up seven total goals in the two games a couple weekends ago, but anyone who watched those games knows it was far from his fault. He has been excellent this season and is arguably Michigan's biggest advantage over the Pioneers. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: Meet the Pioneers]

ESSENTIALS

OVERVIEW

Here we are, gang: one win from the Frozen Four. Michigan meets Quinnipiac tonight in the Elite Eight in Allentown, PA, for the right to face Denver in Boston. Win or go home, the biggest game of the season... no pressure or anything! 

THE US 

Michigan cruised through its opening round game against American International by a score of 5-3 on Friday afternoon. They scored two goals very early on, then tacked on two more in the early second period to go up 4-1. From then on it was basically cruise control, as Michigan was vastly better and dictated play. There was some sloppiness at times, but I would chalk that up to getting bored more than anything else. It's the only tournament game where Michigan will be considerably better than their opponent and there's not much you can take from that sort of dynamic and try to extrapolate to a game like today's.

Michigan got contributions from across the lineup, but their top line of Matty Beniers, Kent Johnson, and Brendan Brisson was particularly effective, combining for two goals (one on the PP) and assisting on Ethan Edwards' tally. The other two goals came from the third and fourth lines. It was a pretty boring game and that's all you can ask for in the first round against the worst team in the field. 

THE THEM

[David Wilcomes]

Quinnipiac is the last team from any of the NCAA's three eastern conferences left in the tournament. The 8th seeded team overall and the 2 seed in the Midwest Regional, QPac steamrolled through the regular season in the ECAC, which is, as Brian called it on the podcast, the A-10 of college hockey. Not quite a power conference, but also regularly producing at least one good-ish team. Quinnipiac has been that team for the last number of years, making the tourney in 2013, 14, 15, 16, 19, 21, and now 22. That run of success includes Frozen Four appearances in 2013 and 2016, both of which ended with them losing in the national championship game. 

What's tough about assessing a good team from the ECAC is that 1.) it is generally a poor league, with many very bad teams at the bottom that weigh down strength of schedule and 2.) those very bad teams (and even some of the mediocre ones) have the same offensive firepower as a toddler wielding a foam sword. The ECAC is notorious for its extremely low event hockey games, and for producing champions who boast mind-boggling defensive statistics on paper. Quinnipiac is one of those champions. The Bobcats are the NCAA's #1 defense, allowing just 1.1 goals against per game this season. They are also #2 with a .941 SV%. Figuring out how much of that is real and how much of that is beating up on bad teams is the big question. 

What we know is that this QPac squad is simply exceptional defensively when it plays in its conference. In the first 16 conference games they played this season, they allowed 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 2, 0, 1, 0, 1, and 1 goals. Yowza. It wasn't until mid-February that they finally allowed 3 in a conference game! That is genuinely dominant stuff, but again, we have to look at strength of schedule. The ECAC is a very bad league, especially this season, and it also doesn't help that QPac didn't beef up their non-con either. Here's a list of Quinnipiac's results this season based on whether opponents rank in the top 20, 21-40, or 41-60 of KRACH: 

• KRACH Top 20: 4-3-2
• KRACH 21-40: 6-1-4 
• KRACH 41-60: 20-0-1 

They play most of their games among the bottom feeders who linger in the bottom twenty and they win at an astounding clip in those games. Against everyone else, it's not as impressive and they go to overtime often (hello, low event hockey). Their other metrics, while still solid, are not nearly as impressive against teams in the top 20 in KRACH, and the save percentage of goalie Yaniv Perets drops considerably from its gargantuan average. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: More Preview]