Amid the sadness and confusion this week has brought to the University of Michigan, there is some good happening in Ann Arbor, particularly with the Wolverines’ hockey team.
Michigan is ranked first in the country, garnering slightly more votes than the No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers and far more than the No. 3 Michigan State Spartans. The Wolverines (16-4, 7-3 Big Ten) trail only the Badgers (12-2-2, 8-2 Big Ten) in the conference, and erasing a two-point deficit by the end of the regular season is far from
improbable.
There were questions about how Michigan’s roster overhaul — headlined by a bevy of transfers and Canadian Hockey League commitments — would fare, but head coach Brandon Naurato’s squad has answered resoundingly. The Wolverines looked as dominant as the basketball team early on, ripping off seven consecutive victories before dropping the back-half of its series with the then-No. 2 Western Michigan Broncos (WMU is now ranked No. 7).
Michigan has had trouble sweeping opponents, as all three of its conference losses have come on night two of series vs Wisconsin, at No. 9 Penn State and vs Michigan State.
As impressive as this first half of the regular season has been, there is reason to believe these Wolverines will only improve gradually. Naurato’s lineup is littered with young talent, namely sophomore forwards Will Horcoff (19 goals, nine assists) and Michael Hage (10 goals, 18 assists), who are tied with senior captain T.J. Hughes (nine goals, 19 assists) at 28 points.
Those three have been unstoppable, and Horcoff in particular looks like he will be a very, very good NHL player with his combination of size, hands and smarts.
North Dakota junior transfer Jayden Perron (six goals, 18 points) has a dangerous, right-handed shot and has looked more than comfortable on the power play. But beyond the skill and speed of the top six guys, Naurato has a plethora of upperclassmen grinders who bring that sandpaper and ferocity needed not only to survive, but to thrive in the Big Ten.
Josh Eernissee (nine goals, 15 points) is having a productive offensive campaign. Nick Moldenhauer (three goals, 13 points) may go under the radar, but do not underestimate his forechecking impact. There are also guys like Garrett Schifsky (six goals, 10 points) and Kienan Draper (two goals, eight points) who are poised, tough forwards that further illustrate the ridiculous depth Naurato has to configure.
Other notable underclassmen include a stellar group of freshmen forwards. Adam Valentini (five goals, 17 points), Malcom Spence (seven goals, 12 points), Cole McKinney (five goals, 11 points) and Aidan Park (six goals, 10 points) have delivered against the rigors of college hockey and ensure scoring is not all on the big dogs.
Defensively, Cornell junior transfer Ben Robertson (14 assists) has been a revelation, bringing that veteran presence and responsible play every team covets. Senior Tyler Duke is still a stalwart and one of the more fiery competitors on a roster filled with them. Senior Luca Fantilli remains solid, too. Duke, Fantilli and Draper round out the Hughes-led leadership group, all wearing an “A.”
Freshmen Asher Barnett and Drew Schock have stepped up nicely, especially after their classmate Henry Mews (9 assists in 10 games) was lost to a season-ending injury. Neither Barnett nor Schock plays like a freshman, a rare trait for anyone, but even more so on the back end.
Somehow, we have gone all this time without talking about arguably Michigan’s MVP so far. Freshman goaltender Jack Ivankovic was highly touted for his work with junior Canadian national teams and was expected to right a goaltending ship that has struggled to navigate Big Ten waters in recent years.
Ivankovic has been everything and more. Not only has he started every game, but his numbers are impeccable — a 1.90 goals allowed average and a .927 save percentage. He may be a little small for an NHL goaltender (5-foot-11), but the Nashville Predators should be thrilled with their 2025 second-rounder. Ivankovic is the real deal.
Much like all Wolverines teams of the last decade or half-decade, this team is not built like a typical national champion. Those teams are usually old, heavy and roll four lines in their sleep. Yet, while Michigan certainly has some of the trying-to-be-too-fancy negative tendencies of late, this iteration plays the most sound and structured defensive game I have seen since enrolling in 2019, and there is clearly no shortage of scorers up top.
Is this finally the year for the Wolverines? Maybe. Maybe not. But, I am confident saying Michigan will be a difficult out come postseason play and has many of the makings of (at least) a Frozen Four team.
