Hockey in late June??? Well, the NHL Draft wrapped up today and I wanted to put something together looking at where Michigan and other B1G players went in the draft. Then I realized that there were a few items not covered since my last hockey piece, including new insight on the incoming freshman class, non-conference schedule, a team captain, and coaching changes. So let's knock them out in one piece. 

Michigan at the NHL Draft 

The array of Michigan players at the NHL Draft this year is not as plentiful as it was the past couple years but two Wolverines went in the opening two rounds, Adam Fantilli and Gavin Brindley. Also, they went to the same team! The Columbus Blue Jackets are now the hotbed of Wolverines in the NHL, as they have the possibility of icing a future roster that includes Zach Werenski, Nick Blankenburg, Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli, and Gavin Brindley. It's not like these are complementary picks either, as the Blue Jackets are planning for Werenski to be their #1 defenseman on a future elite Columbus team, with Fantilli and Johnson being their top two centers. 

Let's start with Fantilli, because as I wrote last time, Columbus was the team that Michigan fans probably didn't want him to go to. Back then I was writing that Michigan fans seemingly dodged a bullet, with the Blue Jackets dropping to 3 and Anaheim in line to take Fantilli at 2 after the draft lottery. That's not how it played out, though, something that seemed to be in the offing in the final days leading up to the draft. The Ducks were considered a wild card in the process, undecided up until the final moments, and the winds were blowing towards Swedish C Leo Carlsson in the last 24 hours. The Athletic's Corey Pronman was the first major analyst to indicate that the Ducks were going to pick Carlsson the morning of the draft and that ended up being the way they went. 

As a result, Fantilli fell to the Jackets, who were more than happy to take Fantilli 3rd overall. In my view, the Ducks made a significant mistake taking Carlsson over Fantilli, but on the other hand, I'm not a draft guru, so what do I know! Regardless, it speaks to how insanely loaded this NHL Draft was that Fantilli, who had one of the best NCAA freshman seasons of all time, was picked 3rd. Goes without saying that Fantilli would've gone 1st in either 2022 or 2021. That's the way it goes sometimes! 

[Bill Rapai]

So what does it mean now that Fantilli is with the Blue Jackets? Moslty it means he was picked by the team in the top five with the strongest desire to "win now" and as a result, you'd think that they would be the most aggressive in trying to sign Fantilli. The Blue Jackets have long expressed a desire to prove that this past year was an aberration, trading for Damon Severson and Ivan Provorov this offseason to revamp their defense. Adding Fantilli right away would be the crown jewel of drumming up hype for the fans. 

Of course, they can't unilaterally make Fantilli suit up for the Jackets next year. Signing a player, especially a college player, has increasingly been up to the player themselves. We've seen players like Adam Fox and Jimmy Vesey spurn the team that drafts them to pick their team, using the threat of not signing to force trades. Adam Fantilli is not going to do that, but the point is that college players hold all the cards. They ultimately decide if they want to leave or not.

[AFTER THE JUMP: Brindley, coaching buzz, roster, schedule]

KJ and Fantilli together? [Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports]

The reason why Columbus drafting Fantilli could be bad news for Michigan is because they likely possess the most competitive 2023-24 roster of any team in the top five. I put in my last piece that Fantilli may view Michigan as attractive because of how catastrophically bad the Ducks were last season and how far they still have to go to approach the playoffs. Running it back at Michigan and competing for a national title is reasonably attractive in comparison to playing for an NHL team that was the worst defensive team of the modern era (Anaheim last season). It's less attractive in comparison to a team that is going to enter next season hoping to compete for the playoffs (whether Columbus can realistically do that is another story... but they want to!). 

There is still plenty of uncertainty at this point in time. Fantilli last night said that he intends to attend the development camp (as all draft picks do) and will speak with the Jackets' management there about his plans. Gun to my head, I would guess that Fantilli signs with the Jackets. But who knows?

Gavin Brindley will not be going to the Jackets next season, though they did select him early in the second round (I wonder if Fantilli demanded that they pick Brindley?). I love that pick for the Jackets as a big fan of Brindley's game. He's not a big guy but he is such a hard worker, buzzing around the ice. His polished two-way game means he should be able to stay in the NHL even if his offensive upside doesn't translate to a top six role. Little worker bee guys are some of my favorite players to bet on because in a lot of cases, they outwork the competition. That's the hope for Columbus in drafting Brindley and I certainly wish the best for them. Seeing Fantilli and Brindley reunited in the NHL would be awesome. 

Two of the B1G's three first round picks [Gursahibveer Singh]

B1G at the NHL Draft 

Michigan wasn't the only B1G team with players selected at the NHL Draft, though they did have the highest one picked in Fantilli. Minnesota saw incoming freshman Oliver Moore from the USNTDP picked 19th overall by Chicago (joining the Hawks' pipeline with Frank Nazar), a speedster who could end up at C or wing in the NHL. Wisconsin's Charlie Stramel, who struggled as a freshman but is looking to make a jump in 2023-24, went surprisingly high- 21st to the Minnesota Wild. Those were the only first rounders, as Hockey East dominated the night in terms of college hockey picks, with BC's new mega line of Will Smith, Ryan Leonard, and Gabe Perreault getting picked 4th, 7th, and 23rd, respectively. In addition to that, BU's Tom Willander, Maine's Bradley Nadeau, and UCONN's Matthew Wood all heard their names called on draft night. 

Michigan State cleaned up in the second round, with incoming goalie (and one-time Michigan commit) Trey Augustine being picked 41st by the in-state Detroit Red Wings. Slovak defenseman Maxim Štrbák, also a freshman at State this fall, went 45th to Buffalo. Those two will join a bunch of transfers in hoping to snap MSU's decade-long NCAA Tournament drought. Wisconsin also accounted for a Red Wings pick in round two, D Brady Cleveland (47th), while Notre Dame's Danny Nelson went 49th to the Islanders. 

There weren't too many B1G players picked after that, though Wisconsin's William Whitelaw was picked in the early third by Columbus (their first non-Michigan pick of the day). He was the only third rounder headed to the B1G, with the next pick being Cole Knuble (son of Mike Knuble), a Notre Dame-commit, in the early 4th. That was the extent of the interesting picks before you get into the stab-in-the-dark late rounders. Not the most eventful B1G draft of all time, but plenty of talent is joining the league, keeping it well stocked to compete with Hockey East and the NCHC.  

One of Michigan's new assistant coaches? [Chicago Steel Screencap]

Coaching and Roster Notes

On the assistant coaching search. In my last hockey piece, I noted the vacancy of two spots on the coaching staff due to the expansion of staffs under a change in NCAA rules and the departure of Bill Muckalt. Since that time we have not gotten any word on where Muckalt will be going next, but we have heard rumors for who will be replacing them. College Hockey Insider's Mike McMahon reported that two names, the Chicago Steel's Matt Deschamps (Associate HC there) and the USNTDP's Kevin Reiter (Dir. of Player Personnel there), will be the hires. Neither have been officially announced and the last word was that contract negotiations are still underway, so I won't claim that's it official. But, it seems like it's heading that way. 

Admittedly, I don't know a ton about these guys, but Deschamps seems to be a Naurato sort of guy. He's young (43) and was featured on the Hockey IQ podcast, detailing his rather progressive and tech-centric approach to coaching. His involvement with the Steel also got him featured on Adam Fantilli's draft day vest, which had the name of everyone he wanted to thank for his hockey success. The Chicago Steel is by far the best USHL program in producing NHL talent, with a well-established pipeline to Michigan that has included Brisson, Power, the Fantillis, and incoming freshman Nick Moldenhauer. Having an assistant coach on staff with a direct tie to the Steel would be a big time move for recruiting no matter how good of a coach Deschamps is. 

As for Reiter, he would appear to be the goalie-specific coach. At 41, he fits in on what has to be one of the youngest coaching staffs in college hockey. Reiter was a goalie at Alaska-Anchorage in the 00s before becoming a goalie coach in the early 2010s. He coached in Italy and then has been with the NTDP for a decade, as the goalie coach from 2013-17 before transitioning into his current administrative role. Having a USNTDP guy on staff is big for recruiting too, but Reiter's got plenty of experience working with high level goalie prospects, which seems fine to me. Judging how good any assistant is in hockey is nearly impossible, so I won't try and assess Deschamps and Reiter. If nothing else, we see a clear vision in how Naurato is building a staff: young, progressive, data-oriented, big game hunters in recruiting with a focus on pro talent pipelines. 

[Bill Rapai]

Naurato's extension. Ryan Zuke of MLive leaked the details on Brandon Naurato's new contract recently, a five-year deal that meets the norm for Michigan head coaches of any sport. His base salary is $400,000, up from $300,000 last season. That base number is only for year #1, as the base pay increases each season up to $433,100 in the fifth year (2027-28). There are also bonuses, which I'll quote here: 

(Naurato) will collect one month’s base salary if Michigan wins the Big Ten regular season title and would earn an equivalent bonus if it wins the conference tournament or qualifies for the NCAA Tournament. A Frozen Four appearance would net him an additional two month’s base salary and a national title would earn him a bonus worth three month’s salary.

He also will earn a $50,000 “stay bonus” every year he remains the head coach during the contract.

I'm not terribly up on NCAA Hockey coaching contract going rates, but Mel Pearson's 2017-2022 deal came with a base salary of $350,000. Inflation alone makes $400k now not too far off from 350k then, which makes this feel perhaps a bit low for a coach coming off a Frozen Four. On the other hand, Naurato has only one year of coaching experience under his belt, whereas Pearson had been a successful coach at Michigan Tech. So maybe it evens out. 

What does seem clear to me is this contract is not going to ward any NHL teams off, and would do almost nothing to keep Naurato out of the NHL if a team came calling and Naurato was basing his decision off of the financials. When Jim Montgomery was hired away from University of Denver by the Dallas Stars in 2018, he was given a four-year deal worth $1.6 M per season. High-end NHL coaches are now making in the range of $5 M annually (what Peter Laviolette got from the Rangers recently), while entry level coaching contracts are in that Montgomery range... which is still 4x what Naurato is getting at Michigan.

Obviously the Wolverines don't have to be too worried about Naurato getting poached yet. But if he ends up being an excellent college coach (as we all hope), then I wouldn't be surprised if it happens within 2-3 seasons given his age, the glowing profiles of him, his experience coaching a program that deals with future NHLers, and his analytical mindset. At that point, Michigan would have to make a decision on Naurato, ponying up to keep him by paying him equivalent to an NHL base coaching salary (which represents a massive increase over this deal and pay akin to an NCAA basketball coach), or run the risk of watching him leave. Something to keep on the backburner over the next few years. 

Truscott, the captain. Jacob Truscott was named captain of the 2023-24 team recently: 

Introducing the Captain of Team 102, 𝗝𝗮𝗰𝗼𝗯 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘁!#GoBlue〽️ pic.twitter.com/yo1Ud16HlE

— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) June 22, 2023

Don't think anyone is surprised there. Michigan has only three seniors on this upcoming team who have been at Michigan all four years, Truscott, Philippe Lapointe, and Steve Holtz. In all fairness to PLP and Holtz, Truscott is the only one who is a sure-fire regular. It's hard to see a team naming a captain who may spend significant time in the press box, so this was, in some ways, a process of elimination, though I assume Truscott is a fine guy and a worthy leader of the team. Welcome to a special lineage of Michigan captains, Mr. Truscott. 

Freshman class revealed? We have an update on what the incoming freshman class looks like (spoiler: it's small): 

After a check of MCommunity, @umichhockey's expected freshman class is now enrolled. That class is:

D Josh Orrico
F Tanner Rowe
F Nick Moldenhauer
F Garrett Schifsky

F Brian Nicholas, F Charlie Cerrato, F Mikey Burchill and D Jack Willson will likely be '24s, barring decommits.

— Connor Earegood (@ConnorEaregood) June 13, 2023

I'm a tad surprised that Michigan opted to bring Orrico in given that he's a who dat guy and they already have a boatload  of defensemen on the roster, but otherwise this group lines up. Rowe is a possible immediate-help 4C type forward, while Moldenhauer and Schifsky are legit options for the top six. Nicholas and Willson seemed like obvious deferrals while I was on the fence about Burchill and Cerrato. It felt like Cerrato could use some more seasoning in the USHL after a disappointing season with the NTDP so that one makes sense, while Burchill I was reasonably interested in bringing in. Alas, we will wait another year, though his development will probably benefit as a result. Mostly going to be transfers making up the new names on the team this year, with lots of returning production rolling over. 

Michigan will be heading to UMass this year [James Coller]

Non-conference schedule (mostly) revealed

Though the schedule has not been rolled out formally, hilariously extensive investigate work by The Michigan Daily has given us a spotlight on the non-conference schedule, which appears 80% finished. Yes, they FOIA'd the non-conference schedule. Yes, it's very funny and yes, it's also useful. The piece details four non-conference series that the Wolverines have agreed to, starting with the season opener October 7-8 against Providence at Yost.

I like Providence as an opponent for Michigan as a first weekend series, a real team you have to take seriously (unlike last year's opener), but also not a marquee opponent. It's the "get the feet wet without jumping in the deep end" way to start a season. Providence last season was 16-14-7 overall, 9-9-6 in the Hockey East. Top half of PWR, but nowhere close to the bubble. They had a pretty young team in 2022-23, only two of their top ten scorers from last season were seniors + a freshman goalie, so the Friars figure to take a step forward towards the bubble in 2023-24. Michigan should be favored to hold serve at home against Providence, but the Friars could absolutely walk out with a win or two. You can't be asleep to start the season and that's what I like about it. 

After that Michigan doubles down on the Hockey East by flying out to Amherst, MA, for the return series of the Michigan-UMass games that were played at Yost in January 2022. UMass was not good last season, 13-17-5 and 7-14-3 in conference, undergoing a bit of a rebuild as talent has exited following their national championship in 2021. I'm honestly not sure how much better they'll be next year, but the Minutemen did get star defensemen Scott Morrow and Ryan Ufko back, which is a plus. Like the Providence series, this one will probably test Michigan some (road series is a big part of that), but they don't profile as a major threat. Continuing to ease in to the season, without making it too easy. 

Lindenwood is back [Bill Rapai]

There's then a blank spot on the schedule, which is the one non-conference slot that needs to still be filled. We'll circle back to that later. The last weekend of October sees Lindenwood make another trip to Ann Arbor, a buy-game to keep their program alive. Okay. Every year you gotta have one (as Craig Ross would say) meatball on the schedule, so that your third string goalie and depth guys get to play, and this is it. Lindenwood was 7-22-1 last year and is many years from competing nationally. It is what it is. Get two wins and move on. 

The final non-conference series that is scheduled is a previously announced trip to St. Cloud, Minnesota, to take on the SCS Huskies over Thanksgiving weekend. A road series over Thanksgiving is great news for all the season ticket holders who are also football fans and don't want to have to spend a night at Yost when they're chewing their fingernails in anticipation of The Game and (hopefully) toasting a third straight win over the Bucks the next night. Scheduling St. Cloud State is smart in my books, a consistently great program over the past half-decade or so and it gets you a comparison with the NCHC, a traditionally strong league. St. Cloud was 25-13-3 last season, losing in the Regional Final to Minnesota, though they will see considerable turnover after having an older roster last year. Even if SCS takes a step back, I'd still expect them to be in the tournament hunt and playing in their building, on the road, is not an easy task. A worthy challenge for Naurato's squad. 

Which leaves us with that final non-conference slot. Michigan played ten non-conference games last season and I fully expect them to do so again this year. Last year they had seven home games and three road games in the non-con. Given that two road series have already been scheduled, I'd expect this final slot to be a home series. The issue is, there aren't that many teams that haven't scheduled a series for that weekend. The Daily's Connor Earegood has been tracking this and has found the following teams that could be possible opponents: Ferris State, St. Thomas, Augustana, BU, UCONN, Maine, UMass-Lowell, Merrimack, UNH, and Vermont. Of those, I'd like to see another decent opponent, maybe UCONN, Maine, or Merrimack. No need to bring in St. Thomas and further dilute the strength of schedule. Ferris I guess would be fun just for the in-state rivalry. 

One last note here: not included in the original Daily piece but revealed since then is Michigan's annual exhibition (Jan. 6, 2024) with the USNTDP will be in Plymouth this season. It's the first time since 2016-17 that the Wolverines are taking the short bus ride to Compuware for that matchup. Doesn't really mean anything, but wanted to share it with the audience as an aside.