Detroit Red Wings: Wolverines’ defender Owen Power someone to monitor
By Bob Heyrman
Steve Yzerman and the Detroit Red Wings should keep a close eye on Owen Power of the Michigan Wolverines this season.
Owen Power is a massive defenseman who stands 6-foot-5 at just 17-years old. The large in stature defender models his game around Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning, a player Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is very familiar with.
The Mississauga Ontario native excelled in back-to-back years playing with the Chicago Steel of the USHL before joining the Wolverines for the 2020 season. Power recorded 65 points in 103 contests with the Steel. The sturdy defender turned heads last season, averaging nearly a point per game, notching 40 points in 45 games last season before departing for Michigan this year.
Powers started his Michigan Wolverines career just as advertised Saturday night, recording three points in the schools 8-1 non-conference victory over Arizona State.
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Power recorded a goal and two assists. The two teams will once again square off Sunday night in the second of a back-to-back season-opening series at Yost Arena in Ann Arbor. If you have a chance to tune in tonight, the game starts at 7 PM and will be carried on Fox Sports Detroit.
The Detroit Red Wings recently spent a premium pick on defenseman Moritz Seider with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Level Draft. Yzerman clearly understood he needed to focus on bolstering the depleted Detroit Red Wings backend the second he returned home and immediately made that the focal point of his first offseason. Along with Seider, Yzerman selected Antti Tuomisto, a Finnish defender with his first of three second-round selections, along with signing free agent Patrik Nemeth in hopes of solidifying the teams’ top-four.
Craig Button has Power ranked as his second overall player in TSN’s early rankings with plenty of top-notch defenders set to enter the draft.
THE 21 IN 21: Finnish centre Aatu Raty sits in the top spot, but our early look at the 2021 #NHLDraft class from @CraigJButton suggests it’s going to be a good year for teams looking to boost their blueline
— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) November 7, 2019
The Top 21: https://t.co/zZWTkijBn3 #TSNHockey #DraftCentre pic.twitter.com/CINVznGnDv
If Yzerman feels the need to continue that trend, he will surely have an opportunity thru the 2021 NHL Draft. The Detroit Red Wings are expected to find themselves back in the NHL Draft Lottery once again in 2021, and Power is expected to be a top-ten pick or higher when it’s all said and done. Power is a left-handed shot and would pair up nicely with the right-handed shooting Seider for years to come.
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The Detroit Red Wings may have the opportunity to stockpile another highly talented defender to a group currently anchored by Filip Hronek and Seider’s potential. After that, everyone else remains a question mark; will Dennis Cholowski, Jared McIsaac, Gustav Lindstrom, or Tuomisto turn into something?