Michigan Hockey top prospects have returned as 2021-22 season kicks off

Tonight the Michigan Hockey program will begin its 2021-22 season. The Michigan Wolverines take on the Bowling Green State Falcons in a standalone game on opening weekend. Saturday’s contest will mark the beginning of another season for the Wolverines with a similar team compared to last year.

There’s a plethora of “new” draft picks in the Michigan Hockey program though they will not be new faces. With four of the five first picks in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft being Wolverines, returners, or incoming, the team has plenty of talent once again.

Including the first overall pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Owen Power, the Wolverines are returning all of their high draft picks, and the number of draft picks has risen. With the arrival of Luke Hughes, the third of the Hughes trio, they have also added some new talent that was selected in the draft.

As the puck drops and the season begins, the Wolverines will have 13 of their 29 rostered players being players who have been drafted in the past few years. For the math majors out there, that means that 45% of their roster has been drafted.

Michigan Hockey is looking for better results in 2021-22.

The 2020-21 season was a challenging one; there’s no doubt about that. The Wolverines battled some adversity of the pandemic and even lost some of their star freshmen to some international competition for a stretch.

Not to mention, they were sent home from the Frozen Four after being the favorite to win it all due to some COVID-19 issues with regards to positive tests. Things ended sour, and those who played in 2020-21 likely still have that sour taste in their mouths.

However, for the draftees, it seems that they see 2021-22 as a redemption year. They’re all back and are likely going to be out to go on a run again. They were exceptional in 2020-21 and had plenty of success, so it will be interesting to see how things shake out for them in 2021-22.

After their opening night contest against BGSU, they will bring in the Lake Superior State Lakers for a two-game set next weekend. The rest of their schedule continues until February 26th, when things wrap up before the Big 10 tournament begins on March 4th.

The Wolverines should have an easy road to the national tournament, and it would be shocking if they are not one of the early favorites already. Wolverines fans should check in on the hockey team tonight to see how opening night goes for the maize and blue hockey program.