It's been a couple years since I last wrote a "Wolverines in the NHL" update. David and I have done a segment during the season on the HockeyCast devoted to it the last couple years, but a written piece can have a wider reach and can also be more expansive. Also, since the NHL regular season recently ended, I figured this was a proper time to do it, rather than in the middle of the season like our podcast segment. With the recent explosion of Michigan players heading to professional hockey, this year's update is longer than ever, so it's being broken into two pieces. Today is Part 1, where we'll cover the established NHLers, the studs, complementary players, and role players. Tomorrow will be updates on the younger NHLers, recent retirees, and all the alumni who have fallen short of the NHL but are still playing pro hockey somewhere in the world: 

The Studs

These are the players who are considered high end, All-Star caliber. They are one of the three or so best players on their given teams and are getting paid premium money in the NHL:

Quinn Hughes, D, Vancouver Canucks: Already the best defenseman from the University of Michigan to ever play in the NHL, Hughes is likely to set a new milestone (when the awards are announced in June), becoming the first Michigan alumni to ever win the Norris Trophy for the NHL's best defenseman. Michigan State (Duncan Keith), Harvard (Adam Fox), UMass (Cale Makar), Bowling Green (Rob Blake), Boston College (Brian Leetch), and Wisconsin (Chris Chelios) have all produced a Norris winner... it's about time that Michigan got one. Hughes is likely to do it, the capstone of a marvelous season that saw him score 17 goals and 75 assists for 92 points, leading the NHL in the latter two categories for defensemen (he was tied for 6th with 17 goals by a D). 

Hughes became one of 12 defensemen in NHL history to ever score 90+ points in a season, which is what will likely cement his Norris case. Hughes is the engine for everything that the resurgent Vancouver Canucks do, helping the team win their division for the first time in nearly a decade. He's a dynamic offensive force and a puck possession monster who drives play over all 200 feet, which allowed the Canucks to outscore opponents 92-55 with Hughes on ice at 5v5 this regular season(!!). A brilliant passer who has evolved significantly as a shooter and defender during his NHL career, Hughes is a no doubt top five defenseman in the NHL during his age 24 season. 

Dylan Larkin, C, Detroit Red Wings: Few players in the NHL may be as linked to their team's wins and losses as Dylan Larkin is to the Red Wings. Anyone who followed Detroit's season knows that, a team that seemed to be headed to the postseason before an injury to Larkin in March submarined their season. The team looked almost unrecognizable without Larkin and it's not surprising why that's the case. The Red Wings captain potted 33 goals this season, the best goals-per-game mark of his career (coming in just 68 games). He also finished above 1.00 points-per-game this season for the first time in his career, probably reaching his apex at 27 and that's fine. Larkin's a very good NHL player, an important leader off the ice and a speedy playdriver with good offensive talent on the ice, playing a premium position with legit finishing talent. Though perhaps not a superstar of the Quinn Hughes variety, there are no teams in the NHL that would turn down the opportunity to put Larkin on their roster. 

[Bill Rapai]

Zach Hyman, LW, Edmonton Oilers: I listed Hyman as a complementary piece the last time I did this article, which is still probably true in the abstract (in the sense that he complements his team's superstars), but when you score 54 goals, you have to go in the stud category. That's what Hyman did this season, blowing by his career high goal total by a full 18 goals en route to a staggering total that ranked 3rd in the NHL The three seasons since Hyman signed in Edmonton has seen his goal total increase in linear fashion, from 27 to 36 to 54, this season being the apex of the 31-year-old's career. Hyman is simply the perfect fit to play alongside the NHL's best offensive player, Connor McDavid. He posts up around the net and gets fed the puck, shots in tight, tips, deflections. Very few of Hyman's 54 goals have come outside of ~5 feet from the crease, with 15 of his goals coming on Edmonton's devastating power play. It may be true that Hyman wouldn't score that many goals on a team sans McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but the skill and hockey talent of Hyman is now undeniable. He's a really good NHL forward. 

Kyle Connor, LW, Winnipeg Jets: Two years ago when I wrote this piece Connor was coming off of a season akin to what Hyman has done this season, scoring 47 goals for the Winnipeg Jets. His two seasons in the meantime have fallen short of that mark but Connor remains a high level NHL goalscorer. Connor has now played seven real NHL seasons and has scored 30 goals or at a 30+ goal pace (in the case of the 56 game COVID shortened season) in all seven of them. He remains a pretty nonexistent defensive player, instead a one-dimensional rush scorer but when you average ~38 goals per 82 games over a seven season period, it doesn't much matter what else you do. You're a legit stud. 

Zach Werenski, D, Columbus Blue Jackets: Not a ton has changed for Werenski since the last time we updated this article. He remains a very good offensive defenseman, scoring 57 points this season (ranking 12th in the NHL by a defender) in 70 games. This was the most games that Werenski has played in a season since 2018-19, as injuries continue to minorly hamper him, but his play remains pretty consistent. Werenski plays on a bad team, puts up a good number of points, generally wins his minutes, and collects a huge paycheck (still earning $9.5 M annually, near the top in the league). Werenski's not an elite defenseman, but he's a good top pairing puck mover. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: more players]

[James Coller]

The Complementary Pieces 

Next we have the complementary pieces, guys who also play in the top six or on the top two pairs, but would not be classified as quite the same caliber of player as the ones above. These are players who are not currently in All-Star conversations, but often play with All-Star level players at the forefront of a given team. It also includes young guys who are developing in promising fashion but aren't yet studs. 

Matty Beniers, C, Seattle Kraken: Beniers is a case study for why NHL teams now like the idea of burning through the Entry Level Contract (ELC) early in a player's career. The Kraken burned the first season of Beniers' ELC on only 10 games at the tail end of the 2021-22 season, after Michigan lost to Denver in the Frozen Four. As a result, Beniers is a restricted free agent this summer, with only 167 games under his belt and not quite established as a *star* NHLer. There is a lot of reason to believe in Beniers, given that he scored 57 points last season to win Rookie of the Year and then improved significantly as a defensive player this year (even while his offense slumped). At just 21 years old, Beniers is the future of the Kraken and now they have the opportunity to potentially sign him to a long term deal before he takes his game to the next level. We'll see if Beniers is willing to sign for that length or if he wants to go shorter term, but I have little doubt that he will become a very good NHL player. He's already a good centerman and is still a few years away from his prime. 

Owen Power, D, Buffalo Sabres: What the Kraken want to do with Beniers is what the Sabres have already done with Owen Power: sign him up long term. Power had a solid rookie season in 2022-23 for the Sabres, taking 3rd in Rookie of the Year voting, and then was offered a contract that was too good for a young player like him to pass up. On October 11, 2023, Power signed a seven year, $58.45 M contract that will pay him $8.35 M annually. His subsequent sophomore season wasn't quite as sharp, but he remains a high usage defenseman with good offensive acumen on a young Sabres team. Power doesn't turn 22 until November and I think he's still on his way to be a top pair defenseman in the league soon, which would land him in the stud category eventually. 

Josh Norris, C, Ottawa Senators: Norris got moved down a category since last time, but it's not really because of his play. Rather, Norris cannot stay healthy, the injury problems that plagued his second (and final) season at Michigan unfortunately carrying over to his NHL career. He was mostly healthy during his first season in the NHL back in 2020-21 (which was a COVID-shortened 56 game season) but since then he's missed at least 16 games every year. Norris missed nearly the entire 2022-23 season with a long term shoulder injury and then missed another 32 games this season. When healthy, Norris is a good top six centerman, with 30+ goal touch and the ability to be a playdriving force at 5v5 and on the PP. We just haven't seen it enough and his play has begun to suffer because of how much time he's missed. Norris got PAID a couple summers ago so he's okay financially, but here's hoping for good health and a return to form for Josh in 2024-25.  

[James Coller]

Jacob Trouba, D, New York Rangers: Holding steady in this category is Jacob Trouba, who hasn't seen much change since two years ago. He did turn 30 in February, which I suppose is significant, and he remains the captain of a very good Rangers team, playing 2nd pair minutes. Trouba is now playing more with Erik Gustafsson than K'Andre Miller (his longtime partner) in the playoffs and is still probably overpaid for his production, but I doubt Trouba cares much about that. Leaguewide he's known most famously for his punishing open ice hits, a lightning rod of criticism, but otherwise he's a pretty bland top four defender. 

Cam York, D, Philadelphia Flyers: The answer to the question, "you know which Michigan alum had a sneaky solid NHL season this year?" is Cam York. The defenseman played his first full season in the NHL after playing sizable chunks of the last two in between time in the AHL with Lehigh Valley. In fact, York played all 82 games for the Flyers, scoring 10 goals and 30 points, averaging the second highest ATOI share among Flyers D (behind only his most common partner, Travis Sanheim) and playing in all situations, heavy on the PK and the PP. York didn't dominate his minutes, but he was a stalwart on a Flyers team that drastically surpassed expectations and York ought to get some credit for his role. He's still only 23 and seems to already be a top four defender in the NHL, which is laudable. 

JT Compher, C, Detroit Red Wings: Compher signed a sizable deal in the offseason to come back to the State of Michigan with the Red Wings and had a very nice first year in the D. He scored 19 goals, a new career high, and notched 48 points, while usually centering Detroit's second line. He played for awhile on a line with another UM player in this article, Andrew Copp, and the two played heavily on the PK, with Compher also playing on the PP. Compher's not a true playdriver and on a great team you'd probably prefer him as a 3rd line center to the 2nd line, but he's built a nice career for himself and has some legitimate finishing talent with a wide array of skills. Compher is in the prime of his career at age 29 and he should continue to be a fixture in the middle of Detroit's lineup over the next few seasons. 

[Patrick Barron]

The Role Players

This category is for players who are bottom six forwards and not big offensive producers, or defensive defensemen playing third pair roles. Almost all are older Michigan Hockey alumni, at the tail end of long NHL careers: 

Max Pacioretty, LW, Washington Capitals: Since we last talked about Max Pacioretty, things have gone downhill in his lengthy NHL career, moving him down into this category. Pacioretty has dealt with two Achilles injuries, the second coming only a few games after he returned from the lengthy rehab following the first one. It was a brutal twist of fate for Pacioretty and you had to feel for the guy. He's spent the last two years on Carolina and then Washington, hoping to work his way back to the consistent 30+ goal scorer he was pre-injury. Unfortunately, just four goals in 47 games this season casts doubt that that will ever happen, especially with Pacioretty now age 35. I don't know how much longer he'll keep kicking, but no matter what happens, it's been a hell of a career for one of the most underrated goalscorers of the 2010s and the now all-time points leader by a Michigan alum (until one of the younger guys on this list smashes right by it). 

Tyler Motte, F, Tampa Bay Lightning: Michigan's most busy journeyman currently in the NHL, Tyler Motte is still bouncing around from team to team fulfilling fourth line/penalty killing duties. This season it was on the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he scored six goals and nine points in 69 games this season, before potting one playoff goal during Tampa's five-game defeat at the hands of Florida. That's now six teams in Motte's NHL career (not counting two separate stints with the Rangers), and I wouldn't be shocked if it hits seven next season. Given NHL aging curves, Motte's probably only got a couple years left before he has to make a decision on whether he wants to go to Europe to keep playing, but for now, keep cashing those NHL checks. 

Luke Glendening, C, Tampa Bay Lightning: Motte's teammate in Tampa is Luke Glendening, whose pro career may be the most astonishing of anyone in this article. Glendening was never drafted and never scored more than 10 goals or 21 points over four years at Michigan, but has now played 787 NHL games, plus 45 playoff games. Glendening posted a hilarious 10-1-11 line this season for the Lightning and just turned 35 last week, still fulfilling his penalty killing center job with a slick backhand and faceoff skill that has allowed him to hang on in the NHL longer than anyone ever thought was possible. Glendening has aged much better than most 4th liners do and after another double digit goal season, he'll probably get an NHL contract next year. 

[Paul Sherman]

Phil Di Giuseppe, LW, Vancouver Canucks: Rather randomly, at the age of 30, Phil Di Giuseppe just had his most extended NHL stint this season, playing 51 games for the Canucks, while spending no time in the AHL for the first time in his pro career. Canucks coach Rick Tocchet has a fondness for PDG's straight-line, hard-working 4th line game and that's allowed him to draw into Vancouver's playoff lineup for their ongoing series against Nashville. There's not a ton of skill in PDG's game but lasting 11 seasons between the AHL/NHL and playing 282 NHL games is a remarkable result for a player who never scored more than 28 points over three seasons at Michigan. Sometimes hard work and determination does pay off. 

Andrew Copp, C, Detroit Red Wings: Copp came back home to Detroit two summers ago after a career year split between Winnipeg and New York. The signing made sense at the time, with the Red Wings looking to angle towards competitiveness and Copp a solid veteran with a track record of production. Unfortunately, it hasn't been the perfect marriage so far. Copp's 2022-23 season was a dud, scoring just nine goals while getting crushed in his minutes. He was recovering from core muscle surgery that year, so there was belief that he could bounce back in year #2. Copp did score 13 goals this season, including the 100th of his career, but is still struggling to drive play in the manner that his $5.625 M salary would suggest he should. Copp turns 30 this summer, so the clock is ticking for him to re-find his form in Detroit, amid a crowded Red Wings line chart. 

Jon Merrill, D, Minnesota Wild: Nothing has changed for Jon Merrill since the last update two years ago. He's still on the Minnesota Wild and still an all-defense third pair defenseman, one who seldom scores or makes plays with the puck on his stick, but on the flip side, nothing really happens while he's out there. The cap-strapped Minnesota Wild are fine with that on their third pair and it's allowed Merrill to hang in the NHL into his early 30s. Well done good sir and I hope Merrill can keep it going for a couple more years. 

[Bruce Bennett/Getty Images]

Andrew Cogliano, F, Colorado Avalanche: We finish up with the Avalanche twosome, starting with looooooooong-time journeyman Andrew Cogliano. Shortly after I last did this piece Cogliano won his first Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in the 2022 playoffs. Some thought that may have been the end for the veteran, but he's opted to hang around and has remained a plausible bottom six forward, who plays little at 5v5 but heavily on the PK. Even at age 36, Cogliano is useful for a contender, long removed from his 20 goal days in Anaheim, but he finds ways to stay in a playoff lineup. If Cogliano chooses to come back for one more season next year, he'll have a chance to be one of only 72 players in NHL history who have played 1,300+ NHL games (and the only former Wolverine to do it). 

Jack Johnson, D, Colorado Avalanche: A few months older than Cogliano, Jack Johnson is the oldest Michigan alum currently in the NHL, the only one still in the league who played games in the 2006-07 NHL season. Johnson's tumultuous, journeyman career never lived up to his 3rd overall draft spot indicated, but he's gotten a nice swan song tenure in Colorado, where he gets to be a depth defenseman on an elite team, so that his iffy play doesn't get exposed as much. The best thing he's got going for him is Johnson is said to be beloved in that locker room. He won a Stanley Cup in 2022 and is still in the team's playoff lineup as they chase another this spring. These may be the final games of Johnson in the NHL, but you gotta hand it to a guy who still played nearly 1,200 NHL games even if he never became a stud defender.