Typically we do a formal exit post when someone big from basketball or football leaves the team, and sometimes that is the case for hockey. We did not do one last week even though there was a spate of exits precisely for that reason: so many big name players were exiting for NHL/AHL deals that doing one post for each would have left you all drowning in exit posts. Instead, it felt better to do one big piece that gives a short farewell to each player that is heading to pro hockey, with a bonus take on how they will do at the next level. So here goes the Hockey Exit Bonanza. 

 

[James Coller]

Exit: Owen Power 

First up is Michigan's towering defenseman, the #1 pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. Power was signed by the Buffalo Sabres shortly after Michigan's season concluded and he made his NHL debut last weekend in Toronto against the Leafs. Power played two seasons at Michigan, scoring 32 points in 33 games this past season to earn All-America honors. Power's 6'6" height was his defining characteristic, but his ability to skate well and comfortability cycle down into the corners of the offensive zone made him a rare find. Given the typical dimensions of hockey players, it is quite possible Michigan will not have another player with Power's exact traits for several decades. Power played top minutes this season, often paired with either Nick Blankenburg or Keaton Pehrson, and also played heavily on the power play. 

His NHL potential: Power is someone I've generally been a bit lower on than some of the scouts, because I didn't feel like he was Michigan's best defenseman (I would say Luke Hughes for that) this season. I also was frustrated by Power's unwillingness to use his size while defending, but I will admit that the NCAA is a much softer game than the NHL. That said, the toolkit is absolutely there, and the Sabres will have plenty of opportunity to mold Power how they want him. Power was 17 when he enrolled at Michigan, meaning he's only 19 now, and defensemen take longer to develop in the league than forwards. Guys who are 6'6" and can skate don't come around every day. If he learns to be a bit more aggressive in his own end and plays the point well offensively, it's not inconceivable he could be Dougie Hamilton in three or four years. Even if he doesn't, Power will have a lengthy NHL career because Big Body Canadian Boys who play defense always do. 

 

[James Coller]

Exit: Kent Johnson 

The other name who signed quickly after Michigan's season ended was Kent Johnson, inking an entry level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets, who drafted him 5th overall last summer. Johnson played two seasons at Michigan, like Power, and was one of Michigan's highest scorers both seasons. Johnson never scored in double figures for goals, but racked up assists to boost his lofty point totals, scoring 37 this season in only 32 games. Like Power, Johnson played with Team Canada at the WJC and at the Olympics, meaning that he missed about a quarter of the season. Johnson spent most of his Michigan career on a line with Matty Beniers, playing the wing almost wire-to-wire, with one series against Minnesota in December 2020 being the exception. 

His NHL potential: Johnson is the player of this group that I'm most fascinated by when it comes to his NHL future. Johnson is a player with a clear set of skills, and also a clear set of weaknesses. Johnson has very good hands and the ability to make dangles/dekes that few other players can, even at the NHL level. His shot is also not bad at all. On the other hand, the aforementioned skill does not achieve as much as it should. He makes a lot of neat plays but they don't often lead to much of anything, and he had a tendency to rack up secondary assists that pad his point totals, which empirically are mostly random and not indicative of a player's success, generally speaking. Moreover, Johnson remains extremely skinny and does not engage physically in the corners. Finally, Johnson plays at a very slow pace, always preferring to slow the game down when the puck is on his stick rather than keep moving.

The concern with this approach to the game is pretty obvious when we're talking about the NHL: it is the fastest and biggest league in the world. Players in the NHL are far bigger, stronger, and more physical than the NCAA and if Johnson didn't want to play the physical side in college, what does that mean for the NHL? Additionally, NHLers take away time and space, and the hallmark of a great NHLer is one who can think and execute high-level plays on the fly. Johnson didn't show that much at Michigan. He's not going to get the same amount of time to stop and contemplate the play in the NHL.

Players who play a more meandering pace in the NHL tend to be big, burly players who give themselves that extra time because they can shield the puck from opponents with their body. These are folks like Ryan Getzlaf or Evgeni Malkin. Johnson is not that size and will never be. He's going to need to either figure out how to speed himself up, or completely change his approach. Drafting him in the top five was a major swing by Columbus and KJ will get his chance to make it work, but I have my concerns. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: More guys]

 

[James Coller]

Exit: Nick Blankenburg

Nick Blankenburg is one of three players in this post who played all four seasons at Michigan. He came to the Wolverines in the fall of 2018 as a double-overager, having played Michigan HS hockey with Romeo HS before heading out to Alberta to play in the AJHL. After arriving at Michigan, he quickly made an impact, becoming one of the Maize & Blue's top defensemen all four years of his career. His senior season was his banner year, though, being the captain of the 2021-22 team and scoring a career-high 29 points and 15 goals. That got Blankenburg interest from the NHL and shortly after the season ended, he was signed to an NHL deal by Johnson's Columbus Blue Jackets. Blankenburg and Johnson made their NHL debuts together last week, and Blankenburg already has his first NHL point (an assist). 

His NHL potential: I was rather surprised to see Blankenburg get an NHL deal, but I was also very happy about it. I figured he'd get a shot in the AHL, but that someone bought into his NHL potential was awesome. Jarmo Kekäläinen (Jackets GM) is an unorthodox executive who thinks outside the box, and that sort of thinking was needed to give Blankenburg an NHL deal, because he does not fit the profile of most NHL defensemen. Blankenburg is an extremely undersized, skating-based defenseman whose value in the pros will revolve around his transition and offensive ability. 

Blankenburg is generously listed at 5'9", 175 lbs., measurements that remind me of when Zavier Simpson was listed at 6'0" during his Michigan career. He is quite thin at that height, and struggled with getting knocked off the puck, even at the NCAA level. That is the most obvious concern for him in the NHL, where he will be battling in the corners with physical specimen like Auston Matthews, Mikko Rantanen, and Matthew Tkachuk. I don't love that. You can be a perimeter player as a forward and succeed, but that's not how the job of defenseman works. 

On the other hand, Blankenburg makes up for it by being a fast skater who could be highly effective in controlled zone exits and zone entries, and has a comfortability playing the puck that not many defensemen have- a product of playing forward in HS. I actually assumed that an NHL team would play him at forward, not defense, but the Jackets have been lining him up on the blue line. The obvious comp. for Blankenburg is Victor Mete, also a severely undersized transition-based defenseman. Mete actually has played some at forward this year for Ottawa, and that's a path for Blankenburg, filling in where his team needs him. Mete's career has not been the best in terms of a success story, but he's now played over 200 NHL games, which feels like a best-case scenario Blankenburg. Teams will always be sqeaumish about Blankenburg holding up physically, but it's part of the package. 

 

[Zoey Holmstrom]

Exit: Matty Beniers 

Beniers took a couple extra days to sign with the Seattle Kraken, relative to the first three in this piece, but he signed his ELC as expected. Beniers was part of the sophomore class that Power and Johnson were in, playing two excellent seasons at Michigan. Beniers was always hard-working and well-rounded, but in 2021-22 he emerged as a much better offensive player than he had been previously. His shot improved dramatically, becoming a PP sniper, and he continued to drive his line with Kent Johnson (and occasionally Brendan Brisson). Beniers scored 20 goals and 43 points to earn All-America honors, and he was picked 2nd overall in the 2021 NHL Draft with the first ever pick in Kraken franchise history. He made his NHL debut last week and already has a pair of goals in his career: 

CHEERS FOR BENIERS!

That's THREE points (2g-1a) in his first three @NHL games! pic.twitter.com/yGkQ9aYCas

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) April 19, 2022

His NHL potential: Beniers is the one where I feel I have the best grasp of what he's going to be in the NHL. To me, he slots in comfortably as a 1.5C, a guy who can be a first line center on a bad or fringe playoff team, but is ideally a second line center on a Cup contender, slotting behind a true superstar (think Matthews/McDavid/MacKinnon/etc). Beniers' intangibles and high compete level/work ethic will play up and down the lineup and his ability in all three zones means he should see time on the PK and the PP. My comp. for him was Philip Danault last summer, but I think he's improved enough offensively (especially with his shot, which has always been Danault's glaring weakness) to make it so that a proper comp is someone like a Dylan Larkin or a Nazem Kadri. A player who scores 60-70 points while driving a line and playing in all situations. A player that NHL coaches are going to love, and given the intangibles, I would not be shocked if he is named captain of the Seattle Kraken in the future. 

 

[Zoey Holmstrom]

Exit: Thomas Bordeleau 

The only second round pick in the heralded sophomore class was Thomas Bordeleau, who signed an amateur tryout deal with the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL before signing formally with their NHL affiliate, the San Jose Sharks. Bordeleau was arguably Michigan's best player during his freshman season, scoring 30 points in only 24 games and though he didn't quite have the monster second season I had hoped for, he still scored 37 points in as many games. Bordeleau did get COVID-19 during the season, which may have hampered his play a bit, it's worth nothing. Even so, he was an effective second line center for Michigan who then played very well in the NCAA Tournament, especially the Frozen Four. He made his NHL debut for the Sharks this weekend and already has an assist for his first NHL point. 

His NHL potential: Bordeleau is a crafty player who plays a 200-foot game. He doesn't have explosive offensive potential, and I don't think his shot will net him a ton of goals in the NHL, but he has a good amount of skill, is a decent skater, and is strong defensively and in the faceoff dot. That should play at the pro level, and I see him as a 3rd-line defense-first center in the NHL long term. He's a bit undersized but I think NHL coaches will still let him kill penalties because of his faceoff ability and defensive fundamentals. I think there's enough offense there to let him stay off a pure checking line. 

 

[James Coller]

Exit: Brendan Brisson 

The final member of the mega sophomore class to sign was Brendan Brisson, who also signed an amateur tryout deal in the AHL, for the Henderson Silver Knights. It's unclear to me if Brisson will sign an entry level deal for the NHL this year of if that will happen in the summer, but for now he's in the AHL. Things are going quite well at that level, as Brisson currently has a scalding 6 points in 3 games. Brisson was a first round pick of the Vegas Golden Knights and he will be on track to play with the team soon enough (Vegas is in the midst of a playoff push right now, unlike all the other teams on this list, so they may be hesitant to play a rookie right away). 

Brisson was one of Michigan's most improved players this year, becoming a far more dangerous offensive weapon than he was as a freshman. His bomb of a shot is the calling card, but Brisson developed physically and seemed more confident as a passer and play-driver. He scored 21 goals and 42 points in 38 games and was an Olympian for Team USA, scoring a pair of goals in that event. Brisson often played with Bordeleau at Michigan, but also spent time on a line with Beniers and Johnson towards the end of the season. 

His NHL potential: Brisson seems like an easy candidate to be a top six winger in some capacity at the NHL level. Probably not a true play-driving winger, because there are not many of those in the league, but a good complementary piece who can be wingman to a talented center and score 30 goals seems reasonable. He will likely be a fixture of NHL power plays thanks to his shot, and he plays with enough pace to be effective at 5v5. I think Max Pacioretty could be a good NHL comp. for Brisson, one that Michigan fans should be familiar with. 

 

[James Coller]

Exit: Johnny Beecher 

Our only junior to discuss, Beecher was a first round pick at the back end of the round by the Boston Bruins back in 2019. Beecher's three seasons at Michigan didn't have the same success of the other players on this list, but he rounded into a valuable third line center in 2021-22 after battling injuries throughout his time in Ann Arbor. Beecher's scoring rate was remarkably consistent at Michigan, scoring 0.52, 0.5, and 0.44 across his three seasons, struggling to finish rush chances that his speed would produce. That said, his size was a piece lacking elsewhere in the Michigan forward lineup and he was willing to bring that physical edge that helped the team against opponents like Notre Dame. This past season he centered a line with Dylan Duke and Mackie Samoskevich. Beecher signed with the Bruins' AHL affiliate in Providence and has since played a couple games in that league. 

His NHL Potential: It's murky to me whether Beecher reaches the NHL right now. His scoring at the NCAA level is not at the rate that you expect for a player who will eventually be an NHL mainstay, and his offensive ceiling seems pretty limited. He will always be a big body who can skate, which is valuable, but only so valuable when you struggle to produce offense as he does. If he reaches the league, you'd think it will be as a fourth line, defense-only center who is out there to hit and kill penalties. It will probably take a bit of time in the AHL first. 

 

[James Coller]

Exit: Garrett Van Wyhe 

Like Blankenburg, GVW is an undrafted senior who got a pro offer, which in Van Wyhe's case was an AHL deal with the Utica Comets, the Devils' affiliate. Van Wyhe was a scrappy fourth liner all four seasons at Michigan, playing with his eternal winger Nolan Moyle. Those two were key components of Michigan's penalty kill across four seasons and had a knack for producing goals in big games (against OSU and then in the NCAA Tournament). They worked hard, played a more physical style, and could sometimes grind out the greasy goal. Van Wyhe's offensive output was pretty consistent all four seasons, scoring at ~11 points per 40 games every year. He didn't improve much in his time at Michigan, but that's because he entered Ann Arbor as an already-developed triple overager (he was 21 when he enrolled). GVW was a useful piece and a starter every season. 

His NHL Potential: Probably doesn't have one. He's about to turn 25 and never scored more than 6 goals in an NCAA season. He also doesn't have many NHL-caliber tools. However, that doesn't mean he can't have a pro career somewhere. He'll get his shot to stick in the AHL and if that doesn't work out, the ECHL is an option, as is Europe. I could see him winding up in the German DEL (if he wants to), which is the sort of bump-n-grind physical league that could suit Van Wyhe's style. 

 

[James Coller]

Exit: Jimmy Lambert

Lambert is in a similar boat to Van Wyhe, an undrafted senior who got an AHL offer, which we learned about yesterday. He signed the deal with the Bridgeport Islanders and will get a tryout before we see where he goes from there. Lambert was a starter all four seasons at Michigan and his point total was always very consistent, a notch higher than GVW, but not significantly. Lambert did play up in the lineup the first two seasons, but once Michigan began to slot real NHL-type guys into their line chart in 2020-21, Lambert slipped down to the bottom six. This season he mostly played with Van Wyhe and Moyle on the fourth line, with Lambert scoring Michigan's opening goal against Denver. 

His NHL Potential: Like Van Wyhe, there probably is not one. He and Van Wyhe are the same age, but Lambert is even a few months older, having turned 25 in February. He was not a big producer in college, with his six goals this season being his career high. Lambert's shot lacks and his speed is the only trait that stands out from any of the other hundreds of players who fill his mold. He will get a chance to stick in the AHL, and much like GVW, can filter his way down a level or to Europe if he wants to keep playing.