Michigan’s national
championship hopes just
became much more achiev-
able.
Alongside defenseman
Owen Power — who was
earlier this week already
reported to be returning
to Ann Arbor — forwards
Kent Johnson and Matty
Beniers will come back for
their sophomore seasons,
the team announced on
Twitter. The return of all
three means that the Wol-
verines will have the first,
second, and fifth overall
picks in the 2021 NHL
Draft as sophomores, as
well as the No. 4 and No.
24 picks in defenseman
Luke Hughes and forward
Matthew Samoskevich
coming in as freshmen.
Sophomore and junior
forwards Brendan Bris-
son and Johnny Beecher
— who were selected in
the first round of the 2020
and 2019 NHL Drafts,
respectively — bring the
total number of first-round
picks on Michigan’s roster
to seven. To put that num-
ber into perspective, just
12 former first-round picks
were playing on any college
hockey team last season.
The return of Power,
Beniers and Johnson also
means a return of a large
portion of the Wolver-
ines’ scoring, as the trio
combined for 22 of the
team’s 91 goals and 45 of
its 165 assists last season.
Even more, Johnson and
Beniers often played on a
line together, putting up
plus-minuses of +15 and
+21, respectively. Power,
for his part, was on Mich-
igan’s top defensive pair-
ing with then-junior Nick
Blankenburg last season,
earning a plus-minus of
+20.
“Got a really good group
coming back, a lot of good
players,” Beniers said
July 1, when the three
were still mulling over
the decision to stay or go.
“We’re gonna get a real
run at a national title, I
think, and I definitely
want to win a Big Ten
championship. (Defense-
man Owen Power) is kind
of leaning towards coming
back, so that’d be fun if
he came back and we got
kind of the whole crew
back together and gave it
another go.”
That crew is back
together now. Whether
the national championship
dreams come true is anoth-
er question.
10 — Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Power, Beniers and Johnson all returning for sophomore seasons
BRENDAN ROOSE
Daily Sports Editor
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Sophomore defenseman Owen powers is among a plethora of first rounders to
return to Michigan ahead of next season.
Early returns seem to be
positive for the Michigan
football team’s new-look
defense, and an unheralded
linebacker is at the fore-
front of the unit’s success.
In a team scrimmage last
Wednesday, the Wolverines’
defense allegedly dominat-
ed, spurring senior receiver
Ronnie Bell to proclaim
that the offense “got (their)
butts kicked.”
Whether that’s more of
an indictment of the Michi-
gan offense than it is a fair
assessment of the defense
remains to be seen. But
for now, in the anonym-
ity of Schembechler Hall,
the Wolverines appear
confident in the 3-4 base
scheme implemented by
new defensive coordinator
Mike Macdonald, a stark
shift from the speed-heavy
system that Don Brown ran
during his five seasons in
Ann Arbor.
“We’re trying to get our
best players to match their
best players,” linebackers
coach George Helow said
on Thursday. “Who’s your
best blitzers? Who’s your
best man-to-man guy?
Who’s your best run-stop-
pers? Hopefully, you have
enough packages to be able
to provide relief to guys and
get your best 11 out on the
field at the same time.”
Perhaps no player has
reaped the benefits of
Michigan’s revamped sys-
tem more than Nikhai Hill-
Green. On the heels of a
strong fall camp, the sopho-
more linebacker is penciled
in as the starter on the
weak side, flanking fifth-
year senior Josh Ross.
“He’s earned the right to
start,” Helow said. “Does
everything you ask him
to do. He’s very coach-
able. He’s playing with his
hands, downhill and has a
good understanding of the
defense and what we’re try-
ing to do.”
Hill-Green was a non-fac-
tor as a freshman last sea-
son, appearing in just three
games on special teams.
The former 3-star recruit
tackled the offseason with
the goal of becoming a con-
sistent contributor. Those
offseason efforts induced
what Hill-Green recently
referred to as the best
camp in his 12-year football
career, spanning from pee-
wee to college.
“I really just put my all
into this time and really to
myself,” Hill-Green said
earlier in August. “Really
just bet on myself. I put
everything into my nutri-
tion, my film study and just
being all-in for this team.
That is really the biggest
difference. I take this so
seriously because I just
want success for my team.
That’s my ultimate goal.”
Hill-Green’s growth cer-
tainly comes at a fortuitous
time for the Wolverines.
Beyond Ross, Michigan has
little depth at linebacker,
especially with freshman
Junior Colson missing time
in camp with injury.
Last year, then-junior
linebacker Michael Bar-
rett started as the viper, a
hybrid linebacker/safety
position. Yet with Macdon-
ald’s schemes supplanting
Brown’s, the Wolverines
scrapped the viper in favor
of a more traditional two
middle linebacker set —
opening up an opportunity
for Hill-Green. While Bar-
rett deals with the learning
curve, Hill-Green is seeing
his off-the-field efforts vali-
dated on the gridiron.
In Saturday’s season-open-
er against Western Michi-
gan, the Wolverines will, at
last, be able to showcase any
defensive improvements.
For Hill-Green, it presents a
chance to further cement a
grip on his new role.
“I’m just hoping to build
on it,” Hill-Green said.
“Everyone feels good. The
energy is high and I feel
good.”
Nikhai Hill-Green emerging as key cog in Michigan defense
JARED GREENSPAN
Daily Sports Editor
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Michigan’s defense could get a boost in 2021 from sophomore linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green.