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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MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily 

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. 

