Michigan Hockey Preview: What To Watch For Against Clarkson

The Michigan hockey team opens its season with a home series against Clarkson. If you're a hockey novice or rabid fan, take a look at what to expect from the Wolverines this weekend.

Making Their Debut: We could see Michigan's eight new additions, including five freshmen, grad transfers Jacob Hayhurst and Shane Switzer, and sophomore transfer Emil Örhwall.

One of two 2019 first-round NHL Draft picks, freshman defenseman Cam York had seven shots on net and two goals in Sunday's exhibition. Freshman forward Johnny Beecher had four shots on net, one goal and went 9-1 on faceoffs.

Also keep a big eye on freshman defenseman Keaton Pehrson, who will add depth, speed and can put pucks on net as he add four shots in the 8-2 preseason win.

Hayhurst will add depth to the offensive front line and we also hope to see more of Örhwall, who brings speed and is very versatile with his puck handling.

Special Teams: Last year is in the past, and coaching staff wants to keep it there after U-M struggled on the power play and penalty kill. The Wolverines converted just 14.0% on the power play, ranking 43rd nationally out of 60 teams, and had a success rate of .793 on penalty kill, 46th in college hockey. 

The new power play that associate head coach Bill Muckalt has been working on this offseason went 3-for-6 against Windsor. 

The new and improved penalty kill that Michigan head coach Mel Pearson is striving to get right this season features depth in the defense, with the speed and focus on getting in passing and shooting lanes.

Goalie Battle Royale: 

Last year we saw both sophomore Strauss Mann and senior Hayden Lavigne fight for equal time, but neither played very well, allowing a combined 114 goals (2.98 per game). 

Mann finished the season with an .895 save percentage and 2.91 goals against average. Lavigne finished with 3.16 GAA and .884 save percentage. The two ranked 67th and 72nd nationally in save percentage among 73 eligible goalies. 

That's not good enough, something Pearson talked about when he joined WTKA's "Inside the Huddle with Michael Spath" earlier this week. 

As we fast forward to this season the question is: will someone step up, take the job outright and give Michigan the type of performance it needs to compete for a Big Ten title and an NCAA berth?