The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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12 THE WOLVERINE ❱ NOVEMBER 2023 ❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS OWEN POWER INKS EXTENSION WITH BUFFALO SABRES Former NHL No. 1 overall pick and Wolverine hockey alum Owen Power became the latest to cash in at the pro level, inking a seven-year deal worth an average of $8.35 million per season with the Buffalo Sabres. The team announced the new deal on Oct. 11. The deal runs through 2031 and makes him the 15th-highest paid defense- man in hockey a month before his 21st birthday. Power played two seasons at Michigan before leaving after his sophomore year to sign his entry-level contract with the Sabres toward the end of the 2021-22 season. He had 3 points in eight games in Buffalo. Last season, Power went through his first full NHL campaign and was a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy awarded to the best rookie in the league. That went to his former U-M teammate, Matty Beniers of the Seattle Kraken. Power, who had 4 goals and 31 assists last season, led all rookies in minutes played per game in 2022-23 with an average of 23:48 in ice time, which was also good for second on the Sabres. COULD J.J. McCARTHY BE QB3 IN THE 2024 NFL DRAFT? USC's Caleb Williams and North Carolina's Drake Maye are widely consid- ered the top two quarterbacks in the 2024 NFL Draft class, with everyone else jockeying for position behind them. Michigan junior signal-caller J.J. McCarthy is factoring into those conversa- tions along with Colorado's Shedeur Sanders, Texas' Quinn Ewers and Wash- ington's Michael Penix Jr. Pro Football Network listed McCarthy as its No. 3 QB prospect in the class in its most recent update. "At the start of this season, J.J. McCarthy was seen as a promising player with great potential, but often players with his style fail to reach their full potential. However … McCarthy has exceeded our expectations by displaying a level of skill and consistency that is impressive. "McCarthy's play style invites frequent variation at this point, but his tools are easy to like. He has a strong arm capable of hitting tight windows, and his elite creation ability and rushing value give him an edge over Ewers. "He has everything needed to be a plus NFL starter. Continuing on his trajectory will make him hard to top, even in this crowded QB3-QB8 group." ON3 HOST STICKING WITH MICHIGAN FOOTBALL TO WIN BIG TEN There is still plenty of football to play and a November gauntlet on the horizon for the Wolverines, but opinions remain divided on the favorite to win the Big Ten. On3 national college football talk show host J.D. PicKell recently said he is still picking U-M to win it all, projecting a title game win over the Wisconsin Badgers in Indianapolis on Dec. 2. "Let's not kid ourselves. Michigan is still Michigan. They're still going to beat you up up front, they're going to play really good defense, and a lot of the cast of characters that were there last season from the Big Ten title team that made a statement in Columbus, Ohio? They're still there," PicKell said. PicKell's other Power Five conference champion picks included Georgia (SEC), Texas (Big 12), Florida State (ACC) and Oregon (Pac-12). In an interview with On3's Tim May, even former Ohio State coach and cur- rent Fox analyst Urban Meyer gave it up for U-M's efforts halfway through the season. "There's a lot to be said to that, and that means your team's well coached, your team's prepared, and there must be really good leadership on the team. Well, they do. They've got a very veteran team, and they're doing it very impressively," Meyer said. "To go on the road to Nebraska, I actually said that game might be close, it wasn't close. I thought Nebraska's defense would hang in there a little bit but they didn't. And then Minnesota's not a walk in the park, that's a tough place to go play." — Anthony Broome MAIZE AND BLUE NOTEBOOK Power, a standout defenseman who left U-M after his sophomore season in 2021-22, recently signed a contract extension with the Buffalo Sabres worth an average of $8.35 million a year. PHOTO COURTESY NHL/BUFFALO SABRES