The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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56 THE WOLVERINE ❱ OCTOBER 2026 ❱ MICHIGAN HOCKEY ing Michigan win a championship than he is about the draft," Naurato said. "Very impressed with his overall maturity as a 17-year-old that'll play at 17 all year. "He just wants to be one of the guys. I think we have a team and a group of kids or an environment where he's able to be one of the guys. He doesn't have to put the weight of the world on his shoulders. I think our staff and guys that have been around it, we have six first-rounders on our team that have gone through what he's going through, those guys can help him with it, some alums can help him with it." MICHIGAN SHOULD HAVE PROLIFIC OFFENSE The Wolverines led the nation with 4.56 goals per game last season. The country's third-best point scorer, Hughes, is the only one of the team's top-10 point scor- ers who isn't still on the roster. Junior Michael Hage (13 goals, 39 as- sists), senior Jayden Perron (18 goals, 23 assists) and junior Will Horcoff (team- best 25 goals, 14 assists) headline an ex- perienced, seemingly endless list of play- makers up front. Naurato spoke about that in his interview with The Wolverine but kept coming back to the human ele- ment and how much he loves the people he has in the locker room. "Obviously, [junior Will] Horcoff, [ju- nior Michael] Hage, [senior Jayden] Per- ron, the numbers they put up last year, and taking another step this year," Nau- rato said of his expectations for the for- wards. "Gosh, I feel like I could go through the whole roster. We are deep, man. We're in a really, really good spot. "And it's not just because of talent or having 16 draft picks, and then potentially the first overall pick. It's people, and I keep saying the same thing, but it's people that have earned their place as juniors and seniors and worked for it and dealt with adversity, and then guys that have won and been to multiple Frozen Fours, and then guys that have felt the pain of losing and really want to get over that hump. "A lot of these guys — there are prob- ably 10 of them that could have signed — came back for a reason." JACK IVANKOVIC IS 'BIG TIME' Michigan checked in No. 11 in the na- tion by limiting opponents to 2.36 goals per outing but ranked No. 37 in penalty killing percentage. Naurato feels strongly about his deep group of players on the blue line. "Just the depth," he said of what stands out. "We have 10 deep on our roster. Man, everybody can play, and it's not a first and second pair — it's who's going that night and where can they help you out in their individual role on the team, whether it's power play, penalty kill, offense or de- fense. We've got a lot of different options, a lot of different guys that could step up and provide value at different times." Sophomore netminder Jack Ivankovic factors prominently into the defensive calculation, of course. The Mississauga, Ontario, native and 2025 No. 58 overall draft pick by the Nashville Predators was named an All-Big Ten second-teamer and ranked 11th in the sport with a .923 save percentage. Oftentimes, a hot goalie can carry a team to great heights, and Ivankovic is capable of lifting the Wolverines to a na- tional title. "Big time," Naurato said of his second- year starter. "It's always the same thing when I talk about him, just a quiet confi- dence and swagger, but he's the real deal. He's got a chip on his shoulder, as well, after last year, and something to prove. He's the guy that can get us there, 100 percent." TOUGH SCHEDULE, HIGH EXPECTATIONS The Big Ten is always tough, and Michi- gan has a difficult nonconference slate, too, highlighted by an Oct. 16-17 national semifinal rematch against Denver, which won the national championship over Wisconsin in Las Vegas back in April. "We're excited," Naurato said. "Our out-of-conference is tough again. Obvi- ously, Western [Michigan] every year, and then Denver. Bowling Green's got a really good program. I go through each spot, the Big Ten is deeper than ever. Anything great or hard that you want to do, it's go- ing to take a lot of work, and I'm sure we'll go through some type of adversity this season and learn from it and grow from it, and we welcome it." Growing from it and becoming better by the end is something to shoot for, be- cause the goals at Michigan won't ever change as long as Naurato is in charge. "We want to win the regular season in the Big Ten. We want to win the playoffs in the Big Ten. We want to win the na- tional championship. We want to be the No. 1 seed going into the tournament," Naurato said. "Those are our expectations every single year. But more importantly than anything, to do that, we need to win ev- ery day. Every day we go to the class- room, we're winning that opportunity. Every day, we're on the ice for practice, and then if we stack enough of those wins through some adversity and some success … You've just got to get a bounce at an important time, make a play." ❏ 2026-27 MICHIGAN HOCKEY SCHEDULE Date Opponent Time Oct. 2 vs. Bowling Green 7 p.m. Oct. 3 at Bowling Green 6 p.m. Oct. 9 vs. Alaska Anchorage 7 p.m. Oct. 10 vs. Alaska Anchorage 7 p.m. Oct. 16 at Denver TBA Oct. 17 at Denver TBA Oct. 23 vs. Western Michigan 7 p.m. Oct. 31 at Ohio State TBA Nov. 1 at Ohio State TBA Nov. 13 vs. Penn State TBA Nov. 14 vs. Penn State TBA Nov. 20 vs. Michigan State TBA Nov. 21 at Michigan State TBA Nov. 27 vs. Ferris State 7 p.m. Nov. 28 vs. Ferris State 7 p.m. Dec. 4 vs. Wisconsin TBA Dec. 5 vs. Wisconsin TBA Jan. 2 at USNTDP (ex.) TBA Jan. 8 at Minnesota TBA Jan. 9 at Minnesota TBA Jan. 15 at Notre Dame TBA Jan. 16 at Notre Dame TBA Jan. 22 vs. Ohio State TBA Jan. 23 vs. Ohio State TBA Jan. 30 at Western Michigan TBA Feb. 5 at Michigan State TBA Feb. 6 at Michigan State TBA Feb. 12 vs. Notre Dame TBA Feb. 13 vs. Notre Dame TBA Feb. 18 at Wisconsin TBA Feb. 20 vs. Wisconsin TBA Feb. 26 vs. Minnesota TBA Feb. 27 vs. Minnesota TBA Mar. 4 at Penn State TBA Mar. 5 at Penn State TBA Mar. 10 Big Ten Quarterfinal TBA Mar. 13 Big Ten Semifinal TBA Mar. 19 Big Ten Championship TBA Mar. 25-28 NCAA Regional TBA Apr. 8-10 NCAA Frozen Four TBA (All times local)