When Michigan takes the take the ice against Penn State on Thursday and Friday night it will do so with seven first-round draft picks on its roster.
This fact is, by any reasonable measure, kind of insane.
There’s Owen Power, the No. 1 overall draft choice. Oh, and then there’s Matty Beniers, Luke Hughes and Kent Johnson — giving the Wolverines four of the five picks in the first round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.
Beniers went No. 2 as the first draft selection by the league’s latest expansion team the Seattle Kraken. Hughes was the fourth overall selection by the New Jersey Devils. The Columbus Blue Jackets made Johnson the fifth overall pick.
Mackie Samoskevich was picked No. 24 overall by the Florida Panthers. Brendan Brisson when No. 29 overall in 2020 to Vegas, while Johnny Beecher was selected No. 30 in 2019 by the Boston Bruins
So yeah, the Wolverines are loaded, but Penn State has faced talented Michigan teams before and come out on top. In fact, for a good while the Nittany Lions made a point of being a thorn in Michigan’s side as the up-and-coming program posted upset after upset against the Wolverines.
Thursday and Friday might be a bit different though.
Whatever the results turn out to be, it’s an interesting conversation for a Penn State program that has performed well (some might be quick to point out Penn State has won more Big Ten titles than Michigan) but has never really recruited at the same level of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
The question, of course, is if that’s an issue. Penn State’s best teams have been developed over time, but the Nittany Lions’ postseason losses – albeit both to Denver – have been a product of a talent gap. In fairness, Penn State’s 2020 squad may have been its most talented, and that postseason never came thanks to COVID-19.
So is it better to be full of previously established talent, or full of developed players?
“I think that’s why we’re gonna have 5,000, 6,000 people show up on Thursday night,” Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky said earlier this week.
In the end the answer is that you need a bit of both. For all the success Penn State has had developing good teams and good players, there have been NHL Draft choices sprinkled in there. Evan Barratt was a recruiting win, as was Peyton Jones and others who have come through the tunnel at Pegula Ice Arena. Nate Sucese and Alex Limoges were fantastic hockey players in their own right, so too Liam Folkes, Denis Smirnov and Nikita Pavlychev. The list goes on and on.
And as Gadowsky would go on to point out, getting a team to work together can work wonders, no matter the skill.
“As a team when synergy is involved,” Gadowsky added. “I think it’s exponential; I think really great things can happen when it comes to synergy. So I think that’s what every team is looking for, regardless of how much individual talent and potential individuals have. But I think the goal to reach, you know, the synergistic maximum was what we’re all trying to achieve.”
Thursday and Friday nights will be an interesting exercise in this theory. How good this particular Penn State team turns out to be is an answer that will show itself in due time, but finding a way to win against one of the most talented teams in the country speaks to an overarching question that faces Penn State hockey now: can the Nittany Lions win and get to where they want to go as a team, even if the big name talent isn’t there?
Check back in a few days.
