The admission of elite Canadian Hockey League players to the NCAA has significantly added to the pipeline of quality players the USHL has provided, making college hockey must-see TV for hockey fans this season. Per collegehockeynews.com, over 300 NHL draft picks will compete for NCAA programs this season. Six programs stand out in 2026-27 as having the most high-end NHL draft picks at their collective disposal. Those schools are The University of Denver, the University of North Dakota, Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, Boston University, and Boston College. Combined, these schools boast the prospects of 21 NHL clubs, many of whom were selected within the first two rounds of their respective drafts.
Today’s profile is of The University of Michigan, which follows up the past three days’ articles detailing the rosters of Michigan State University, The University of Denver and The University of North Dakota. The links to those articles can be found below. The Wolverines landed the most coveted college hockey recruit of the 2026 off-season in d-man Landon DuPont. DuPont chose to leave the WHL champion Everett Silvertips this season, where he amassed 133 points (35G 98A) in two seasons, and relocate to Ann Arbor for his draft season. He is the projected first overall pick in the 2027 draft.
With all the hype surrounding DuPont, another exceptional d-man who has joined Michigan this season but has flown under the radar is Cameron Reid (21st overall in 2025 to NSH). Reid was a key cog in the Kitchener Rangers’ 2026 OHL and Memorial Cup championships, helping the Rangers beat DuPont’s Silvertips in the Memorial Cup championship game. They have joined an already stout D corps, led by returners Henry Mews (74th overall in 2024 to CGY), Asher Barnett (131st overall in 2025 to EDM) and Drew Schock (101st overall in 2025 to ANA).
Similar to Michigan State University, the Wolverines are absolutely loaded up front. Leading the charge for this ultra-talented forward group is top pivot Michael Hage (21st overall in 2024 to MTL), who easily could have turned pro after last season and most likely landed in the Habs’ top-6 group of forwards. The Wolverines made some impressive additions to this group this off-season as well, most notably JP Hurlbert (23rd overall in 2026 to DET) and Jack Nesbitt (12th overall in 2025 to PHI). In addition to Hage, Hurlbert and Nesbitt have joined returners in the play-driving Malcolm Spence (43rd overall in 2025 to NYR), relentless forechecker Adam Valentini (96th overall in 2026 to UTA), leading goal-scorer Will Horcoff (24th overall in 2025 to PIT), tight-area puck magician Nick Moldenhauer (95th overall in 2022 to TOR) and top playmaker Jayden Perron (94th overall in 2023 to CAR). With this firepower, the Wolverines possess perhaps the deepest forward group in the NCAA.
Finally, there is the secret to becoming a great team: stellar goaltending. Enter Jack Ivankovic (58th overall to NSH), who has begun his sophomore season after posting a superb .921 save percentage in 2025-26. Through four games this season, Ivankovic has posted a .931 save percentage in leading the Wolverines to an undefeated mark.
