Pletsch: Michigan names to keep an eye on during B1G second half

By Fred Pletsch –

There are 33 Michiganders rostered on Big Ten men’s college teams this season. The Kris Draper-numbered allotment is led by Michigan State (18) and Michigan (12) with Penn State contributing a pair and Ohio State a single skater.

Here’s a projection of the players that will have the biggest impact as the sextet of teams grinds it out in regular-season play over the next ten weeks.

Zach Saar (FR, F, Penn State – Richland native) Sure, this might be a bit of a gratuitous pick for the Mitten to give the Lions a little love but the 6-foot-4, 236-pound Saar is the type of prototypical power forward that coach Guy Gadowsky loves to recruit. Saar has a mix of leadership ability (captain with USHL’s Des Moines), feistiness (141 PIMs last season) and bloodlines (his father was a linebacker on Penn State’s 1982 national championship football team) that make him a Hockey Valley favorite.

Nick Schilkey (FR, F, Ohio State – Marysville native) The slick-as-postgame-hair-gel forward has emerged as the top scoring rookie for the Buckeyes and a power-play mainstay. The 19-year old, who won the USHL’s Clark Cup 2012 with Green Bay, has elevated his game to a port-side position in the lineup with Buckeyes’ leading scorer and offensive catalyst Ryan Dzingel.

Zach Naglevoort (FR, G, Michigan – Holland native) The hometown says Holland but the lanky rookie looks so comfortable in Ann Arbor that you’d think he lived there before. Oh, that’s right, he did live with his grandparents in A2 while playing youth hockey. Heading into the New Year with a .940 save percentage that’s tops among B1G goalies, Nagelvoort is an above-average puckhandler who has that intangible of having a calming effect on his team.

Matt Berry (JR, F, Michigan State – Canton native) Ask a hockey player to choose between a lower-body injury and a root canal, and he’ll likely choose the latter because, hey, it’s only teeth. Berry, who led the team in goals, assists and shots as a sophomore last year, is still trying to get to 100 percent after enduring the former. As goals in back-to-back Great Lakes Invitational games show, he’s an offensive wildcard that the rest of the conference needs to pay close attention to.

Andrew Copp (SO, F, Michigan – Ann Arbor native) From stud high-school quarterback to NTDP fourth-line shutdown specialist to NHL draft pick and Michigan alternate captain, Copp is a classic case of latent talent blossoming when focus is on one sport. Sure, his ‘reward’ is that he’s going to have to move to Winnipeg eventually but, for now he’ll keep delivering clutch cargo for the Wolverines in the form of game-winning goals.

Mackenzie MacEachern (FR, F, Michigan State – Troy native)   MacEachern certainly has the ebb (Thomas Ebbing) and flow (Villiam Haag’s best hockey hair on the team) going on an all-frosh combination that’s used in every conceivable situation for the Spartans. If a student-athlete could risk his eligibility just by looking too much like a pro, the former Michigan Mr. Hockey would have compliance issues. In March, we might have to take issue with anyone who doesn’t include him on their B10 all-rookie ballot.