Zach Werenski is back and ready for his second season with Wolverines

 

By @MichaelCaples –

The University of Michigan hockey program didn’t have an easy offseason, as they watched three of their top forwards leave for the pros.

A player who did return, however, is one to be excited about.

While Dylan Larkin, Zach Hyman and Andrew Copp will not be in the line-up when the puck officially drops on the Wolverines’ season Friday night, Zach Werenski will be patrolling the blue line once again.

The 18-year-old Grosse Pointe native, fresh off a rookie season in which he was one of the youngest players ever to wear a Maize and Blue jersey, decided to return to school, despite being drafted No. 8 overall by Columbus in the NHL Draft.

“I think whenever you’re talking about the NHL and an organization like Columbus, you definitely have to put thought into it,” Werenski said of his decision to stay in Ann Arbor. “They’re a great organization, they gave me time and space this summer, which was huge, but ultimately I thought that just turning 18 over the summer and being pretty young that coming back for my sophomore season was the right decision.”

The decision could be a huge one for the Wolverines. In a Big Ten conference that appears to be wide-open for the taking, Michigan returns a player who cracked the all-conference first-team list despite graduating high school a year early. The 6-foot-2, 218-pound blueliner racked up nine goals and 16 assists for 25 points in 35 games last year, while also starring for Team USA at the World Juniors during the holidays.

His coach thinks he will be even better in his sophomore campaign, too.

“I think Zach’s going to pick up in his defensive zone,” Red Berenson said. “His offensive game is solid, and I’m sure that will grow, but defensively, I think he’ll get more confident defensively and stronger and more physical, so he uses his strength and size defensively, as well. You’re never good enough as a defenseman, but part of it will be positioning, part of it will be gapping up, and we want our defense to be more active on our forecheck, as well. I think all of those areas are areas Zach’s going to be better at.”

Werenski – who scored twice in his team’s exhibition opener against Toronto on Oct. 4 – said he fully plans on taking advantage of Michigan’s undergraduate assistant coach that joined the program last winter during the 2015-16 season. Mike Komisarek, a Michigan alum who recently concluded a 11-year NHL career, has remained with the UM coaching staff, and Werenski plans to lean on his experience heavily.

“There was days, you know, I woke up and I wanted to go be a Blue Jacket and then there were days where obviously I want to be a Wolverine again,” Werenski said. “I think the pros of coming back here and having Komisarek for a few year, being a sophomore and hopefully having a bigger role on the team this year was kind of the reason why I wanted to come back.”

MORE: Werenski headlines Hockey News’ NCAA players to watch list | PHOTOS: Wolverines start 2015-16 season with exhibition thrashing of Toronto

The unique opportunity of having Komisarek’s tutelage available was a big reason why Werenski felt confident in his decision to return.

“Yeah, definitely, just having him back here, he was a physical defenseman and a great one in the NHL,” Werenski said. “Just to utilize him to the best of my ability this year is kind of what I want to do. He’s so fresh out of the NHL and knows the game so well, asking him questions I think can really help all his defense, so that’s a big reason why I came back.”

He knows he has to continue improving, especially when a jump to higher levels of hockey inches closer.

“I think just work on my game as a whole,” Werenski said. “I seem to be pretty confident offensively, and there’s definitely things I need to work on defensively, so I’m going to do that, but I also continue to work on my game offensively, physicality, skating, the game gets faster as you get older, so, just kind of everything, work on it as a whole.”

Werenski seems poised for a big sophomore season, at least if you consider how well he performed despite a whirlwind offseason before his freshman season. While most kids are preparing for college by touring campus and chatting with their future roommates, Werenski was rushing through the final credits he needed to graduate from high school in three years. Once that was done, he was thrust into a NCAA hockey program being a year younger than everyone else.

This summer – despite a NHL combine and a NHL Draft to deal with – was a more relaxing one for Werenski.

“I think pretty much just the whole summer I focused on hockey with the combine and the draft and the World Junior camp,” Werenski said. “It was just a hockey summer but with more downtime where I could hang out with my friends and just kind of enjoy being home for the summer, which was really nice.”

His coach has already noticed the difference, too.

“I think it already looks like it benefits him,” Berenson said. “I think it’s been really good for him. He came in and was an impact player, even though he went to school all summer. This summer, he’s going to be more ready to live up to the expectations that he’s built for himself now.”

And with comments like that, all of Michigan’s B1G opponents should be put on notice.