University of Michigan defenseman Owen Power has 12 points in 10 games.

 AP Photo/Paul Sancya

Sitting at No. 2 in both national college hockey polls, Michigan swept archrival Michigan State over the weekend and it was a big series for Sabres No. 1 overall draft pick Owen Power.

The sophomore defenseman had two assists in each game of the home-and-home series while playing under the watchful eye of Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams. It was Power's first face-to-face meeting with the GM since he was drafted in July.

"We just chatted quickly and he just let me know how things are going there," Power said when asked by The Buffalo News about the meeting on a video call. "And then we talked about my game a little bit and he gave me some stuff here and there. It was good to see him and I think everything went well."

Plenty is going well for Power, who is tied for second on the team in scoring with 12 points and is tied for the team lead in in assists (10) with center Kent Johnson, the No. 5 overall choice by Columbus in July. Power had three goals and 16 points in 26 games as a freshman.

"A big part of it is the guys that I'm playing with," Power said. "And I think also that's a sign that I've been working on kind of the last year, year and a half and it was one of my main focuses in the summer. So I think just all the work I put into it and continue to put into it is kind of showing up.

"I think my offensive game has kind of taken another step. But I think just all over the ice, defensively with my gap, it's been a lot better in the 'D' zone. I think I've become harder to play against and done a better job of breaking out pucks and just making it hard on other teams to create offense and create sustained 'O' zone time."

With a high ranking and lots of marquee NHL draft picks on the ice, Michigan is going to get a lot of attention on the road this season. After playing in empty buildings last season, Power says road trips thus far to Minnesota-Duluth, Western Michigan and Michigan State have been eye-openers.

"It's a lot different with fans going in there," he said. "A lot of these places have crazy, loud student sections. So it definitely makes it harder to play against, especially when things aren't going your way. But for me, I kind of love it. I think it's hilarious and a ton of fun to go play on the road and play against people that are rooting against you all the time."

Power and the Wolverines continue to get strong work in goal from Sabres prospect Erik Portillo, who is 8-2 with a 2.20 goals-against average and .919 save percentage. Michigan's next games are Thursday and Friday at Penn State where, of course, the hosts play in Pegula Ice Arena, the building funded by the Sabres' owners. Thursday's game is an 8:30 p.m. start and will be televised on the Big Ten Network. More hostile fans. Power is cool with it.

"They're coming off being swept (at Ohio State), so we're going to get their best," Power said. "But I think for sure we're more worried about ourselves and just continuing to get better as a team. And I think that's probably our biggest focus right now."

Also in the 2021 class

Power's impressive start isn't the only one the Sabres have seen from the group they took in July.

A breakout player to date has been fourth-round winger Olivier Nadeau of Shawinigan in the Quebec League. The 6-foot-2 Nadeau, who got a chance to skate in Prospect Challenge games and at Sabres training camp, is just three points off the league scoring lead with 22 points in 14 games.

Nadeau's 12 goals are just one shy of his total in 34 games last season for the Cataractes. He is the league leader in power-play goals with six.

Nadeau's biggest explosion to date was a four-goal, seven-point game Oct. 30 in an 8-5 win over Blanville-Boisbriand. The career-high point total landed Nadeau on the CHL Team of the Week for the period ending Oct. 31.

• Third-rounder Josh Bloom, who didn't play last year due to the pandemic, has six goals and 12 points in nine games at Saginaw of the OHL. In 2019-20, Bloom had six goals for the entire 54-game season. Bloom had his first OHL hat trick in Saginaw's 7-4 win Friday over Sarnia.

• First-round winger Isak Rosen, acquired with a pick from Philadelphia for Rasmus Ristolainen, has two goals and two assists in 18 games in the Swedish Hockey League and 3-2-5 in four games in the Swedish junior league. He is with Leksands.

• Also in Sweden, sixth-round center William Van Barnekow has eight goals and 20 points in 17 games with Malmo. He was loaned on Tuesday to Troja-Ljungby to play while the SHL is on a break. Van Barnekow has played 11 games with Malmo's SHL club and did not post a point in the top league.

• Left wings Prokhor Poltapov and Aleksandr Kisakov (both second round) and defenseman Nikita Novikov (sixth round) are playing in the KHL in Russia. They have yet to score.

Elsewhere

• Northeastern goalie Devon Levi, acquired from Florida in the Sam Reinhart trade over the summer, continues to have a huge season at his first run in Hockey East. Levi is 8-3, 1.55/.945 -- and has allowed one goal in each of the last three games. He posted a 2-1 overtime win Monday over Harvard and returns to the ice Friday at No. 20 Mass-Lowell.

• Center Matteo Costantini, the former Buffalo Jr. Sabres star taken in the fifth round in 2020, has three goals and four assists in nine games in his first season at North Dakota (6-3). He was named National Collegiate Hockey Conference Rookie of the Week on Monday after collecting three points – including the opening goal in each game – in a sweep of Denver that opened conference play.

• At the University of Minnesota, defenseman Ryan Johnson (2019 first round) has a goal, six assists and a plus-5 rating while forward Aaron Huglen (fourth round 2019) has two goals. The Gophers (6-4, 3-1) host Ohio State this weekend, and the first of four games against Michigan comes Dec. 3-4 in Ann Arbor.

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