Michigan’s open week sets up a November that runs through Michigan State

With no game this weekend, Michigan looks ahead to Penn State, the first Michigan State series, Ferris State, and Landon DuPont’s No. 1 pick case.

Shaun

November 6, 2026

4–6 minutes

Michigan Wolverines, Forward Look

Michigan doesn’t play this weekend, and the timing works. The Wolverines come out of their open week with three straight home-heavy weekends that will say a lot about the shape of their season: Penn State on Nov. 13-14, the first Michigan-Michigan State series of the season on Nov. 20-21, and Ferris State on Nov. 27-28.

Here is where things stand and what to watch.

Where Michigan stands

Michigan is 8-1-0 overall and 1-1-0 in the Big Ten after its weekend in Columbus. The Wolverines are No. 2 in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey polls released Nov. 2, one spot ahead of Michigan State, and No. 1 in the NCAA’s NPI through games of Nov. 1, according to Mitten Hockey’s rankings roundup. (If you need a refresher on why the NPI matters more than the polls in March, start here.)

The numbers behind that start are loud. Through nine games, Michigan has scored 46 goals and allowed 23, an average of 5.1 for and 2.6 against, according to the team’s official cumulative stats. It has outshot opponents 300-268. Michael Hage leads the team with 20 points (four goals, 16 assists) and a plus-14 rating, and Jayden Perron has 10 goals and 19 points. In goal, Jack Ivankovic has started all nine games and is 8-1-0 with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage.

The one soft spot is special teams. Michigan’s power play is 7-for-33 (21.2%), and opponents have scored on 8 of their 34 power plays. The Wolverines have given opponents slightly more power plays than they’ve earned. Against a top-three team, that is the margin that decides a game.

Nov. 13-14: Penn State at Yost

Penn State comes to Yost Ice Arena at 2-5-1 overall and 0-1-1 in the Big Ten, according to the Nittany Lions’ official schedule, and hosts Notre Dame this weekend before making the trip. On paper, this is the weekend Michigan should control: home ice, a big edge in scoring, and an opponent still looking for its footing.

The thing to watch is whether Michigan’s power play gets more out of its chances. With Hage and Perron combining for 39 points, the 21.2% rate has room to climb.

Nov. 20-21: The first Michigan-Michigan State series

This is the one circled on every calendar in the state. Michigan hosts the Spartans in Ann Arbor on Friday, Nov. 20, at 7 p.m., and the teams finish the home-and-home at Michigan State on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 6 p.m.

Michigan State came into this week at 5-1-0 and No. 3 in both polls, and Thursday’s feature made the case that the Spartans belong there. They host Boston University at Munn Ice Arena this weekend (preview here), so the picture could shift before they meet Michigan.

Mitten Hockey’s take: expect a series that is hard fought on both nights and decided by a goal or two. Michigan’s scoring and Ivankovic’s steady play give it the edge on paper, but the Spartans are a different class of opponent from most of what Michigan has seen. We lean toward a split, with the home team holding serve each night, and we would not be surprised by a sweep either way. If one team takes three or four points, it will have a real claim on the top of the Big Ten heading into December.

Nov. 27-28: Ferris State over Thanksgiving weekend

Michigan closes the month at home against Ferris State, an unranked CCHA team, on Nov. 27-28. It is the kind of weekend a team protecting an NPI lead can’t afford to drop. After that, No. 1 Wisconsin, the top team in the Nov. 2 USCHO poll, comes to Yost on Dec. 4-5.

Landon DuPont’s No. 1 pick case

Landon DuPont arrived at Michigan billed as the projected No. 1 pick in the 2027 NHL Draft, and the first month hasn’t changed that. Through Nov. 1, the freshman defenseman has eight assists and a plus-7 rating in eight games, according to Michigan’s cumulative stats. He missed the Oct. 16 game at Denver with an undisclosed injury, and NHL.com reported he was averaging 18:13 of ice time through his first six games.

He is also doing it young. NHL.com noted he is the youngest player in NCAA men’s hockey this season. On Oct. 26, NHL Central Scouting gave him an A rating on its preliminary players to watch list. “He’s on another level,” Central Scouting director Karl Stewart told NHL.com.

The honest footnote: DuPont is still looking for his first college goal. That isn’t a red flag for a defenseman whose game is built on moving the puck, and his 2025-26 season with Everett of the WHL (18 goals and 73 points in 63 games, per Michigan’s roster page) shows the shot is there. A goal or two in November would round out the résumé. DuPont, for his part, isn’t easing up. “I was never satisfied with where I was, and I’m still not satisfied today,” he wrote in his NHL.com draft diary.

The Michigan State series is the best measuring stick he will get before Christmas. Playing big minutes against a top-three opponent, and driving play from the back end, is exactly what a No. 1 pick case is built on.

One more to watch: J.P. Hurlbert

Red Wings fans have their own reason to tune in. J.P. Hurlbert, whom Detroit took 23rd overall in the 2026 NHL Draft, has two goals and four points in nine games, including a power-play goal in the overtime win at Ohio State on Nov. 1.

The bottom line

Under Brandon Naurato, Michigan has built a team that scores in bunches, defends well enough, and gets good goaltending. November is where that gets tested against the team most likely to stand in its way in the Big Ten. Tighten up the special teams, and the Wolverines have every chance to head into the Wisconsin series with their spot near the top intact.

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