Edina’s Mason West prepares for NHL draft

EDINA, Minn — *Editor’s Note: The above story by KARE 11’s Will Hall first aired June 9, 2025.

Mason West was so preoccupied juggling football and hockey as a high school junior, the 17-year-old didn’t realize he was entering his NHL draft-eligible year.

That’s before the 6-foot-6, 215-pound hockey center/quarterback for Edina High School got his invite to the NHL scouting combine.

“I was just taking it one day at a time,” said West, who is committed to play at Michigan State, and had a goal and nine points in 10 games as a rookie with Fargo of the USHL this year.

“I didn’t really know the NHL stuff was going to happen this year,” added West, ranked 27th on Central Scouting’s list of North American skaters. “I kind of just kept working hard and opportunities came my way. So I’m just going to keep the same mindset.”

After splitting his time at football and hockey evenly, West went all-in on hockey following the opportunity to play in the USHL. He’s not giving up entirely on football yet, entering his senior high school season.

“I try to set goals for the football and hockey year to try to win a state championship in both,” said West, who describes himself as a pocket-passer in football. “I’ve been able to do that in hockey, but not football yet. So that’s kind of the reason I have to go back and maybe win one.”

West’s idol is New York Islanders captain Anders Lee, who is also from Edina and played quarterback in high school.

“I’m super excited,” West told KARE 11’s Will Hall earlier this month. “Super blessed to be in the position that I am.”

Like West, Woodbury native Logan Hensler grew up playing football and hockey. While he didn’t play as long as West, he reached the same conclusion that his future would be better served on skates. Hensler is now the top-ranked Minnesotan in this year’s draft, according to NHL.com.

Hensler grew up in Woodbury and played a year at Hill-Murray before joining the U.S. National Developmental Team during the 2022-23 season. He recently wrapped up his first season at the University of Wisconsin and is expected to have his name called on Friday. The right-handed blue liner played in 32 games with the Badgers and recorded 12 points. According to Adam Kimelman with NHL.com, Henlser is a strong skater and showed no problem holding his own against more physically developed forwards.

The Minnesota Wild currently don’t possess a pick for Friday’s first round after dealing it to Columbus back in November in exchange for defenseman David Jiříček, the No. 6 overall pick in 2022.

The 21-year-old appeared in six games with the Wild last season and scored his first goal on Jan. 18 against the Nashville Predators. While playing with the Iowa Wild, he suffered a lacerated spleen in late March and missed the remainder of the season. David Jiříček, along with Zeev Buium, are two of the top defensive prospects with the Wild and could have increased roles in the upcoming season, but it comes at the expense of sitting out the first round, unless a trade is made.

Minnesota does currently have picks in the second (52), fourth (121), fifth (141) and sixth (180) rounds. The Wild could use a top-six forward, particularly a center, but without a top 50 pick, the Wild may need to find that in free agency rather than the draft.

One draft pick has already changed hands this week, with No. 117 (a fourth-rounder) going from Vancouver to Edmonton for Evander Kane, and plenty more are expected to get traded through Saturday.

Maybe even the 27th selection by the Washington Capitals. Just don’t tell assistant GM Ross Mahoney.

“Any chance we trade the pick? What are you doing to me? I’ve been working all these months trying to — yeah, there’s always a chance that a pick could get moved,” Mahoney said. “When you’re on the amateur side, you love to make picks. That’s your job. That’s what you do as a group. But if you’re making a trade to acquire an asset that you think is going to improve your team … you go with that.”

Mathieu Darche said the Islanders aren’t trading out of the top spot. San Jose and Chicago are next, and Utah’s Bill Armstrong said he and his counterparts around the league have had discussions about the No. 4 pick.

“It’s very rare that it’s done that you could move from four to two or two to one,” Armstrong said. “But, do you have to explore it? Yes. That’s part of my job every morning. I wake up and go to work and see if we can better the pick or if we can come up with different options to maximize where we are.”

Yes, Boston College center James Hagens has seen the “Bring Hagens Home” bumper stickers when back home on Long Island. “It was pretty funny, gives you a good smile,” said Hagens, who grew up an Islanders fan. As for whether he made eye contact with the person in the car with the sticker, Central Scouting’s top-ranked U.S.-born prospect laughed and said: “Nah, I just tried to put my head down as he drove by.” … Since 2015, 11 U.S.-born players have been selected among the top-five picks, including Auston Matthews (2016) and Jack Hughes (2019) going No. 1. … Among mother-son hockey connections, Arizona State forward Cullen Potter’s mother, Jenny, was a four-time U.S. Olympian. She was a member of the 1998 gold medal-winning squad and holds the U.S. record with 32 career points in Olympic competition — five more than Hilary Knight, who is set to make her fifth Olympic appearance in February.

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