F Mason West - Fargo Force, USHL (2025 Draft)

[Hockeyville USA]

Is he Anders Lee or Riley Tufte?

MIN high schoolers are so tough to gauge sometimes

Tufte DY USHL: 27 GP, 14 PTS
West DY USHL: 10 GP, 9 PTS

Lee and West are quite comparable because they're both Edina QBs with summer birthdays eligible for the draft after their 17 year old season, but because of the US school year grouping/cut off date in Edina, only juniors in high school when being first time draft eligible. Lee would have been drafted in 2008, but he told teams "I'm going back to Edina to play football for a last go round.", so he wasn't picked until 2009. West could fall massively if he goes back to Edina to play a senior football season (and thus play MN HS hockey in his D+1), but he'll get picked in the 2025 Draft because he's a later 1st/early 2nd round talent on pure talent.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I think if West wants to be a first round pick he has to get serious.

Drop the football. Drop the senior year of Minnesota HS hockey.

Dude is ancient for a HS junior. In plenty of parts of the country he would be graduating high school next month. He probably makes the cutoff for a HS junior in his school district by a week or two.

And that’s not his fault or anything, but NHL teams aren’t going to sit around and wait for him to waste a year of his development if he ends up as a first round pick playing against future cooks and cleaners.

That pick is too important. He’s going to have to show that he’s willing to play a full USHL season next year. Otherwise, he will go second or third round at the earliest.

 

[SI90]

Tufte DY USHL: 27 GP, 14 PTS
West DY USHL: 10 GP, 9 PTS

Lee and West are quite comparable because they're both Edina QBs with summer birthdays eligible for the draft after their 17 year old season, but because of the US school year grouping/cut off date in Edina, only juniors in high school when being first time draft eligible. Lee would have been drafted in 2008, but he told teams "I'm going back to Edina to play football for a last go round.", so he wasn't picked until 2009. West could fall massively if he goes back to Edina to play a senior football season (and thus play MN HS hockey in his D+1), but he'll get picked in the 2025 Draft because he's a later 1st/early 2nd round talent on pure talent.

Im familiar with the history. I was questioning more in terms of NHL future and success. Obviously it’s something we don’t know for years but it’s interesting when it comes to Minnesota HS players.

 

[Bonin21]

Dude is ancient for a HS junior. In plenty of parts of the country he would be graduating high school next month. He probably makes the cutoff for a HS junior in his school district by a week or two.

MN hockey groups kids after June 1, and a lot of parents sent those kids to the same grade as their hockey buddies in school.

Aug 7 is not an "ancient" 11th grader. That would be a Jun 1, 2007 bday. So Jimmy Snuggerud was ancient as a Jun 1 11th grader getting drafted that accelerated. And Rinzel was a late June that didn't accelerate.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

MN hockey groups kids after June 1, and a lot of parents sent those kids to the same grade as their hockey buddies in school.

Aug 7 is not an "ancient" 11th grader. That would be a Jun 1, 2007 bday. So Jimmy Snuggerud was ancient as a Jun 1 11th grader getting drafted that accelerated. And Rinzel was a late June that didn't accelerate.

I'm guessing the school year grouping/cut off date varies district to district, so Hopkins might be July 1, while Minnetonka might be June 1, Edina might be August 1, etc, etc. Unless Minnesota does it uniformly & I'm not aware. (My K-12 district had a July 1 cut off date, I'm an August birthday, thus I was one of the oldest in my grade, thus technically "ancient" by @Pavel Buchnevich standards )

I like the Canadian school year grouping just being the birthyear (Jan 1-Dec 31), makes it easier doing it uniformly for the whole country, and works very well with the hockey birthyear system.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

MN hockey groups kids after June 1, and a lot of parents sent those kids to the same grade as their hockey buddies in school.

Aug 7 is not an "ancient" 11th grader. That would be a Jun 1, 2007 bday. So Jimmy Snuggerud was ancient as a Jun 1 11th grader getting drafted that accelerated. And Rinzel was a late June that didn't accelerate.

It might work that way in Minnesota, but you have to understand that plenty of school districts in the USA and probably Canada also have an August 7th player going to school with those born the same year as them.

There are some school districts where they have December players going to school with the January kids born the same year as them because they do it by birth year.

So yeah, grouping it as Minnesota does might not make him ancient for Minnesota, but a kid that turns 18 on August 7th before he even starts his senior year of high school is ancient for his grade in the USA.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

He’s a HS junior?

Ok scratch me saying if he was gonna get a Power 4 football offer he’d have one by now. He could absolutely still land an offer in the Power 4. Can definitely see a program throw him a flier offer and just see what he can be after some time on a CFB lifting and nutrition plan.

 

[Attack Vector]

He's going to be a mid round pick, the first red flag with NHL teams is that he isn't 100% passionate about hockey. You want to draft a player that's all in on the sport not with just skill but also mentally.

 

[montreal]

Screens Goalie on Goal 0:09
Assist 0:46
Assist 1:35
West Takes FO 2:03
Assist 2:29

 

[BKarchitect]

He's going to be a mid round pick, the first red flag with NHL teams is that he isn't 100% passionate about hockey. You want to draft a player that's all in on the sport not with just skill but also mentally.

You are allowed to be 100% passionate about two things. Passion is not a finite resource. We don't even know what his long-term plans are or where he is leaning. We will see when it comes to the draft process and college choice and perhaps get a better idea as will selecting teams. Yes, leaning heavily into a football path would potentially effect his draft position but by no means does it mean he is not "100% passionate about hockey".

His physical traits and season output which includes dominate games at state and impressive production in the USHL plus his immense physical traits really stand out in a draft full of "safe floor" players.

 

[HaveKnifeWillButcher]

Does he have an epic BMOC video like Anders Lee had?

 

[HaveKnifeWillButcher]

After watching his Hudl highlights, he's definitely a better QB than Copp and Lee but his arm strength is nowhere near what is required at the P4 level.

 

[Attack Vector]

You are allowed to be 100% passionate about two things. Passion is not a finite resource. We don't even know what his long-term plans are or where he is leaning.

That's exactly why he's going to become a mid round draft pick. Teams will pick players with pure hockey backgrounds. If he can't even decide what direction he wants to go until the NHL draft, I can also see him testing free agency after 4 years in college. Seems like a kid that wants to go with the beat of his own drum.

There is nothing wrong with that either just teams won't want to take on that risk with a draft pick.

 

[Rusty8719]

The football stuff is way overblown. He's like the 110th rated QB in his class.

He'll commit to hockey when the time comes. No chance this kid chooses to drop several rounds in the draft because he wants to be a backup at Marshall for 2 years before transferring to a JuCo as a starter.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

After watching his Hudl highlights, he's definitely a better QB than Copp and Lee but his arm strength is nowhere near what is required at the P4 level.

I’d imagine a P4 team views him as a TE, maybe a DE

 

[lanky]

That's exactly why he's going to become a mid round draft pick. Teams will pick players with pure hockey backgrounds. If he can't even decide what direction he wants to go until the NHL draft, I can also see him testing free agency after 4 years in college. Seems like a kid that wants to go with the beat of his own drum.

There is nothing wrong with that either just teams won't want to take on that risk with a draft pick.

Hockey media is definitely gonna cover this story at the draft combine interviews. We'll get more information and you don't need to jump to conclusions right now.

 

[2014nyr]

After watching his Hudl highlights, he's definitely a better QB than Copp and Lee but his arm strength is nowhere near what is required at the P4 level.

Unless he’s missing a couple fingers or his throwing arm is comically short, schools won’t be overly concerned by that given his measurables. He may never be josh allen or have a release they show at camps, but at that size arm strength isn’t a long term concern. Besides, arm strength can be a bit overrated. Obviously it’s ideal to be able to zip the ball into windows downfield like an allen/mahomes, but you definitely don’t need a cannon or aesthetically pleasing motion to be successful. Guys like purdy, mayfield, cousins, brady, goff, wilson and even burrow aren’t out there throwing seeds. There’s also a handful who have pretty ugly mechanics but make it work ie lamar, rivers, hurts. Meanwhile anthony richardson has the strongest arm in the league but he can’t hit the ocean from a boat.

Recruiting is often more about what they think you can be, not what you’ve shown. There’s 5-10 to 6-1 qb’s every year who dominate hs and many are lucky if they hear from d3 schools or receive a preferred walk-on offer at a bigger school. Meanwhile there are kids who look like first rounders coming off the bus but are fairly unproductive in hs or hardly played any football, but very few who fit the physical profile don’t receive p4 offers. I’d be stunned if this kid doesn’t receive offers from at least some midlevel p4 programs as names ahead of him come off their board if he intends to play.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

The football stuff is way overblown. He's like the 110th rated QB in his class.

He'll commit to hockey when the time comes. No chance this kid chooses to drop several rounds in the draft because he wants to be a backup at Marshall for 2 years before transferring to a JuCo as a starter.

I agree. I think the bigger thing is the hockey path.

A lot of these Minnesota kids want to stay home and play high school with their friends through their senior year.

I think NHL teams are not going to look fondly upon that, and if that’s his plan then I could see some teams that have a first round grade on him not being willing to take the plunge in the first round.

 

[Rusty8719]

I’d imagine a P4 team views him as a TE, maybe a DE

Good thing he won't be going to Kent State as a RS TE lmao.

I agree. I think the bigger thing is the hockey path.

A lot of these Minnesota kids want to stay home and play high school with their friends through their senior year.

I think NHL teams are not going to look fondly upon that, and if that’s his plan then I could see some teams that have a first round grade on him not being willing to take the plunge in the first round.

I don't think he'll go HS next season. I think really all this is - all this year was - was a 17 year old mid prospect enjoying high school. A mid prospect that didn't have to have it figured out right away because he wasn't in the spotlight. And now that he's in 1st round conversations his path has become a big deal.

I'm sure the next steps have already been discussed internally.

 

[57special]

He's going to be a mid round pick, the first red flag with NHL teams is that he isn't 100% passionate about hockey. You want to draft a player that's all in on the sport not with just skill but also mentally.

Not true at all. NHL teams love multi sport athletes, and expect that there is more room for improvement in them once they focus on the one sport.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

I remember a certain High School guy that was also a dual sport (tight end) he was also a late riser. He went 5th overall and his name is Blake Wheeler and after the draft he focused solely on his hockey career.

 

[lanky]

I'm not calling for him to go 5 OA, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him rise quite high.

 

[HaveKnifeWillButcher]

Unless he’s missing a couple fingers or his throwing arm is comically short, schools won’t be overly concerned by that given his measurables. He may never be josh allen or have a release they show at camps, but at that size arm strength isn’t a long term concern. Besides, arm strength can be a bit overrated. Obviously it’s ideal to be able to zip the ball into windows downfield like an allen/mahomes, but you definitely don’t need a cannon or aesthetically pleasing motion to be successful. Guys like purdy, mayfield, cousins, brady, goff, wilson and even burrow aren’t out there throwing seeds. There’s also a handful who have pretty ugly mechanics but make it work ie lamar, rivers, hurts. Meanwhile anthony richardson has the strongest arm in the league but he can’t hit the ocean from a boat.

Recruiting is often more about what they think you can be, not what you’ve shown. There’s 5-10 to 6-1 qb’s every year who dominate hs and many are lucky if they hear from d3 schools or receive a preferred walk-on offer at a bigger school. Meanwhile there are kids who look like first rounders coming off the bus but are fairly unproductive in hs or hardly played any football, but very few who fit the physical profile don’t receive p4 offers. I’d be stunned if this kid doesn’t receive offers from at least some midlevel p4 programs as names ahead of him come off their board if he intends to play.

A 6'6" QB with a noodle arm is still a QB with a noodle arm.

 

[Jaykay]

I think if West wants to be a first round pick he has to get serious.

Drop the football. Drop the senior year of Minnesota HS hockey.

Dude is ancient for a HS junior. In plenty of parts of the country he would be graduating high school next month. He probably makes the cutoff for a HS junior in his school district by a week or two.

And that’s not his fault or anything, but NHL teams aren’t going to sit around and wait for him to waste a year of his development if he ends up as a first round pick playing against future cooks and cleaners.

That pick is too important. He’s going to have to show that he’s willing to play a full USHL season next year. Otherwise, he will go second or third round at the earliest.

Gotta love when a total stranger tells a high school kid how to live his life and to not do what makes him happy.

My guess is he will be in the USHL next year, but if he wants to come back to Edina, play football and win Mr. Hockey next year he can. It might drop him a round in the draft but my guess is it wouldn't. Ultimately, it's his decision. Grow up.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Gotta love when a total stranger tells a high school kid how to live his life and to not do what makes him happy.

My guess is he will be in the USHL next year, but if he wants to come back to Edina, play football and win Mr. Hockey next year he can. It might drop him a round in the draft but my guess is it wouldn't. Ultimately, it's his decision. Grow up.

You’re telling me to grow up because on a hockey message board I’m suggesting what will help his hockey career the most?

What a terrible thing for me to do!

For the record, he can do whatever he wants. I’m merely saying if he wants to be picked high it’s obvious what that’s going to revolve around.

I’m sure NHL teams will be asking him these exact questions during the combine, so quit coming at me for saying the obvious.