Spence, Reschny prepping for freshman seasons at Michigan, North Dakota
© Marissa Shiock (@framesbymarissa)
The 2025 NHL Scouting Combine presented by Fanatics is taking place this week at KeyBank Center and LECOM Harborcenter in Buffalo. The combine will allow NHL teams an opportunity to conduct interviews and provide physical and medical assessments of the top prospects eligible for the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft. NHL.com will bring you all the sights and stories. Full draft coverage can be found here.
BUFFALO — Mason West will play quarterback at Edina High School in Edina, Minnesota, one last time before trading in his cleats for hockey skates for good in 2025-26.
“I’ll play football in the fall and then head to Fargo (of the United States Hockey League),” West told NHL.com. “It was really important for me to play football as a senior with my friends. I always set goals for the year, and that was to win a state high school hockey championship and also a football championship.
“I haven’t done it in football so I kind of want to achieve that and stay loyal to my team because I think they need me.”
West (6-foot-6, 215 pounds) has been a two-sport standout at Edina the past three seasons. The right-shot center led the team in goals (27) and shots on goal (44), tied for first in game-winning goals (five), and was second in points (50) in 31 games as a junior this season.
He’s No. 27 on NHL Central Scouting’s final ranking of North American skaters eligible for the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft.
On the gridiron, he completed 178 of 244 passes for 2,592 yards, with 37 touchdowns and four interceptions. He finished with a 139.9 passer rating.
He said he will likely leave for Fargo in December after the end of football season.
“Fargo really gave me that experience of what the hockey path could look like,” West said. “Obviously, they don’t have that in football, so I got to see what the next step is for a hockey career, and I want to pursue that. I think I can get way better when I really focus on one sport.”
Selected in the fifth round (No. 75) of the 2023 USHL futures draft, West had nine points (one goal, eight assists) in 10 games after joining Fargo on March 14.
He hasn’t committed to a college but has narrowed his choices to Michigan State and Boston College. He has 27 interviews with NHL clubs at the scouting combine.
“I would say my best asset is my shot,” he said. “I really think I have a really good shot when I can get it off quick. I think I have really good awareness and vision on ice, whether it’s in the breakout zone, neutral zone, or in the offensive zone. I’m going to make those little slip passes in the offensive zone, anticipate the next play, knowing where guys are and where they need to be for the puck.”
The NHL Draft Class Podcasts chats with Schaefer, Hagens, more during the scouting combine
Malcolm Spence is looking forward to beginning a new chapter at the University of Michigan in 2025-26.
Spence had 73 points (32 goals, 41 assists) in 65 games with Erie of the Ontario Hockey League this season; he was tied for second on the team in goals, was third in assists and third in points. He committed to Michigan on May 12.
“I had a lot of good experiences in Erie, and I played with a lot of great players but, for me, (Michigan) was the next step,” Spence said. “Obviously, I know what my game needs to succeed at the next level and because of that, I think Michigan was the direction I needed to take.”
The 18-year-old left wing, an alternate captain for Erie the past two seasons, is No. 17 on NHL Central Scouting’s final ranking of North American skaters. He had nine points (four goals, five assists) in nine OHL playoff games.
Spence pointed to the fact Michigan had 30 players in the NHL in 2024-25, the highest of any college in the nation. Boston College is second with 26.
“Michigan has a really good development plan for me and just the day-to-day is something I really find attractive,” he said. “If you want to be the best, you have to train with the best, and because of that I was obviously really excited to be able to be part of that.”
Cole Reschny (5-10, 183), No. 25 on Central Scouting’s final ranking of North American skaters, said committing to the University of North Dakota was “the right move for my hockey career.”
The 18-year-old center led Victoria of the Western Hockey League with 92 points (26 goals, 66 assists) in 62 games this season and was his team’s top scorer with 25 points (nine goals, 16 assists) in 11 WHL playoff games. He also had eight points (five goals, three assists) in five games for gold medal-winning Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Under-18 Championship.
“Victoria has been nothing but great to me … the two best years of my life yet so far,” Reschny said. “I took a look at the school route and visited North Dakota, met their staff and got to see the facilities and the campus and where I’d be living. I just felt like it was the right place for me and at the end of the day, I got to make the decision for me and my hockey career and believe North Dakota is going to further my career and help me get ready to play in the National (Hockey) League one day.”
In addition to Reschny, Victoria defenseman Keaton Verhoeff, projected to be among the top three picks in the 2026 NHL Draft, also committed to North Dakota.
The 16-year-old had 45 points (21 goals, 24 assists) in 63 games this season and 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in 11 playoff games.
“I think we’re going to be living together so it’s going to be pretty sweet,” Reschny said. “He’s a great player but most importantly, a great person … the way he holds himself to a high standard. It’s great to have people like that around you that are like-minded and are striving for the same thing. I’m very excited to get to spend more time with him.”
© Brian Liesse, Seattle (WHL)
Radim Mrtka, who many consider to be the second-best defenseman in the 2025 draft, had quite a debut with Seattle of the Western Hockey League this season.
But he’ll never forget the time he went head-to-head against former NHL forward Jaromir Jagr in Czechia’s top professional men’s league earlier this season.
“It was for five minutes but it was great,” he said. “I was right against him and it’s so hard to play against him. You can’t get the puck from him. His protection of the puck is unbelievable. But as a Czech player, playing against him was unbelievable.”
Jagr, 53, played with Kladno, the team he owns in the Czech Extraliga, against Mrtka’s team, Trinec. He helped the Pittsburgh Penguins win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 1991 and 1992, the first two of his 24 seasons in the League with nine different teams. Jagr played his last NHL season with the Calgary Flames in 2017-18 at the age of 45. His 1,921 points in the League (766 goals, 1,155 assists in 1,733 games) trail only Wayne Gretzky in NHL history (2,857).
Mrtka (6-6, 207), who turns 18 on Monday, was second on Seattle in assists (32) despite playing 43 games. He joined the team in March and had 35 points (three goals) after playing six months in Czechia.
“I didn’t get to talk to [Jagr], but we shook hands after the game,” Mrtka said. “At the start of the season I got a chance to play against him but he was injured so he was just behind the bench. It’s like ‘God’ on the bench … unbelievable.”
