West, 2-sport star, discussed on 'NHL Draft Class' podcast

The 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft will be held June 27-28 at L.A. Live's Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The first round will be held June 27 (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS), with rounds 2-7 on June 28 (Noon ET; NHLN, ESPN+, SN, SN1). NHL.com is counting down to the draft with in-depth profiles on top prospects, podcasts and other features. Full draft coverage can be found here.

Mason West from Edina (Minn.) High School is more than just a top prospect for the 2025 NHL Draft, according to NHL Central Scouting's Pat Cullen.

"He's kind of the unicorn of the whole draft class because he's not hockey 24/7, he's been splitting his skills among two sports," Cullen said on the latest edition of the "NHL Draft Class" podcast. "So I think there's room for a ton of growth in his game."

West (6-foot-6, 218 pounds), who is No. 27 on Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters, had 49 points (27 goals, 22 assists) in 31 high school games and nine points (one goal, eight assists) in 10 games with Fargo of the United States Hockey League.

The 17-year-old forward is also a highly recruited football player who plans on playing quarterback for Edina in the fall, but has told NHL teams his sport of choice is hockey.

"It might scare some teams off because of the football thing but I think the upside he has is unbelievable," Cullen said. "... He was the guy that every time I went in I saw something I didn't see in the previous viewing. And every time I went in, he left me saying, 'Wwow, this kid just continues to get better and better and better.' "

Cullen touched on several other top prospects from the USHL and high school ranks, including Muskegon forward Ivan Ryabkin, who joined the team in January from his native Russia and had 30 points (19 goals, 11 assists) in 27 regular-season games and 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) 14 games to help Muskegon win the league championship.

"I think the thing for me that stood out was he looked like a pro already," Cullen said of the 18-year-old. "We know his history, he's played some professional games back home. But he just plays like a man. He's big, he's strong. His puck skills are unbelievable. ... I think by the end of the year he had seemed like he had figured it out a little bit more. And when he gets it figured out his game has a lot of nice pieces to it for sure."

The "NHL Draft Class" podcast is free, and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms, including iTunes and Spotify. It also is available here and the NHL app.