The top- ranked defenseman in the USA region on Puck Preps Logan Hensler does a great job at making sure his body is in the right place at all times. He understands his angles so well and forces attackers to go where he wants them and uses his long reach to help guide them there. He is such a fluid skater and has such mobility that getting by him is extremely difficult. His ability to transition the puck up the ice with an accurate stretch pass is a boon for any team to have and he doesn’t hesitate to launch the counter. He is very calm under pressure and can stickhandle his way out of danger, but he does well not to take the risky option most times. He can be seen galloping up the ice leading a charge and unleashing his heavy shot as he looks to create offense, he likes to shoot the puck and is quick to fire it on goal. One part of his game I think he can look to improve on is his decision making when it comes to pinching, he doesn’t always pick the best situations to pinch and can get caught out and lead to some dangerous scoring chances going the other way.

Logan Hensler is a premiere skater who shows natural speed in his stride. Very smooth edge work, making textbook cuts and dekes at high speed. His footwork is very good, easily flipping his stance from a forward-to-backward stride and vice versa. Hensler does a nice job of keeping both his head and his torso up both with-and-away-from the puck. Shows good passing while heavily defended and creates good scoring opportunities with timely dumps and shots on net. It’s not uncommon to see players listed as “F/D” at this level and Hensler sort of fits that billing. He has the ability to naturally rotate positions allowing him to jump up in the rush and cover for someone when needed. Hensler is a nice piece of playdough and his development should be quicker than most.

Yet another performance highlighting Hensler’s incredible composure when under heavy pressure. A large part of this ability to manage pressure so efficiently is rooted in his mental mapping of the ice, he just has such a good understanding as to where teammates are and the timing he needs to play with in order to take full advantage of the outlets they’re providing him.

Hensler makes a beautiful, crucial play for the fourth goal of the game. He pushes up ice, receives the puck at the right wall, gains the offensive zone and drives the middle ice through defensive pressure without losing possession to fire a high danger shot on goal. It’s that rebound that leads to the goal, and it doesn’t happen without Hensler’s great play.