-A look at the skillset of Maple Grove Defenseman Logan Lutner
The first thing that you will notice about Logan Lutner is his ability to move the puck in a responsible manner. When breaking out of the zone he makes clean outlet passes that are leading and out of harm’s way. If no options are available, he uses elite edgework to maneuver past the opposition and skate the puck out of the zone. Lutner capitalizes off his high hockey intelligence as he can manipulate his speed while skating the puck out, often leaving his opponent flat-footed. If a wrench gets thrown into his breakout, he has plan B, plan C, and plan D, in his pocket.
While in the offensive zone Logan is calm with the puck and has his head up to survey the defensive scheme. His anticipation of the play and ability to execute quickly sets him apart from his peers. Lutner does not take ill advised chances as he limits turnovers and values zone puck possession over taking a low percentage gamble. His ability to hold the zone is another attribute that he excels at, being able to corral bouncing pucks or clearing attempts at the line and transition them quickly back to teammates.
When defending the rush, Lutner has great gap control and keeps opposing forwards honest by applying pressure and limiting chances by using a quick stick to invade lanes. Logan’s footwork when skating backwards is pristine. On odd man rushes, he radiates confidence and control of the play and reacts to what is presented. He keeps his triangle clean and forwards attempting a loose puck maneuver on Lutner are quickly denied. During a recent viewing a forward was skating with some heat to the net and faked towards the boards and then attempted to shuffle the puck through Logan’s feet to get to the slot for a scoring opportunity. Logan quickly adjusted his skate to block the puck and instantly transitioned the puck to his stick and out of danger. Plays like this often happen so quickly and he completes them with such command that they appear routine, but they are far from that.
His size is not prototypical, but neither is his intelligence as Lutner is without a doubt one of the most intelligent players in his age group. His last official measurement that I could find was 5’9”, 155. I address this because almost every scouting report I read starts with his size. Because of his skillset this is not a concern for me whatsoever as his approach of attack and smarts outweigh the forementioned. Logan’s also going to get stronger and continue to fine-tune his game.
The future for Logan Lutner is bright and full of opportunities and his game will assimilate to whatever challenge or league he is playing in.