Matt Hanscom commits to RPI
On only the 2nd day he was able to make a verbal commitment to a program, ‘05 Defenseman Matt Hanscom chose to commit to RPI. Hanscom, listed as 6’1” and 185 LBs by eliteprospects.com, is a left-shot defenseman currently playing for Westminster Prep in Connecticut. Last season, he had 2 goals, 6 assists and 8 points in 26 games for Westminster.
The scouting reports paint Hanscom as a big defenseman who plays a heavy-style game and skates well. His quick first step and reach allow him to play a shutdown style in his own end. Once he gets the puck, he’s able to get easy zone exits and transition the puck through the neutral zone with his passing and vision. He does have some offensive ability as well as Neutral Zone wrote in one of their reports, “At this point, he looks more like a defensive defenseman but demonstrated good mobility for his size on the offensive blue line and has a heavy shot when he can get it off.”
Hanscom was selected for the USA Select 17s camp this summer, which takes about the top 200 players in the country for that age group. The best players are then selected to play for Team USA at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup. While Hanscom was not chosen for Team USA, he was one of the top performing defensemen statistically at the camp with 3 points in 4 games, which was tied for the 2nd most points among defensemen. With his already strong defensive play, Hansom has a high ceiling as a two-way defenseman if he can continue to show offense like he did at the Select 17s camp.
Since Hanscom is only entering his junior year at Westminster according to an article by the Daily Hampshire Gazette, I project him to enroll in the Fall of 2025 after graduating from there and playing a year of juniors. It’s possible that he plays juniors a year early and doesn’t play his senior year at Westminster, which would make a 2024 enrollment possible, but the RPI coaching staff prefers 2 years of juniors. For now, I’m going to stick with 2025 as his projected enrollment. When he arrives in Troy, he should be a very reliable player who plays a key role on the blue line. Congratulations to Matt and his family!