The Edmonton Oilers took a chance on Shane Lachance in the 2021 NHL Draft, selecting him 186th overall in the sixth round.
Now three years later, the Oilers’ decision to draft Lachance appears to have been an incredibly smart one. Since his selection by Edmonton, the native of Andover, Massachusetts, has become a dominant and consistent force at every level of hockey he’s played. A former standout in the United States Hockey League (USHL) and now a crucial member of the perennial powerhouse Boston University Terriers, his trajectory and potential are much like his frame – enormous. Standing 6-foot-5 and tipping the scale at 220 pounds, the 21-year-old is an intimidating force on the ice whose blend of size and skill combine to make him a highly intriguing option for the Oilers.
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Similar in size, skill, and potential to Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres, Lachance is skating and thriving at the NCAA level at a young age. Named captain of Boston University ahead of his sophomore season, there’s no doubt that his future in the game is incredibly bright.
A Giant of the Game
Despite his late selection in the 2021 NHL Draft, Lachance has wasted little time in proving his doubters wrong. In the year following his selection by the Oilers, he moved to the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL where he made an immediate impact. In his rookie campaign with the team, he notched a respectable 23 points in 55 games played. Then, the following season, he was named captain of the Phantoms in just his second campaign with the club. He went on to score an impressive 33 goals and 54 points in the regular season, before adding another six points in the playoffs en route to capturing the Clark Cup. Having clearly taken a significant step in his development to become a well-rounded force on the ice, he packed his bags and set his sights on Boston University for the 2023-24 season.
In his freshman campaign in the NCAA, Lachance rose quickly through his team’s lineup and wasted little time in cementing his status on the club’s first line. With a heavy shot, quick hands and impressive vision, there was no question that his size and ability would make him a perfect fit alongside the team’s top player, Macklin Celebrini. Together, Celebrini and Lachance played well off of one another, as the latter routinely forced turnovers and protected the puck, while the future first-overall selection in the 2024 NHL Draft routinely put the puck into the back of the net. Come the end of the season, he had collected 13 goals and 27 points in his 40 games played with the Terriers – an impressive output for a first-year player. Ahead of his second season with Boston University, Lachance repeated a feat he had accomplished just two years prior and a first in the team’s history, as he was incredibly named as captain of the Terriers ahead of his sophomore campaign.
MIH: BU GOAL – Quinn Hutson finds Shane Lachance for the game's first goal. BU leads Union, 1-0.#GoBU pic.twitter.com/480BxiSMGB
— BU Game Day (@BUGameDay) October 12, 2024
Much like his first season in the USHL after being named as captain of his team, Lachance has started his first campaign as captain of Boston University on a tear. In his first seven games played of the 2024-25 season, he has scored two goals and recorded five assists while taking just one minor penalty. In his second NCAA season, Thompson was also a point-per-game player before moving to the American Hockey League, and that would appear to be the path Lachance is following as well. With such incredible size, skill, and maturity, ascending to the professional level at the end of the current season could prove to be the best option for the youngster in his development, and would provide the Oilers with an unexpected yet pleasant surprise as they aim to strengthen their prospect cupboard.
Jumping at the Lachance
If Lachance expresses interest in forgoing the remainder of his NCAA career to graduate to the professional level, it’s a decision that the Oilers shouldn’t hesitate to make. Well-known for their weak group of prospects, inking Lachance to a contract would give the team yet another promising young player to develop as they look to remain a consistent threat for years to come. While, like Thompson, success may not come for him immediately, his ability to consistently improve while also standing as a terrific leader has proven time and time again to be enough to push him through any hardship he faces. If able to enjoy a consistent season at both ends of the ice for Boston University as one of the team’s top players, there will be more than a handful of NHL franchises regretting their choice to overlook him in the 2021 NHL Draft.
The future is incredibly bright for Lachance, whose father Scott skated in more than 800 NHL games. Not only is he hard to miss on the ice given his stature, but his incredible play with the puck alone makes him a prospect eerily similar to Thompson and as a result, one worth following closely.
