If the saying that hockey is in the blood is true, when it comes to Shane Lachance, the color of that blood is the purest scarlet. The 17-year-old Andover, Mass., native and Boston University recruit is a Terrier through and through, with the strongest of family connections on both sides.
His father, Scott, was the fourth overall selection by the New York Islanders in 1991 out of BU and went on to play more than 800 NHL games as a defenseman with the Isles, Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks and Columbus Blue Jackets over 13 seasons. The elder Lachance has been an amateur scout with the New Jersey Devils for more than a decade. Scott’s brother, Bob, played at BU and went on to a pro hockey career in North America and Europe. Lachance’s parents met as students there in the early 1990s.
Then there’s the matter of his grandfather. Jack Parker coached the Terriers from 1973-2013, won nearly 900 games and secured three NCAA championships, another 11 conference titles and 21 Beanpot trophies over his four decades behind the bench. For the first nearly 10 years of young Lachance’s life, his grandfather was coaching at BU, and the family spent a great deal of time around the game.
Now, as his first NHL Entry Draft approaches, the big-bodied left winger and former Tabor Academy star just completed his first junior season with the Junior Bruins in the USPHL NCDC. He is someone who has the physical package and subjective “ceiling” that could see him selected in the lottery at some point. He won’t follow in his father’s footsteps as a top-five pick, but Lachance’s natural nose for the net and projection of what he might be as he matures could result in his name being called.
New England Hockey Journal’s 10th-ranked area prospect for the draft has impressive size at 6-foot-4, 190 pounds. He’s got a lot of room to fill out, add mass and get a lot stronger, but scouts like his big frame and the ability to play with a lot of length.
The skating is what is preventing Lachance from being a surefire NHL pick in a little under two weeks, however. He has a long stride, but there is a lack of suddenness and dynamic burst in his first couple of steps. If he can improve his foot speed and agility, just get off the mark a little quicker, it could go a long way to opening the door for him to become a future pro.
“You watch Lachance, and you like a lot about him except the feet,” an Eastern Conference NHL scout said recently. “He’s sluggish and chasing the play. That’s something holding him back right now. He’s hunched over at times and has trouble winning races to pucks. But, you get him around the net with the puck, and he’s got the ability to finish.”
For Lachance, who was drafted by the USHL’s Tri-City Storm after a breakout year at Tabor Academy after the 2019-20 campaign, the bloodlines and impressive physical attributes at least give him a shot to keep climbing the hockey ladder. It might take him a while to get there, but with several years of junior eligibility left and then plenty of time to develop and address the shortcomings before turning pro, Lachance is Exhibit A for a project-type forward who might pay dividends for a team in about 6-7 years.
“He’s got some dexterity in his hands and is able to maintain possession and shield pucks well,” the scout said. “As he gets stronger, that ability to make plays with the puck around the net is what is most intriguing to me. You have to project it, because it's not quite there yet consistency-wise, but he’s going to be a real threat below the dots.”
With decent instincts for the game and an opportunity to play another season or more of junior hockey before he joins the family legacy at BU, the draft doesn’t have to happen for Lachance right away. Recent draft trends have more teams holding off on some of the rawer talents in their first year of eligibility and then circling back to draft them when they are a year older and take that next step in their development.
New England Hockey Journal draft prediction: It’s a toss-up here, but given that the mechanics in his stride are sound and it's more about adding power and increasing foot speed, Lachance has a legitimate chance to be a late pick. If not, he will be someone to track closely for 2022 in his second year of eligibility.
