Shane Lachance was at home in Andover, Mass., with family and friends, looking down, when suddenly one of his buddies jumped up and started yelling. Almost instantly, everyone else in the room started cheering. Lachance lifted his gaze, smiled and exclaimed, “Oh, my God! Wow!”
Lachance’s name was on the television screen. The Edmonton Oilers had just selected the left wing 186th overall in the 2021 National Hockey League draft, which was held virtually.
“We sat around all day just waiting and waiting,” Lachance reminisced. “I got very anxious after a little while. I was excited to see that name finally get up there. It was a sigh of relief.”
Lachance, who turns 18 years old on Aug. 30, knew he wasn’t going to be drafted in the first round, which took place Friday, July 23. So the 6-foot-4, 195-pounder watched it from home to see where familiar faces landed and who his favorite teams selected. But after being listed 110th among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings for this year’s draft, he was aware that July 24 had the potential to be a momentous day for him and his hockey career.
Prior to the draft, Lachance had to keep reminding himself that this past season, which the left-handed shooter spent playing for the Junior Bruins in the National Collegiate Development Conference, was over and he couldn’t do anything about his performance now. At this point, his mindset for the draft was to see how it played out.
Lachance, who put up 22 points in 28 games with Tabor in 2019-20, spoke with approximately nine NHL clubs, including the Oilers. While most of the teams were heavy on asking psychological questions, Lachance said the Oilers “kept it straightforward” with him. He interviewed with Oilers amateur scout Scott Harlow.
“He asked me about my strengths and weaknesses, how I fit in their lineup, my character on and off the ice, this past season and how I thought everything went,” Lachance said. “I thought the conversation went pretty good, pretty smooth, and they liked me right from the start.”
As the draft approached, Lachance received advice from his father, Scott, a former defenseman who was chosen fourth overall in the 1991 NHL draft by the New York Islanders and went on to play seven-plus seasons with the Islanders and 13 overall in the NHL. Scott is now the head of U.S. scouting for the New Jersey Devils.
“My dad was in a little bit of a different situation, being picked fourth overall, and knowing that he was going to be drafted, just not really where,” Lachance said. “He told me to relax and enjoy the moment; it only happens once in your lifetime. This is something you work for and you’re going to remember this for the rest of your life. The work is done and I can’t do much about it anymore, so sit back and enjoy the day. It’s a dream I’ve had since I was a little kid, looking up to him my whole life.”
With his father at Prudential Center in New Jersey, Lachance spent the latter draft day at home with his mom, Jacqueline, his two brothers, Jake and Ryan, and several of his best friends from school. And as the rounds came and went with his name not being called, his anxiety level started rising. He did his best to keep Scott’s words of wisdom to “enjoy the moment” at the forefront of his mind.
“I was getting pretty stressed out as time went on and picks went on and I didn’t see my name up there,” Lachance remembered. “Once I saw my name, it was a surreal feeling, and it’s one that I’m never going to forget. It was a dream come true for me, for sure.”
Although his interview with the Oilers went well and he knew they were considering drafting him, Lachance wasn’t expecting to be selected by Edmonton. In speaking with his agent, he thought several other teams were more interested in him. “It was a nice surprise for me,” Lachance stated.
After seeing his name next to the Oilers logo, Lachance immediately hugged his mom.
“A lot of people outside the hockey world don’t realize how much my mom has done for me growing up, especially with my dad being away watching games and traveling on the road a lot,” Lachance explained. “It goes under the radar and is behind the scenes. She was there all those long nights and early mornings taking me to rinks. I owe a lot of it to her. She made a lot of this happen for me, and I just wanted to make sure that she knew that I appreciated her.”
From the Garden State, Scott called Shane. “He asked me how I was doing and how I felt,” Shane said. “I was so relieved after waiting there for a while. I thanked him for all he’s done for me as well.”
The Devils recorded Scott on camera as he was talking to Shane and posted the video on their Twitter account. Shane said seeing the video on there “was really cool.”
“To see how happy he meant a lot to me,” Shane added.
About two minutes after finding out he was drafted, Lachance received a call from the Oilers.
“The Oilers director of amateur scouting, Tyler Wright, called me and told me he was happy and excited to have me,” Lachance said. “To hear that coming from an NHL team — that they’re happy to have you — is a special feeling.”
An hour later, Lachance spoke via phone with his famous grandfather, former legendary Boston University Terriers head coach Jack Parker (Somerville, Mass.).
“He was actually on his boat; it was funny,” Lachance chuckled. “He asked for all the details and stuff. That was pretty cool. He congratulated me and said he was proud of me. That was a cool experience for me as well.”
That night, Lachance and the people at the house celebrated, recognizing that all of his hard work had paid off as far as the draft was concerned. In the coming weeks, Lachance said “a bigger celebration with all of the people who have made an impact on this experience for me” will take place.
As Lachance knows, being drafted is only one step in a long journey to the NHL. So he will continue to skate and work out for the rest of the summer before going to play for the Youngstown Phantoms in the United States Hockey League. His hockey stop after that will be where his grandpa called home for over four decades, BU.
And whether he’s in Youngstown, Beantown or any other town, Lachance will forever cherish the experience of being drafted by the Oilers.
“The whole process, sitting there for a while, getting anxious, that whole day is one I’m going to remember for the rest of my life,” Lachance concluded.
“That one moment of seeing my friend come at me yelling and then looking up and seeing my name with an NHL team’s logo beside it for the first time felt pretty cool. That’s an image that I’m going to see and have in my mind for the rest of my life.”
This article appeared in the print edition of the July/August 2021 New England Hockey Journal magazine.
