How Lucas Wahlin went from the NA3HL to an NHL contract

For Lucas Wahlin, it was all about taking advantage of opportunities.

The winger, who just finished a four-year NCAA career at St. Thomas and is now playing for the Manitoba Moose in the AHL, took an almost entirely unique path to the professional ranks, and it was all in pursuit of finding the right fit for him every step of the way.

Growing up just outside the Twin Cities, he always dreamed of playing college hockey, but while he consistently displayed a high level of talent, the path to take the next step wasn't immediately clear.

Though he was the youngest of four kids, Wahlin's parents sent him to private school, at the Hill-Murray School, to kick-start his hockey career, but he didn't blossom right away.

"I'd say I wasn't, like, a crazy Minnesota high school hockey player. I was probably a bit above average," Wahlin told Elite Prospects. "I  wasn't anything crazy special. Nowadays, you see some of these kids and they're putting up like 60, 70 points a season. That's mind-blowing to me. Some of these kids are so talented, but I was definitely not those kids. I was a late bloomer."

Wahlin finished second on the Pioneers in scoring during his final season, and they went to the famed Minnesota high school state tournament, which led to him being drafted into the NAHL. But he suffered an injury in Topeka's training camp and the team released his rights, so he had to survey his options.

After rehabbing, he had a tryout for Neepawa of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, a lower-level Junior A circuit, and actually made the team right away. But Neepawa is a small town with a population under 6,000, and since this would be Wahlin's first time playing away from home, he just didn't feel like it fit for him, personally. Instead, he decided to play closer to home and ended up playing in the NA3HL. While that might not have felt like it was putting him in a position to pursue Div. 1 hockey — he was one of just 16 NA3HL alums to play NCAA hockey at the highest level this season, and one of just two now in the AHL — he quickly realized it was the right fit for where he was at in his career and his life as a young hockey player.

"It was more of quality of life, just happiness-wise," Wahlin said. "If I was gonna pursue a dream and keep playing hockey, I wanted to have fun playing hockey."

Well, hockey's more fun when you score, and Wahlin did that a lot with the Mason City Toros: 32-27—59 in just 38 games, fifth in points per game among U18 players league-wide. That offensive flash drew the attention of a couple of teams in the NAHL on opposite sides of the continent: the Jamestown Rebels in upstate New York, and the Kenai River Brown Bears in Soldotna, Alaska.

"It was definitely different," Wahlin said. "One day we were playing a game at North Iowa, then the next day I'm flying out to go play a game in New York. After I got called up with Kenai, I ended up tendering with them. … Once we got up to Alaska, I skyrocketed. I had so much fun out there. I loved it. … Teams would fly in, and they would have jet lag, and we would just beat the crap out of them."

After that successful season, Wahlin ended up catching on with USHL Lincoln, who were looking for overage players that could have an impact. Despite some trepidation that he was good enough for the USHL, he made the team and once again excelled. Within just a few games, Div. 1 college teams were calling him frequently — five or six phone calls a day in some cases. He wanted to commit early, almost to get it out of the way, or at least lighten the mental burden of finding that next step.

He chose St. Thomas, then a fledgling Div. 1 program embarking on its first season. Though the Tommies ended up winning just three games their first season (2022-23), Wahlin knew he had made the right decision, and his game flourished at Lincoln.

"Once I committed, that was a worry that was off my plate," he said. "I could just go out and play, and I knew where I was going. I think my confidence just grew a lot, and I was able to make more plays, and ended up having a lot more success."

He went 31-30—61 in 59 USHL games, then prepared to step into the college game knowing he could compete at a high level. In fact, some bigger-name schools even tried to get him to decommit from St. Thomas with the promise of more exposure, but once again, Wahlin was confident he'd made the right choice, especially having grown up just outside St. Paul. He knew the area, his friends and family could come watch him play very easily, and it's not like there's any shortage of scouts at their games, even in the CCHA.

"It's an unbelievable location," he said. "You're 10 minutes away from the airport, so if any professional team wants to come find you, it's a direct flight into Minnesota and a 10-minute car ride to the rink. It's super-easy to get professional teams to come watch you."

As a 21-year-old freshman, Wahlin hit the ground running so well, with high-level production (6-15—21 in 26 games) and maturity both on and off the ice as a freshman, that he was named team captain the following summer. Over the next three seasons, Wahlin's personal success continued to grow, and his team's did, too. His goal production climbed from 6 to 12 to 17 to 21, and his points per game ticked up as well. Meanwhile, St. Thomas's win total improved every single season: 11, 15, 19, then 21. Wahlin credits the other players who wore letters during his time with the C on his jersey because they continually pushed him as a player and a leader.

"They challenged me, and I think it was for the better," he said. "It helped me develop a lot faster that way than taking the easy way out."

And after that great college career, Wahlin signed an NHL deal with the Winnipeg Jets, picked up an assist in his first pro game, and continues to make the most of his options. From a late bloomer who chose the NA3HL to signing an NHL deal in the course of just seven years is a path basically no one has ever taken before, but he says it worked out because he always tried to put himself in a position to find the right fit and excel wherever he was.

"I try to hit the ground running on pretty much everything that I do," Wahlin said. "If I'm gonna get an opportunity, I'm gonna give it my best crack. I wouldn't say I'm surprised or shocked. Everything happens for a reason, and I think it's how much you want it, and that work ethic that you're going to put into each summer, each training, each practice during the season. … You have to try to beat the version of yourself from yesterday."