Lucas Wahlin

The Jets announced they’ve signed college free agent forward Lucas Wahlin to a two-way contract for next season with a cap hit of $850K. He’ll report to AHL Manitoba on a tryout for the remainder of 2025-26.

Wahlin, 25 in May, is too old to be eligible for an entry-level deal, so his first NHL contract is a standard one. His signing today is a bookend to one of the more unlikely development stories of the past few seasons. He turns pro after spending all four NCAA years at the University of St. Thomas, where he’s served as team captain since his sophomore year and has helped guide the program to top-20 status nationally, still early in its Division I years.

A remarkably consistent two-way producer, Wahlin was named the CCHA’s best defensive forward this season and finishes his collegiate career with a 56-75–131 scoring line in 137 games for the Tommies. His worst points-per-game rate was still a strong 0.81 figure as a freshman, topping out with a pair of 1.08 points-per-game seasons as a junior and senior.

The fact that Wahlin, a three-position forward who checks in at 6’0″ and 170 lbs, even became an effective NCAA producer is shocking considering his development path. Initially draft-eligible way back in 2019 out of the Minnesota high school circuit, he spent his post-draft season way down in tier III juniors with the North Iowa Bulls of the NA3HL. Even when jumping to a more competitive tier II junior environment with Alaska’s Kenai River Brown Bears as a 19-year-old, his output was still limited to a middling 27 points in 44 games.

Wahlin only played one season of high-level junior hockey – as an overage 20-year-old, at that – before landing at St. Thomas. It was the 2021-22 campaign, spent with the USHL’s Lincoln Stars, that seemed to finally unlock his two-way game at a high level. He exploded for 31 goals and 61 points with a +26 rating in 59 games there.

Now, after captaining the Tommies to back-to-back CCHA championship game appearances, he’ll land not too far from home in Winnipeg to begin his pro career. The Jets will welcome any sort of forward depth, especially on the farm. Manitoba has only scored 2.54 goals per game this season, and the NHL side isn’t much better at 2.83.

Wahlin’s relatively advanced age for a player signing his first NHL deal makes his pro impact harder to project. Nonetheless, given his run of collegiate success, he’ll at least be given a long look for a fourth-line role in training camp next fall.