It’s almost become a cliche to describe a player’s draft year experience as wild or weird. The hockey world is pretty chaotic at times, and this past season especially so, given the gigantic wrench the NCAA threw into the works in November when they opened things up to Canadian major junior players.

One young player whose year was changed drastically by the NCAA rule change was Calgary Flames sixth-round selection Aidan Lane. He began his season at St. Andrews College, having already committed to Harvard University in 2023, but he ended up bouncing around quite a bit due to the NCAA’s about-face about Canadian juniors.

As a consequence, Lane has the unique distinction of playing high-end prep school hockey and major juniors in both Canada and the United States in the same season. He briefly appeared for the United States Hockey League’s Green Bay Gamblers and closed out the season with a longer tenure with the Ontario Hockey League’s Brampton Steelheads.

“So I played with SAC grade 11 and grade 12,” said Lane at Flames development camp. “And then in the middle of my grade 12 year I went down to Green Bay to play in the USHL because that’s kind of where I thought I might be playing my gap year if I needed to take one. And then as the rule changed I got to go play with Brampton, which was a great experience. They were really good to me. They gave me a lot of opportunity which obviously helped me get drafted. I don’t think I would have got drafted had it not been for them and their help. So yeah, I was really appreciative. And then obviously next year I get to go into Harvard, which is really cool.”

Lane’s two USHL games with the Gamblers were Nov. 8 & 9, played during a gap in St. Andrews College’s season schedule. At about the same time, the NCAA’s Division I Council voted to permit anyone who played CHL games to play college hockey, effective Aug. 1, 2025. And then dominoes began to topple.

“So I was there for two days, I played two games against Dubuque,” said Lane. “And then I went home and then maybe like three or four weeks later the world changed. And then I reached out to Brampton and I said, ‘Would you be open to me coming down and playing? Would you want me on your roster?’ And they said, ‘yeah, for sure.'”

Similar to his USHL excursion, Lane began suiting up for Brampton during gaps in St. Andrews College’s schedule. He played three OHL games in December, three more in January, and then joined the Steelheads full-time after his prep school season ended in mid-March.

“The first game I was really nervous obviously,” said Lane, of his OHL stint. “And then I scored in my first game really late, which was really cool for me. But then I think like after the second and third game I started to settle in a little bit. My first game was like a one-off random game on a Wednesday. And then I went down and played another weekend and then that’s when I started to really settle in. And then by March I was playing, practising every day. So I was down there for a while.”

For someone who didn’t become a Flames prospect until very recently, Lane boasts some interesting connections. He credited Luke Misa, a Brampton teammate who’s off to college hockey at Penn State, with helping him get adjusted to the OHL. And he was being recruited by Harvard during Matt Coronato’s final season with the Crimson. While Lane is sad to close the book on his prep school years, he’s excited for college.

“I loved my two years at SAC and I’m sad it’s over,” said Lane. “But from what I’m hearing, college is sort of a similar experience in terms of living there and playing hockey every day and hanging out with the same guys. So I’m just looking forward to starting something new.”