Lansing played last season in the USHL with the Waterloo Black Hawks and then the Fargo Force. The league’s pace, travel demands, and physical matchups against older players helped him grow his game.
"It's a lot to learn. The longer the season goes on, the better you get. Going up against your teammates every day, like my team, we had a few draft picks, and battling against those guys every day just really makes you a lot better,” Lansing said.
Lansing focused on elevating the offensive side of his game, staying on the ice after practice for extra shooting drills. That work paid off down the stretch, where he posted 11 points (5-6-11) over his final 16 USHL games.
“I was bearing down on scoring chances and just trying to really focus on getting more shots off. Working on my hands in tight with the goalie as well,” he said.
Just a week after Fargo’s season ended, Lansing got the call to play for Team USA at the IIHF U18 World Championships. The team earned a bronze medal with a 4-3 win over Slovakia, and he said he learned a lot from the experience.
“Playing against some of the best competition in the world at your age, it doesn't really get much better than that,” Lansing said. “You’re also learning from all the guys you're playing against, seeing what they're doing, and your teammates watching what their details like are in practice, and just taking a few things from them.”
Team USA won all four games in the preliminary round, topping Latvia 6-3 in the quarterfinals, and narrowly missing a spot in the gold medal game with a 4-3 loss to Sweden in the semifinals. The game against Sweden was tight the whole way and looking back on it, Lansing said maintain momentum throughout a game was a key takeaway.
The left-shot centre made strides in his defensive game at the tournament, which complimented all the work he put into his offensive game during the USHL season.
“I was playing more of a shutdown role, like fourth line centreman, and playing against some of the top talent,” Lansing said. “I got line matched against a few really good players, and just learning how to get them frustrated and make the game really hard for them was helpful for my game.”
Going through World Juniors and your time in the USHL, he’s self-assured in his abilities and gave him confidence coming into development camp.
“I think just, just battling through the adversity, knowing you’ve got to trust yourself and your abilities in your game, and just knowing you can do it against anybody. It doesn't matter who you're going up against,” he said.
Next season, Lansing will begin his collegiate career at Quinnipiac University and is looking forward to continuing to develop his game at the NCAA level.
Whether it’s contributing offensively or shutting down opponents, he’s determined to keep building a well-rounded game.
