By Josh Erickson,Pro Hockey Rumors

Copyright yardbarker

It’s an astronomical pay bump for the 24-year-old, who emerged as Anaheim’s No. 1 defenseman just last season. LaCombe, a 2019 second-round pick, signed a two-year deal as an RFA following his rookie season in 2023-24 that pays him $1.85MM in total – one-fifth of what he’ll be making per year on his new deal. He’s entering the final year of that deal, which costs $925K against the cap and would have left him arbitration-eligible next summer.

LaCombe’s emergence wasn’t entirely out of nowhere – he’d been viewed as a higher-end prospect for quite some time – but it was a more explosive breakout than most expected after his rookie campaign fell flat. Coming off four years with the University of Minnesota, LaCombe turned pro in 2023 and broke camp with the Ducks the following fall.

Anaheim was bullish on the three-time Big 10 All-Star, and he spent most of the year in a top-pairing role alongside Cam Fowler. The duo really struggled to control play, though, even for the Ducks’ lowered standards as one of the league’s worst defensive squads. Averaging 19:23 per game, LaCombe had 17 points and a -24 rating in 71 appearances. In 55 games where he was paired with Fowler, they controlled just 39.5% of expected goals – the worst mark of Anaheim’s seven D pairings to log more than 150 minutes together that year, according to MoneyPuck.

LaCombe’s chemistry was much better in more limited usage with captain Radko Gudas on his right side. The Ducks took note of that and made that their new top pairing heading into 2024-25, a move that was only solidified when Fowler was dealt to the Blues a couple of months into the campaign. LaCombe flourished, getting an ice time bump to 22:18 per game while recording a 14-29–43 scoring line in 75 games, posting an even rating on a team with a -44 goal differential to boot. His 49.1% Corsi share at even strength led Ducks defenders, as did all of his offensive metrics.

League-wide, LaCombe quietly moved into consideration as a top-25 rearguard. His 33 even-strength points were tied for 18th, and his 0.57 points per game were 27th – above other established No. 1 guys like Drew Doughty, Colton Parayko, Moritz Seider, and even Miro Heiskanen.

The lack of sample size as a No. 1 will be cause for concern. Still, as the salary cap sharply increases, a $9MM AAV falls more into the “top-pair” category for defenders than “true No. 1.” It’s a matching cap hit to Devils rearguard Luke Hughes, who signed a new deal yesterday after posting comparable offensive stats last year. While there’s some sticker shock compared to what his extension projection would have been at the beginning of the offseason, it’s an in-line response to the recent spike in market values for premier defensemen.

Getting LaCombe’s contract done now is an important piece of business for general manager Pat Verbeek, who still has four other high-profile pending RFAs to contend with. Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Pavel Mintyukov, and Olen Zellweger are all entering the final years of their entry-level contracts. LaCombe was likely the highest-priority target as the only one of the group who had enough professional experience to qualify for arbitration.

The Ducks now have LaCombe, Lukáš Dostál, Mason McTavish, and Troy Terry signed through at least 2030 as their new core continues to take shape. The club still has over $40MM in cap space to burn and 10 open active roster spots for 2026-27, according to PuckPedia.

Image courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images.