IRVINE, Calif. — After another restricted free agent negotiation drifted into training camp, with several key players hitting RFA status next season, Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said before camp the Ducks were “kicking that around internally” about signing some of those RFAs before next summer.
Verbeek made good on that and kicked some high heat through the goal on Thursday.
Anaheim signed defenseman Jackson LaCombe to an eight-year, $72 million contract extension, securing their No. 1 blue-liner through 2034.
“Today is an exciting day for my family and I am grateful to the organization for their belief in me,” LaCombe said in a statement. “It was an easy decision for me to commit my future to the Ducks and Orange County. We are building something special here and I am excited to do everything I can to help this team win.”
It’s the most expensive total-value contract in franchise history, and the $9 million per season cap hit is the second-highest in Ducks history, following only Paul Kariya.
LaCombe was set to be an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent next summer.
With Lukáš Dostál’s five-year deal this summer, Mason McTavish’s six-year deal this week and LaCombe’s eight-year term today, the Ducks have done some of the heavy lifting to lock up their core for the foreseeable future.
“We are excited to sign Jackson to a long-term contract and lock up a core player for our future,” Verbeek said in a statement. “Getting this deal done early was a priority for us. Jackson has all of the tools to be an anchor on our back end for many years to come.”
Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier are the next big-ticket players on the docket, as well as Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger. All are RFAs next summer.
Jackson LaCombe had a meteoric rise to his big pay day.
The 24-year-old left-handed defenseman was selected No. 39 overall in the 2019 second round and reached the NCAA Frozen Four three times with the University of Minnesota in 2020, 2022 and 2023.
LaCombe played two games with Anaheim in 2023 before a full-season debut in 2023-24. It was an up-and-down rookie campaign for the Minnesota native, finishing minus-24 with just over 19 minutes played a night.
After fighting to establish himself while in rotation through a left-handed logjam in the D-corps, LaCombe took his opportunity in mid-December and “took off like a rocket ship,” former coach Greg Cronin said.
LaCombe finished with 14 goals—most by a Ducks defenseman since 2010-11–and the eighth defenseman in team history to crack 40 points.
Lacombe was in the upper tier of all league defenseman in even-strength analytics and was seventh among all NHL defensemen in even-strength goals.
LaCombe led the Ducks in ice time at over 22 minutes per night and led all Anaheim defensemen in power play points, goals and shots.
LaCombe followed up his breakout campaign by helping lead Team USA to its first World Championship gold medal in 93 years this summer. LaCombe was third among all skaters with a plus-11 rating at the tournament.