Points, confidence overflowing for Jackson LaCombe in climb to top Ducks defensive depth chart

ANAHEIM, Calif. – In early December, Jackson LaCombe was part of the Anaheim Ducks logjam of left-handed defensemen. 

After the acquisition of Jacob Trouba and before the departure of Cam Fowler, the Ducks rotated the 24-year-old LaCombe and 21-year-olds Olen Zellweger and Pavel Mintyukov, as the talented trio competed for the one available spot in the Anaheim defensive corps.

Flash forward to March, not only has LaCombe freed himself from the logjam, LaCombe is one of the most productive defensemen in the entire NHL and may just be Anaheim’s best player in its surge into the playoff race.

“Comes with trusting his abilities,” said Radko Gudas, Ducks captain and LaCombe’s regular defensive partner. “Being our number one guy, getting all the touches he needs to feel comfort with the puck comes along with the confidence. He just took over and didn't look back.

“It’s great for our hockey team to have a guy like that. He's getting better every night and doing the right things and helping the team win in every possible situation and he's getting put out there.”

Following LaCombe’s last scratch in the line-up on Dec. 11 in Ottawa, he immediately put up back-to-back two-point games with a goal and an assist in both Toronto and Columbus and recorded five points in his first three games back.

In the 33 games since that last scratch, LaCombe leads the Ducks with 27 points, 20 assists and a 52.39% of expected goals. He is the team’s top minuteman averaging over 23 minutes a night. Over that same period, LaCombe is second among NHL defenseman in even strength points with 22, just two behind Columbus’ Zach Werenski.

LaCombe has a nine points in a six-game point streak as the Ducks sit six points out of a playoff spot going into Vancouver tonight.

“I'm just not doing anything different. I think I'm just playing hockey,” LaCombe said. “I don't know, it's just kind of me playing. I think it just goes hand in hand with my confidence, and I'm just not thinking I'm just kind of trying to play.”

As a rookie last season, LaCombe was seemingly tentative and unsure in his plays adjusting to the NHL level. In 71 games, he was a minus-24 with 17 points playing just over 19 minutes a night.

“I think you saw what he was capable of last year,” Gudas said. “You just wanted from him the consistency, which he brought this year and he was just growing as a player. His confidence is through the roof. He's using his abilities to make those plays and makes life a lot easier for me.”

LaCombe was still getting caught in-between to start this season and registered just six points in his first 20 games, but his confidence clicked in after that mid-December scratch. LaCombe has not only been the Ducks most productive defenseman but easily their most active, jumping up into plays, throwing away any hesitancy for straight ahead play.

“Obviously, I got a great partner in Radko, so he helps a lot (on the defensive end),” LaCombe said. “For me, just being able to break up plays early and then obviously jump on offense is huge. It’s part of our identity as a team. We want to be tight in the D zone and then, and when our chances come, we'll take them.”

LaCombe has certainly taken those chances, as many of his early goals came at the netmouth, and even more recently, he’s activated on the rush to push the play deep and take advantage of soft ice.

“It’s to kind of be, not more selfish in a way, but just believing in myself and hang out to pucks more and just kind of playing my game,” LaCombe said. “That's when I’m at my best. So, I think for me, it's just a constant reminder just to be myself. and just do what I can to help the team.”

The former University of Minnesota Golden Gopher’s fully formed abilities have never been more extensively on display than in this current six-game point streak, as the Ducks continue to chip away at the Western Conference wild card race.

LaCombe has racked up nine points in the six games since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off break. The 24-year-old has executed a two-on-one break with Trevor Zegras to kick off Anaheim’s post-break scoring in Boston, and LaCombe pierced a dynamic four-on-four dagger against Vancouver last Thursday.

However, LaCombe’s brightest highlight was last night in Edmonton, where he posted a three-assist, plus-five performance while being matched up with Connor McDavid and holding him scoreless at five-on-five. Analytically, it was the single-highest GameScore in the NHL this season.

LaCombe is just the second player in the NHL this season with a plus-five and three or more assists in the same game and just the fourth Duck all-time to do so, following Brandon Montour in 2018, Saku Koivu in 2010 and Paul Kariya in 1996.

His six-game point streak is the longest by a Ducks defenseman since Chris Pronger’s own six-game streak in 2008-09. Only Scott Niedermayer’s eight-game streak in the Stanley Cup 2006-07 season is longer.

“His skating ability is through the roof,” Gudas said. “He sees the game very well. I think it's slowed down for him. He moves the puck like nobody else. He's not afraid to wheel around the net, and sometimes I feel more like a decoy than anything. 

“He's just been doing great and he's getting better at his talking too. It’s been fun playing with him and see him try and see him doing better and better.”

LaCombe has gone from on the bubble to on top of the Ducks’ depth chart, earning the trust of his teammates and the Anaheim coaching staff to handle the Ducks’ biggest situations in their biggest games of the season.

“Whatever situation they put me in, I just want to be prepared and whoever that is I think we're ready to go,” LaCombe said.