Really impressive years for Luneau and ultimately Pastajov as well.
Luneau is probably the only Dman you can definitively say wasn’t rushed at all (maybe Zell too? I’m not sure Lacombe was quite ready at times last year.) And I think it’ll pay off. Guy is really dangerous.
I once thought it was a long-shot for all of Lacombe, Zell, Minty and Luneau to hit but it’s looking like a real possibility and man that’d be just insane.
You left out the rookie forwards in Sidorov and Colangelo, who was the All-Star rep for the Gulls.
I think you forgot how Luneau spent half a season in the NHL last year just bulking up and not playing enough games to show off his skills. Then he got infected at the WJC-20, which ended his season. The emergence of LaCombe along with Zell playing top pair with Fowler to end last season has negated a need for Luneau to play at the NHL level. And yet, Verbeek still pushed Luneau into the NHL club to start this season: 6 games, 0 points, a -5 rating, and a CF% of 37.6%, which is the worst on the team. Eventually, Luneau was sent down to the AHL. It took a long minute for Luneau to find his offensive groove.
Zell started off in the AHL last year and became an All-Star. After the TDL, he was pushed into the NHL lineup. There wasn't a rush to Zellweger. He proved he was too good for the AHL offensively, but a work in progress defensively. As an OFD, that's normal.
LaCombe is the only youth D that was the most polished last year, which included Vaak. Jackson was supposed to be introduced to the NHL regular season as a 2nd pairing with Gudas. That lasted about six game into the season due to RD Drysdale's injury, Luneah not be a solution, and Vaak also not a solution at RD, which lasted a game and a half. LaCombe was thrown into the fire as a top pairing D six games into the season as a RD. Yeah, he made mistakes as a rookie, but he was still net positive for the team. As the season went, his game also improved as he was able to adapt to the speed and game play. Cronin identified him as the most improved player on the team. LaCombe was the best youth D at the end of the season, proving he is a two-way D.
Zell, Minty, and Luneau have great pedigree before turning pro as all three have won defensive player of the year (DPoY) for their respective CHL leagues. Zell won it twice and won CHL DPoY. It's kinda difficult not to think they wouldn't be in the NHL in some capacity. Luneau's D+1 season proved our gamble on him paid off that he was able to return to his D-1 form. He was in the same conversation grouping of Minty, Korchinski, and Mateychuk in the pre-season before the draft year, but we nabbed him late in the 2nd round.
LaCombe is the only one that didn't have all that accolades since he played in a completely different league, the NCAA. I was very high on LaCombe, but that was because I tracked him throughout his collegiate career. His skating is what everyone was excited about b/c that allowed him to adapt faster to college and NHL play.
It's great seeing all four youth becoming pillars for the Ducks. The scary part is that are more youth D coming. Helleson has turned out to be a huge surprise! Landing Solberg has given us more promise as he is built for the playoffs with his rugged style to becoming the Norwegian Nightmare! We have another fire brand in Dionicio. There is also Moore. Like LaCombe, Moore's got skating skills and untapped offensive potential b/c his last two years in college he was told to play a shutdown RD1.
It's just gonna take some time for a few of our younger D to hit their strides, especially OFD's learning defense at the NHL level.
