Is he as good as he is now cause we didnt shelter him?
I think LaCombe just needed time to adjust to the NHL level speed and game play. The same situation played out similarly when he was in college as he put his offense and defense on display when he returned from the WJC-20 in his sophomore season.
In LaCombe's NHL rookie season, he was set to be our 2nd pairing with Gudas, which isn't a sheltered role. LaCombe had to weather the storm when he was thrusted into a top-pairing situation. After 20 games as a top-pair, LaCombe was jumbled between top pair and bottom pair. Zellweger was playing top-pair to end the season and LaCombe the 2nd pair b/c Minty was injured for the rest of the season.
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The Lord of the Rings response version below.
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At the rookie tourney last year, LaCombe dominated on the ice and even did a Gudas Smash before we even knew what a Gudas Smash was in Anaheim. It was a game against the Kings and we were being dominated physically. Someone needed to step up. The Kings were entering the OZone with all three forwards rushing in, but the puck handler never saw the speeding LaCombe about to lay the lumber on him. That hit changed the momentum of the game. He was literally a man amongst boys at that tourney. It was LaCombe's first and only rookie tourney because NCAA kids are already in school and cannot participate.
Here are a few quotes from LaCombe on a
THN article:
“It’s just a big jump,” said LaCombe of making the transition from playing collegiate hockey to playing professionally. “The NHL is the best league in the world so it’s a challenge in many areas. I think just trying to learn every day has been a big key for me. I think I'm just starting to get more comfortable and adjusting a lot better now so it’s been great.”
“Everyone’s coming quicker and you have to have your head up and be ready so it’s a bit of a challenge catching (the puck) in some areas and being ready to make a play,” said LaCombe. “I think you kind of have to learn how to do that and adjust to that pretty well, so it’s been a challenge.”
I think Cronin was trying to rush LaCombe's adjustment period and why LaCombe needed to seek help over the summer. Cronin admitted he went too hard on LaCombe last year in a
Ducks Stream video interview. Cronin forgot that LaCombe was in his NHL rookie season. Here are quotes from Cronin from the same THN article:
“He was great in Minnesota," said Cronin. "I think just technically, his defensive ability has improved. The big thing with him is aggressiveness. He’s not really an aggressive person by nature. He’s not afraid, he’s not going to initiate a lot.”
“And I don’t mean that physically either, sometimes it’s just decisiveness with the puck. Like getting the puck and getting up the ice and making plays with it with momentum going forward instead of standing still and hoping.”
Cronin also said that LaCombe’s game is “really going to pivot off of his ability to play aggressively with the puck.” He also wants to see LaCombe be more involved offensively away from the puck.
That THN article was published on Feb 6, 2024, during All-Star break. LaCombe's offense and defense improved after the All-Star break. With the summer break, LaCombe was able to soak in his rookie experience and prepared more for the following season. He needed a season to adjust from making the huge jump from NCAA directly to the NHL. Here is a
pre-season quote from Gudas for this year:
"He's a different player than he was last year. He looks the same but plays different," Gudas continued. "He looks very, very ready. He looks very manly out there. He makes plays; he's not afraid to play one-on-one with the body. He uses his speed, he uses his skill, so it's fun to see from him. He's playing big minutes, so I think he's going to be a big force for us."
I am ecstatic how resilient LaCombe is mentally. At the WJC-20 vs Russia, LaCombe's confidence got rocked and thought he would never recover. But team USA coaches kept putting him back onto the ice in future games as a 7th D to show confidence in him. In one of those future games, LaCombe did chip in offensively to help team USA and aided to a gold medal. He took that experience and his game play took off once he returned back to the NCAA.
