Anaheim Ducks sign RFAs LaCombe, Nesterenko to contracts
The Anaheim Ducks have announced that they’ve signed defenseman Jackson LaCombe to a two-year contract extension with a $925,000 cap hit and forward Nikita Nesterenko to a one-year, $874,125 deal.
NEWS: We have signed Jackson LaCombe to a two-year contract extension. #FlyTogether | @opendoor https://t.co/SgFRI3Wlfi
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) July 15, 2024Lacombe was a restricted free agent after the conclusion of his two-year contract with a $925,000 cap hit, so he finds himself on the exact same deal this time around, although his new contract is a one-way deal. With this new contract, the Ducks lock him up until he’s 25 years old at 1.05% of the 2024-25 salary cap.
LaCombe established himself as a full time NHLer in 2023-24, where he had 2 goals and 15 assists for 17 points in 71 games with the Ducks last year.
LaCombe was a second-round pick for the Ducks in 2019, and after spending the following four seasons with the University of Minnesota, he made his NHL debut in the 2022-23 season for two games.
Ducks also sign Nikita Nesterenko to one-year deal. Two-way. $874,125 NHL/$70,000 AHL.
— Eric Stephens (@icemancometh) July 15, 2024Nesterenko was a restricted free agent after the conclusion of his two-year entry-level contract with a $925,000 cap hit. He sees his NHL salary decrease by just over $50,000, and with the deal being a two-way contract, he’ll have a $70,000 salary when in the AHL. With this new contract, the Ducks lock him up at 0.99% of the 2024-25 salary cap.
Nesterenko is coming off of his first full professional season, spending a majority of it in the AHL with the Ducks’ minor-league affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, where he had 16 goals and 21 assists for 37 points in 70 games. He also got into 3 games at the NHL level with the Ducks, where he had 1 goal in that span.
Nesterenko was a sixth-round pick for the Minnesota Wild in the 2019 NHL Draft, and after a season in the BCHL with the Chilliwack Chiefs, he spent three years at Boston College. He was then traded to the Ducks during his final season at Boston College as part of the return for John Klingberg, and he then made his NHL debut for nine games later that year.
With these two signings, the Ducks now have all of their restricted free agents signed to contracts for next season. They now have almost $22 million in salary cap space after the additions of Robby Fabbri and Brian Dumoulin this offseason.