Was Jackson LaCombe the right replacement pick for the U.S. Olympic team?
A young blueliner is getting the chance to play on the world stage, but is he the right guy?
On Wednesday, USA Hockey announced that Florida Panthers defenseman Seth Jones wouldn’t be able to represent his country at the 2026 Winter Olympics due to injury. In his place, general manager Bill Guerin has elected to take Anaheim Ducks blueliner Jackson LaCombe.
The 25-year-old is a promising young rearguard who is part of a team that’s going to be tough to stop in the near future, but many are surprised that the U.S. has chosen LaCombe over a player like Lane Hutson, the reigning Calder Trophy winner who’s having another great year with the Montreal Canadiens.
On Wednesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Steve Peters discuss whether LaCombe is the right guy for Team USA.
Tyler Yaremchuk: After last night and the game Lane Hutson had, and the Montreal Canadiens throwing a little shade on Twitter at the Minnesota Wild, who, by the way, their GM, Bill Guerin, is the GM of Team USA. So, it was not lost on anyone that Hutson had that performance last night against Billy G’s team. But Petey, are you surprised that it’s Lacombe that gets the call over Hutson with the injury?
Steve Peters: You scratch your head. When you go build a team like this, you’re always looking for players that are going to fit in different spots. So, when you’re looking for a defenseman for Team USA, I think you’ve got to look for a guy that can bring you something that nobody else can bring. To me, that’s Lane Hutson. You look at the numbers he’s put up this year from the back end. He just is so dynamic from the back end offensively that…if it gets to be a tougher grind, then you limit his ice time, but if you need that goal, I don’t know who you’d rather have on the ice right now than Lane Hutson. I’m totally surprised.
Now, you look at Lacombe and his ability. He’s got a bigger, longer reach, and he can defend the rush maybe a little bit. He can get the puck up the ice, and he does have an offensive upside, but he’s not Lane Hutson. So, I was surprised when you had that next-guy-up mentality…I think Lacombe came from nowhere and jumped over Lane Hutson.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…