Jones out for Olympics, replaced by LaCombe on Team USA

LaCombe has 31 points (six goals, 25 assists) in 49 games this season. The 25-year-old, who was a second-round pick (No. 39) by Anaheim in the 2019 NHL Draft, has 91 points (22 goals, 69 assists) in 197 regular-season games.

LaCombe did not play for the United States in the 4-Nation face-off last season, but won a gold medal with the USA at the 2025 World Championships.

While attending the United States Olympic Orientation Camp in August, LaCombe said he was not looking to enter talks to make the team.

“Obviously having this experience at this camp and then meeting all these guys is amazing for me,” LaCombe said. “I’m happy with where I’m at and trying to take it one day at a time and enjoy it.”

This is the first group of NHL players to represent the United States at the Olympics since 2014, when NHL players most recently participated.

All 12 teams in the tournament will play three preliminary games in their respective groups.

The three group winners and the best second-place team will receive a bye into the quarter-finals; The other eight teams will play single-elimination games to determine the other four quarterfinalists. The gold medal game will be held on February 22.

Team USA, which is in Group C, opens on Feb. 12 against Team Latvia, then plays Team Denmark on Feb. 14 and Team Germany on Feb. 15.

The United States has not won a gold medal in men’s hockey in Lake Placid, New York since 1980.