On Thursday, the Ducks signed Jackson LaCombe to an eight-year contract extension with a $9 million AAV.

Following the Ducks’ practice at Great Park Ice in Irvine, LaCombe spoke with local media.

Below is a full transcript, which has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Congratulations on the deal. How did this get done so quick?

I think it all kind of happened in the last week and a half. 
It went pretty smoothly. We were both willing to get something done and we got to a number we were comfortable with. I’m just super excited to get it done.

Was it important to you to kind of get this done going into the season rather than let it kind of hang over?

For sure. I think for me, I just like to be comfortable and it's a great deal. I'm really excited about it. I'm really happy to get it done and I don't have to kind of worry about that, going through the season, so I'm really happy.

Did seeing how the negotiations with McTavish and Zegras before that kind of play into you wanting to get this done quickly?

A little bit, yeah. I think it was a priority to get him here and get him signed and then once they got that done, (my extension negotiations) just started to pick up and it went really well.

Some guys like to be more involved, some guys, not so much, in negotiations. How involved were you with talking with Verbeek and trying to get things worked out?

Most of the time it's just kind of the agents and Pat talking. You talk with your agent and kind of decide what you want to do and what it would look like. Both sides were really cooperative and it went really easy, and I was happy about that, so I'm really excited.

For the term, eight years, the max. Why did it make sense to go all the way for this commitment?

I love it here. I love being here. I love playing here. 
I love all my teammates here too. So for me, it was an easy decision and I'm just not gonna look back. I'm looking forward to it. I'm just really happy.

What makes you so comfortable here? What kind of made you so willing to do that?

It's easy to live here. I could say the weather and the place is so nice, but I think just the group we have has been great for me. 
Everyone’s been so welcoming and it's helped me a lot the last two years, so I'm really grateful for that. So I appreciate that and I was excited to be with them for a long time.

It really took off for you last year. 
How much has this been kind of a whirlwind for you, to go through what you've gone through?

For sure, yeah, I think it all happened pretty quickly. Like you said I was the first year was definitely tougher. I thought last year, I played a lot better and I was happy about that. To get it done now is great. 
I was looking forward to that and now it happened, so I’m really grateful.

How many of the guys already asked for dinner today?

A lot of them. They’ve got a list of stuff they want to get. 
Hopefully, I'll be nice to them, but we’ll see what happens.

Looking ahead, you were at the USA selection campus past summer, and obviously the Olympics are coming up in February. 
I'm sure that's something that you're kind of looking towards and hoping you have a good season and being in position to be selected for that.

For sure, I think everyone wants to make it, wants to play and wants to compete there. I’m just going to do the best I can and focus on the now. They’ve had a great group at the Four Nations and so many good players can make it. 
So I think we're all just going to play our best and then whatever happens, happens. But I'm just looking forward to get going with these guys and I'm really excited.

As the course of this camp has gone on, have you changed your opinion of how this team is through camp?

Not really. I think we've made so much progress and coming into the season, I knew we were gonna make a big jump and I have confidence we’re going to do that. 
Our guys look great. Everyone’s excited to get going, great to have Q here. We’re all looking forward to it, and I don’t think any of us are surprised on what we look like and what we can do.

You wore a letter in one of the preseason games. Where do you see your role as a leader kind of growing? You’re here for the long run, so where do you see your role as a leader kind of heading into the future?

I’m going to do the best I can to help my teammates. I'm still pretty young and still learning a lot, so I'm just gonna continue to grow and slowly just kind of work myself into that role if I can. Just do the best I can.