The Ducks have signed Orange County native RW Ryan Lasch to a two-year contract.

Lasch, 25 (1/22/87), completed four years of college hockey at St. Cloud State of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) from 2006-10. He  won the Finnish Elite League (SM – liiga) scoring title last season with Lahti (24-38=62).

"It's pretty awesome. It still hasn't sunk in yet," Lasch said. "It's definitely a team growing up that I always watched and always liked, and to be able to have a chance to play with them is pretty special to me." 

Lasch recently represented Team USA at the 2012 IIHF World Championship in Helsinki and Stockholm. Playing alongside current Ducks Bobby Ryan, Cam Fowler and Kyle Palmieri, Lasch appeared in seven tournament contests, Lasch collected 0-2=2 points.

Born in Lake Forest, CA, and a former student at Trabuco Hills High School, Lasch becomes the first player from Orange County to join the Ducks organization. In addition to his league-leading 62 points, the 5-9, 175-pound right wing led the league with 5-11=16 points in 17 postseason contests. The Pelicans earned a spot in the league championship before falling to JYP Jyvaskyla. Lasch was named to the 2011-12 SM – liiga’s First All-Star Team with fellow Ducks prospect Sami Vatanen (Ducks 2009 fourth-round pick, 106th overall). He played his first season overseas in 2010-11 with Sodertalje SK of the Swedish Elite League (Elitserien), scoring 12-18=30 points in 55 contests.

Lasch collected 79-104=183 points in 161 career collegiate contests with St. Cloud State from 2006-10, becoming the university’s all-time leading scorer. A Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist (top collegiate player) in 2007-08, Lasch scored a collegiate career-high 25-28=53 points in 40 contests that season. Additional honors while with St. Cloud State included WCHA First Team All-Star honors in both 2007-08 and 2008-09 and the WCHA’s scoring title in 2007-08. Lasch was also named a Second Team NCAA All-American for the 2007-08 season.