Rookie Paul LaDue is making himself at home as Kings make their playoff push

Sometimes Paul LaDue looks around and sees how surreal this season has become.

From his corner locker stall at the Kings’ practice facility, he’s just a few steps away from Jarome Iginla, a player he followed as a kid. On Thursday, there was LaDue in a postgame celebration with Iginla following Iginla’s overtime goal against the Nashville Predators.

“It’s pretty crazy,” LaDue said. “I was a little star struck the first time he walked in the locker room. It was unbelievable. I’ve got him and Marian Gaborik out there with me, so it’s a little crazy knowing I grew up watching them play. They’ve been great guys. It’s been fun hockey.”

It also has been an unlikely late-season ascension for LaDue, so no one can blame him for soaking it up.

The 24-year-old rookie defenseman has grabbed a job on the blue line in the most critical time of the season for the Kings. He averaged more than 16 minutes a game and taken a role on the second power-play unit going into Saturday’s game against the Washington Capitals.

Recalled in February, LaDue had four assists in his first nine NHL games, including an assist on Iginla’s first goal with the Kings on Thursday.

“He’s a very good student of the game,” Kings assistant coach John Stevens said. “You tell him things, and you can see he takes it in. He implements it into the game right away. He can understand what you’re trying to do. He’s getting a great opportunity to play in a lot of situations.”

Stevens noted that the coaching staff is still getting to know LaDue. He turned pro after his junior season at North Dakota and has played only 40 games for minor league Ontario.

Going back further, LaDue was a sixth-round draft pick in 2012 and, at that time, was not rated among the top 210 North American skaters by NHL’s Central Scouting. Since 2012, he is the only defenseman drafted by the Kings to have played for them in the NHL. Colin Miller, taken ahead of LaDue, was traded to the Boston Bruins as part of the deal for Milan Lucic in 2015.

LaDue already had a familiar face in the Kings’ room in Derek Forbort, a fellow North Dakota alum.

“He was a Grand Forks [N.D.] kid, so I would kind of see him around,” Forbort said. “We got to know each other and got to be pretty good friends.”

Forbort can identify with LaDue in having to prove himself in a defense-minded team under Kings Coach Darryl Sutter, who typically is not receptive to rookies.

But the transition appears fine, on and off the ice. The closest ribbing LaDue gets might be the occasional “Freddy Adu” nickname that Drew Doughty throws him in reference to the soccer player.

“It’s a really good group of guys here that don’t really treat you like a rookie,” Forbort said. “They want you to come in and contribute and play well. Paul’s been a really good guy for that.”

LaDue did have some nerves in his NHL debut Feb.7.

“I kind of blacked out that whole first period,” he said. But it was familiar because it was in the same venue, Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., where he won an NCAA title last season.

Nearly a year later, he’s trying to help the Kings in their playoff push. Did he envision this in training camp?

“I always hoped for it,” LaDue said. “But I never knew what was going to play out. I try not to think about it too much, but it is pretty crazy being up here. I’m thankful for it, and I’ve just got to keep working.”

sports@latimes.com