Matt Duchene rumors: Avalanche look to trade star forward
The Colorado have reportedly been shopping around Matt Duchene for some time now. After failing to deal the forward before last season’s trade deadline, it seems his time with the Avs is finally at an end.
Matt Duchene and the Colorada Avalanche look set to part ways sometime in the very near future. The young forward is going to be a top quality addition to any organization lucky enough to land him, but the asking price is surely going to be high. Along with the asking price, the $6 million cap hit will narrow down the interested parties significantly.
The $6 million cap hit that Matt Duchene carries runs through the 2018-19 season. While this is a rather big cap hit for the 26-year old, he has proven to be a fantastic talent in his time with the Avalanche.
NHL insider Bob McKenzie said it himself, Matt Duchene and the Colorado Avalanche have both come to terms that the player’s time in Colorado is coming to an end. Now all they have to do is find a willing party with the cap space to take on a $6 million cap hit.
While the cap hit is big, the talent undeniably matches it. Despite having very little support on what was an atrocious Avs team last season, Duchene was able to muster 18 goals and 23 assists in 77 games. This was the worst season of the forward’s career, which is good when 41 points is a career worst.
Next: NHL Mock Draft: 2017 top 10 selections, 2.0
Duchene’s best season came back in the 2013-14 season when he had 23 goals and 47 assists in 71 games. A younger forward capable of performing at a point-per-game pace is a valuable asset to any organization looking to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup.
In 572 games with the Colorado Avalanche since being draft third overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Duchene has scored 174 goals and added 244 assists. Duchene also carried a 1.15 Relative Corsi-For percentage last season, an analytic made even more impressive by the fact that the Avs were absolutely terrible. This number is down slightly from the impressive 2.08 Rel.CF% that he carried during the 2015-16 season.