The Colorado Avalanche, Nashville Predators and Ottawa Senators all got in on the action on November 5th when the first blockbuster trade of the 2017/18 season was made. It was no secret that Avalanche centre Duchene was on the trading block, so most fans weren’t surprised when the 26-year-old was sent packing on Sunday night. However, what was a little odd was the fact Duchene was in the middle of a road game against the New York Islanders when the trade was made. He then left the ice during a break in the action to begin the second chapter of his NHL career.
Duchene, the third-overall draft pick in 2009, ended up in Ottawa while Nashville received 28-year-old centre Kyle Turris from the Senators. Turris was also a third-overall draft choice, but was taken two years before Duchene and by the Phoenix Coyotes. The Avalanche also received a first and third-round draft pick from Ottawa as well as center Shane Bowers and goaltender Andrew Hammond and acquired a second-round pick, defenceman Samuel Girard and and left-winger Vladislav Kamenev from Nashville. In all, the trade involved a total of six players and three future draft choices.
What also makes the deal interesting is that Duchene’s first two games with the Senators will come against Colorado as they play each other twice in Sweden at the end of the week. When Turris arrived in Nashville the team quickly signed him to a new six-year contract extension worth a total of $36 million extension. As for Duchene, he’s also making $6 million a year, but has just one season to go on his current deal. He’ll be eligible to sign a new contract with Ottawa once July 1st rolls around. Duchene was arguably the Avalanche’s best player, but he was the subject of trade rumours for the past year.
He had played in 586 regular-season games at the time of the trade with 428 points to his name on 178 goals and 250 assists for an average of .73 points per game. Duchene had racked up four goals and six assists in 14 contests this season. Meanwhile, Turris had played in 544 career games and was averaging .59 points per outing with 136 goals and 184 assists for 320 points, including three goals and six assists in 11 games this season. As far as the playoffs go, Duchene had played in just eight postseason games with six assists while Turris has 13 goals and 14 assists in 46 contests.
Reports stated that the three teams were working on a trade earlier in the weekend, but it fell through.
They then got things done about 48 hours later with Colorado general manager Joe Sakic receiving an impressive haul of players and draft picks while also saving about $5 million in salary-cap space this season. The Predators were also happy with their acquisition as Turris gives last year’s Stanley Cup finalists a solid one-two tandem at centre ice behind Ryan Johansen while Nick Bonino remains the club’s third-line pivot. They were also able to acquire him without having to give up any of their regular roster players. Girard had played just five games with Nashville this season with three points while Kamenev had yet to dress for a game with the club in 2017/18.