STARS EXPECTED TO RE-SIGN FORWARD MATT DUCHENE
Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, forward Matt Duchene is not expected to reach unrestricted free agency on Monday as he and the Dallas Stars are making significant process on a contract extension. The news comes shortly after the Stars organization made a hard pivot away from pending UFA Chris Tanev as they traded his signing rights to the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier this afternoon.
Last offseason, Duchene had the final three years and $24M of his contract with the Nashville Predators bought out shortly before the start of free agency. The Stars organization quickly pounced as they signed Duchene to a one-year, $3M contract. As a rare low-risk, high-reward move; Duchene promptly became one of the better value contracts from last summer’s offseason.
One season removed from scoring 22 goals and 56 points for Nashville in 71 games, Duchene got out to a scorching start in the Lone Star State that lasted nearly two-thirds of the season. Through his first 55 games in Dallas, Duchene put up 22 goals and 55 points while averaging less than 17 minutes of ice time per game. Not only was Duchene strong on the puck’s offensive side, but he also put up quality defensive and possession metrics as evidenced by his 92.1% on-ice save percentage in all situations and 54.0% CorsiFor%.
Unfortunately, Duchene could not keep the good times rolling down the stretch as he managed only three goals and 10 points over his last 25 games of the regular season. Despite the slow ending to the season for Duchene personally; Dallas still managed to capture the best record in the Western Conference and guaranteed home ice through the Conference Finals.
Through Round 1 of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, Duchene was held to two points in total in seven games as the Stars knocked out the defending Stanley Cup Champions Vegas Golden Knights. Duchene appeared to pick up some steam in Round 2 as he scored one goal and four points in six games against Dallas’ Central Division rival — the Colorado Avalanche. The fire that Duchene may have caught during Round Two was quickly extinguished in the Western Conference Finals against the Edmonton Oilers as Duchene failed to put up any points and was limited to only nine shots in six games.
Regardless of some slight inconsistency towards the end of the season and the Stanley Cup playoffs, it was clear that Duchene blended well on and off the ice with the Stars organization. With the team expected to lose out on veteran Joe Pavelski to retirement at some point this offseason, Duchene might have access to a larger opportunity in Dallas for the next several years.
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