If Matt Duchene trade rumors were an Avalanche ploy, they worked

The first seed of a Matt Duchene trade rumor was planted on Nov. 9.

Adrian Dater of Bleacher Report wrote about how, in his seventh season, Duchene had reached the point where players like him are usually traded. Then came a report from Dater in which GM Joe Sakic basically said that Nathan MacKinnon was the only untouchable player on the roster.

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The rumors spread throughout the week, with Bob McKenzie saying there was smoke and Pierre LeBrun saying Duchene’s “name was out there” and both Darren Dreger and Bruce Garrioch writing that the Ottawa Senators have kicked the tires on a Duchene trade.

From the Ottawa Sun:

Two league executives said Friday at the very least, Sakic wants a top defenceman in return as part of a package that might also include a forward and a high-end draft pick if the Avalanche are going to part with Duchene. High-end as in a first- or second-round pick, according to two league execs.

That would be a lot to pay for Duchene, who has 7-4-11 points in 16 games this season, especially considering the Senators are also in the market for such a forward -- someone who would fit into their top six.

Now, there was a dissenting opinion on the Duchene rumors: Mike Chambers, the current Avs beat writer for the Denver Post:

Avalanche fans were not exactly pleased with this development. From Austin Manak of BSN:

As I said before, the notion of trading Duchene screams panic move. The Avalanche have bigger issues than Matt Duchene, in my personal opinion: player usage, systems, establishing clear roles for players, mentality, chemistry and confidence, etc. When you have a blender that has faulty mechanisms, you aren’t going to fix it by trading out Energizer batteries for Duracell batteries — which is exactly what the Avalanche would be doing if they traded Duchene.

I’m not a front office executive or general manager, but I just don’t feel like trading away your second most talented forward — a forward who lives and breathes Colorado Avalanche hockey — is a recipe for a sweeter future.  It wouldn’t feel right seeing Matt Duchene in colors other than Avalanche burgundy and blue. Duchene can ensure he remains with the Avalanche by coming up big on this seven-game road trip.

From Jeremy Lambert of Mile High Sticking:

I’m making the decision not to trade Duchene. Sure, he’s not currently worth the $6 million a season the Avs are paying him, but I’m not the one paying him, so I’m not really concerned about his money. It’d be cool if he went to management and was like, “Hey Joe and Patrick, I’m not really worth $6 million a season right now, maybe you guys can just pay me less and we’ll go from there?” but the NHL doesn’t work that way, and Duchene isn’t dumb.

… I’m not trading Matt Duchene though. He’s not the problem in Denver right now. He’s a guy who plays his heart out and loves the city. He’s in the prime of his career and still has room for improvement. I’m keeping my young core together, especially considering that I’ve lost Paul Stastny and Ryan O’Reilly in consecutive seasons. I can’t afford to lose Duchene next.

Duchene responded to the trade rumors by saying he wasn’t aware of them. "I have no idea what you're talking about," Duchene told ESPN Boston. "Well, I hope not. I guess that's up to them. I want to be an Av, I've said that my whole career. I don't know what the rumors are, and I'm not going to go looking for them either; whatever."

So apparently it’s a coincidence, then, that the day after Duchene’s name first hit the trade block he had two goals and an assist against the Philadelphia Flyers and a goal and an assist against the Boston Bruins. (Although, in fairness, he might have been heating up anyway: He had three goals in two games on Nov. 3 and 5, before going scoreless against the Rangers on Nov. 6.)

It obviously benefits the Avalanche to get Duchene’s name out there. Not only to see what the market would be if they actually decided to move him and blow things up – and I’m not convinced they’re at that point in mid-November – but to signal, in a roundabout way, that changes will be made if the team remained on its collision course with the conference basement.

They’ve won their last two games since all the Duchene stuff bubbled up, for what it’s worth.

Trading Duchene would be a mistake, but I hesitate to group that mistake with the team losing Stastny and O’Reilly. In Stastny’s case, it would have been insane to match the offer the St. Louis Blues gave him, given their depth chart at the time. In O’Reilly’s case, it was pretty clear he wanted the hell out of the organization. You can slam the return Sakic got for the latter, which is looking rather paltry thus far.

But trading Duchene would be in a different category than these moves – it would be a choice rather than a necessity.

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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