Good news everybody, Matt Duchene is back at Colorado Avalanche practice.
He's wearing an orange no-contact jersey, making him look like a traffic cone but Duchene is back, skating hard and looking like he is nearing return. Now that he is close to return, the question is where to put him in the lineup.
When he went down with a knee injury, he was playing on a line Paul Stastny and a motley collection of other wingers. Currently, Stastny is playing with Milan Hejduk and David Jones. That line has put up four goals and seven assists the past three games and cannot be justifiably split up.
Ryan O'Reilly also has a good line going with Peter Mueller and Gabriel Landeskog, a line that has put up four goals and four assists in the same time period. It is a perfect line that combines the scorer Mueller with the power forward Landeskog and the playmaker O'Reilly. The line is also active in the defensive end, which has been helpful.
Using the current roster, that would mean Duchene is put back at center with T.J. Galiardi and anyone of Kevin Porter, Daniel Winnik, Kevin Porter or Chuck Kobasew. David van Der Gulik would also be an option, since he's shown great work ethic and a nose for the net. However, it is uncertain that this would be a fit for Duchene.
Duchene is not a grinder, he is not a defensive forward. He is a scorer and a rather brilliant one at that. Playing with Galiardi will be fine since Galiardi has reasonable hands, speed and has played with scoring centers enough he would know his role.
The other option is to trade for a scoring winger if the Avs can get one without giving too much up. To get a winger that can score, with speed, the Avs would probably have to part with one of their defenseman. If the cost were to be Kyle Quincey, would it be worth affecting the Avs' defense to get a little more offensive punch?
Duchene might have to struggle through with Galiardi and another winger already on the roster until the Avs could invest in a scoring winger, one of the many that will be available this offseason. Alexander Semin or Zach Parise would be great skating next to Duchene, better than any rental they could get.
Tuomo Ruutu is rumored to have a huge price tag attached to him, Andrei Kostitsyn is frustratingly inconsistent, Sam Gagner would have been nice but he's pulled himself off the trade market. Those are the best options for trade and none of them would drastically change the Avs' season.
Duchene is close to coming back. What the Avs are going to do when he comes back, that is another story altogether.
What would your lines be? If you acquire someone who would it be?
Colorado Avalanche Blogger • 
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