In the NHL you'd be hard pressed to find a player more overrated than Matt Duchene.
Even before his terrible 2016-17 season, I spent years arguing that fellow 2009 draftee Nazem Kadri was the superior 5v5 player. I don't write this today to say I told you so, but I did tell you so.
While Duchene was in the midst of his worst season yet, Kadri scored 32 goals and was one of four players (Malkin, Ovechking, Marchand) with 30 goals 60 points and 50 PIM.
Shocking Fact: Kadri's 32 goals are two more than Matt Duchene's career high.
So when I see names like Jon Druin and Alex Galchenyuk being thrown around in exchange for Matt Duchene, I honestly have to ask how that is possible.
At this point, I wouldn't trade very much at all for Matt Duchene. He has two more years at $6 million and that is a massive over-payment for this player. My man Kadri makes $1.5 million a year less.
How Bad was Duchene last year? Despite playing in 77 games, his 25 5v5 points were only two more than Jake Gardiner got.
ON Febuary 9th, Matt Duchene scored a goal and an assist against Tampa. He then registered a point in three of his final 25 games. He scored five points in that span.
So why is anyone trying to trade for him? I would take a flyer on him, pick him up for a late first or a second rounder. Even a late first rounder sounds high right now. But a potentially elite player like Drouin or Galchenyuk? Crazy.
Keep in mind that even if he rediscovers his ability to score, the last time he was a +50% possession player was in 2011-12, and that is the only season in which he has done that.
Matt Duchene will always allow more shots and goals against than he can score. In order to be a positive for his team he has to score on a very high percentage of his shots - which is not likely.
He is a career 47% Corsi player who has seen his point totals go from 70 to 55 to 59 to 41.
Unless Joe Sakic is going to give him away, I don't know why any team would be interested in him. Matt Duchene will be 27 next year, and who knows, maybe he'll be the rare player who gets better in his late 20s.
Tim Thomas, Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnation......that's the only three players I can think of who did that. Two of them are baseball players. I am sure there's a few more, but it is an incredibly rare thing.
Washington Capitals Blogger • 
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