Friedman: Duchene/Landeskog for Top-pairing Defenceman in Offseason

[Colorado Avalanche]

What difficulty has Duchene had finding chemistry, exactly?

In his first two seasons, he played well with Hejduk, then Father Time unfortunately caught up with Hejduk.

He played really well with Mueller, then Mueller unfortunately had a career altering concussion 15 games after joining the team.

He played really well with Fleischmann, then Fleischmann unfortunately developed career altering blood clots 22 games after joining the team.

He scored 43 points in 47 games with PA Parenteau as his primary linemate, then the Avs changed coaches and PAP unfortunately didn't meld with the new system.

He scored 70 pts in 70 games + 30 seconds with ROR as his primary linemate, and then ROR unfortunately had contract issues that predicated his trade.

He did struggle a bit when his primary linemates were Jarome Iginla's corpse and the ghost of Alex Tanguay, but still scored 55 points, just 4 shy of the team lead.

He just scored 30 goals, and what is essentially 60 pts (59 in 76 gmes), with Nathan MacKinnon as his most common linemate (but still under 50% of his shifts).

And none of that is even taking his international play into account, where he's played with pretty much everyone Team Canada has put him with and done very well.

Duchene certainly played better with certain players though. Problem was we traded all of them away who had chemistry with him.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

Duchene certainly played better with certain players though. Problem was we traded all of them away who had chemistry with him.

Yes, he does play better with skilled players than he does with guys who are past their prime, or were never good. And the only one we traded was ROR, who wasn't going to stick around once he hit UFA anyway.

 

[tfong]

Duchene certainly played better with certain players though. Problem was we traded all of them away who had chemistry with him.

All i see here is that whomever lines up with him has to leave the team in one form or another lol. Hes like a black widow of sorts haha.

 

[Royale With Cheese]

No chance the Avs trade their ONLY proven top 6 winger and their captain for a guy who would be 3rd on the RHD depth chart.

Avs need forwards, not D.

I guess their GM doesn't agree. Did you read the OP?

 

[Freudian]

Avs need both forwards and defense. Trading a forward for a defender would just move a problem around.

They need to be patient and get the bad players on bad contracts off the team. They need to get rid of players who don't compete and promote players that do.

There is no magic bullet Duchene trade that would even come close to fixing this team. It's just fans trying to pin the blame where it shouldn't be.

 

[El Travo]

I guess their GM doesn't agree. Did you read the OP?

HFboards should know by now that only a direct quote from Sakic on recording means anything when it comes to the Avalanche. Anything else is just throwing pasta at a wall and hoping it sticks.

 

[AslanRH]

What is also being overlooked is that before he was traded ROR had been moved off of Duchene's line. Much of that had to do with Stastny leaving and MacK not ready to handle the C spot, but also the production wasn't the same early that year with Dutch-ROR. Just as it wasn't the same year to year with PAP.

Someday I think we will see consistent linemates and production for Duchene from year to year, but so far we haven't.

 

[SR]

Stone and a non protected 1st get into the neighborhood of duchene?

 

[CobraAcesS]

Stone and a non protected 1st get into the neighborhood of duchene?

Wish this draft was better, but yeah I think I'd take that.

 

[CaptainScrewy]

What would the Avs give up if Ekblad were made available?

 

[JoemAvs]

Stone and a non protected 1st get into the neighborhood of duchene?

Depends on where that pick ends up. Call in the offseason again.

What would the Avs give up if Ekblad were made available?

The only pieces off limits would be MacKinnon, 1st, Rantanen.
Would also prefer not to trade Landeskog.

Everyone else can be discussed.

Does Barrie + Duchene sound good? Want Zadorov or Jost instead of Barrie?

We can't give up too many different pieces with our lack of depth but there are certainly variations that could be discussed.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

All i see here is that whomever lines up with him has to leave the team in one form or another lol. Hes like a black widow of sorts haha.

Honestly, I worry about Rantanen's health now that he's playing decently well with Duchene. I want to be joking, but it's happened too many times.

 

[Addison Rae]

I'm glad you're not the GM of the Avs.

You're bat **** crazy if you think anyone's trading a prime aged #2 dman signed long term on a fantastic contract and a 21 year old top 10 pick tracking very well for either of those guys, especially considering the marketplace overvalues dman.

Take your ridiculous homer glasses off.

 

[rynryn]

i think BB could squeeze a lot out of a guy like Landeskog. Division trades tho. yeah.

 

[Mighty Makar]

You're bat **** crazy if you think anyone's trading a prime aged #2 dman signed long term on a fantastic contract and a 21 year old top 10 pick tracking very well for either of those guys, especially considering the marketplace overvalues dman.

Take your ridiculous homer glasses off.

Read the whole thread, I misread what he wrote. Of course I'd trade Duchene or Landeskog for Tanev and Horvat. I thought he meant Tanev and Virtanen for Duchene and Landeskog, and I said I wouldn't even do it if Horvat was involved.

 

[Addison Rae]

Read the whole thread, I misread what he wrote. Of course I'd trade Duchene or Landeskog for Tanev and Horvat. I thought he meant Tanev and Virtanen for Duchene and Landeskog, and I said I wouldn't even do it if Horvat was involved.

all good bro

 

[M2Beezy]

For who? Vancouver?

Personally, I wouldn't do that deal from Colorado's perspective.

So is Tanev of interest and if YES then what wouldja wanna add to that?

 

[Mighty Makar]

all good bro

 

[Slyfox]

Makes no sense why Colorado is trading forwards when they can't score. Their defense sucks cause of the lower half of their corps like Beauch. Why not wait till the offseason and sign a Kulikov or Russel or others. Can't believe the team losses ROR/Stastny, struggles and thinks its wise to keep offloading forwards.

Look at Pittsburgh's model. Plenty of top 6 forwards and Letang with other top 4 d-men. Forwards>D-men imo. EJ and Barrie with Zadorov is a good top 3. Now fill out the other 3 via free agency and you should be fine. Pittsburgh picked up Daley and Schultz for scraps and it worked out.

 

[jsalz16]

Duchene is one of those players who falls between the normal categorization people need. He's not an ideal 1C, he's an amazing 2C. I think his true value is his versatility. He can also be a 1st or 2nd line winger, can kill penalties, play on the PP, 3 vs 3 OT and a great weapon in the shootout (as much as I dislike it). He is not a beast defensively but not a liability by any means. He beat out Giroux, Hall, ROR, and a host of others for a spot on the Olympic and World Cup teams. He's 25. Fellow Avs fans might disagree but personally, I'd trade Landeskog before Dutch without looking back.

 

[Ivan13]

Wish this draft was better, but yeah I think I'd take that.

Stone is an UFA that can bolt, unless he comes with an extension, or is immediately traded for a 1st he brings nothing to the table.

 

[Cogburn]

Other threads, which I didn't want to hijack, were asking for something in the neighbourhood of Ryan O'Reilly's return for Duchene, and I guess that can be extended to Landeskog too.

For Duchene, would something along the lines of Juolevi, Virtanen and a pick/Cassels measure up? Considering it was Zadorov, Grigerenko, Compher and a 2nd for ROR, would that put us somewhere in the ball park?

Juolevi > Zadorov
Virtanen = Grigorenko
Cassels or a pick < Compher and a 2nd (31st overall) - McGinn

 

[Skip2myBordyloo]

For Duchene, would something along the lines of Juolevi, Virtanen and a pick/Cassels measure up? Considering it was Zadorov, Grigerenko, Compher and a 2nd for ROR, would that put us somewhere in the ball park?

Juolevi > Zadorov
Virtanen = Grigorenko
Cassels or a pick < Compher and a 2nd (31st overall) - McGinn

It's not a bad proposal, I'd defnitely rather have a pick over Cassels.

 

[Avs44]

Other threads, which I didn't want to hijack, were asking for something in the neighbourhood of Ryan O'Reilly's return for Duchene, and I guess that can be extended to Landeskog too.

For Duchene, would something along the lines of Juolevi, Virtanen and a pick/Cassels measure up? Considering it was Zadorov, Grigerenko, Compher and a 2nd for ROR, would that put us somewhere in the ball park?

Juolevi > Zadorov
Virtanen = Grigorenko
Cassels or a pick < Compher and a 2nd (31st overall) - McGinn

I think Duchene is worth more than O'Reilly considering O'Reilly was demanding 8 million from the Avs and was a year from UFA - it kind of forced things - but that is a pretty good base. Juolevi, Virtanen, and something else pretty good. McGinn had minimal value at that time. He'd only played 19 games due to season ending back surgery and was also a pending UFA, so there were massive question marks there, so something equivalent to Compher+31st, which are two pretty good pieces. I'm not familiar enough with the Canucks' prospects, but Juolevi is a good starting point.

 

[PAZ]

All i see here is that whomever lines up with him has to leave the team in one form or another lol. Hes like a black widow of sorts haha.

Duchene's skilled winger history:

Peter Mueller - 36 points in 42 games. Concussion ended his career.
Tomas Fleischmann - 21 points in 22 games. Diagnosed with blood clots.
Ryan O'Reilly - Drove into a timmies to follow the trend
Boedker - 12 points in 18 games. Suffers PTDS (Post-Team Duchene Syndrome, 5 points in 30 games with Sharks).

Probably another one or two that i'm forgetting. But the jist of it is there. No skilled winger has lasted long with Duchene.