stempniaksen
Registered User
- Oct 12, 2008
- 11,084
- 4,362
Matt Duchene seems to be hitting his stride. A true No. 1 center. Turris is a healthy scratch at 6M this season. The 4th OA, hurts, but Duchene signing long term here, at this stage, would look like a home run to me. At the time of the trade, Duchene was always the better player, and the 1st Rd pick was not supposed to be a lottery pick. I mean, many overestimated Turris, while other underestimated Duchene, and that is ok.
At the time, I didn't think it was a gross overpayment. We were supposed to be a playoff team. Bowers was ranked low in the Sens depth chart.
It'll be interesting to see what Duchene is moving forward. He's never paced at the numbers he put up for (most) of his time in Ottawa. If he can continue to be a (roughly) PPG player who can provide speed to a teams lineup it'll be obvious the trade could have been worth it (it's not if he doesn't re-sign with Ottawa, but that's not really the point here). If he reverts back to being a 45-55 point player he'll likely be just as overpaid as Turris currently is.
If you think the Duchene and Turris we've seen this season are the "real" versions of themselves, it's pretty obvious who is more valuable (even given the large extension Duchene is due this summer). I'm not convinced, personally, that that is the case. Next season should determine a lot about both guys.