"Duchene is a locker room cancer, yadda yadda yadda..."
LMAO
You guys realise that Duchene had absolutely nothing to do with the Avs being bad, right? They drafted Duchene, Landeskog, MacKinnon all in the top-3 in a span of 4 years! This team was hella bad, with or without Duchene! Bad GM's, bad coaches. Personally, I blame Sacco & co. for those bad times! Duchene wanted out and was made a scapegoat, sure it affected the locker room. One guy publicly stating he wants out - but that's the way it is! No bad blood between former team mates, I suppose. Sakic took his time, locker room got divided - shit happens! I still don't see how this makes Duchene a locker room cancer.
I won't even discuss Ottawa! That team is a tirefire! Again, can't blame Duchene. Owner not wanting to spend any real dollars, Karlsson and Stone wanting out, Dzingel not replaced... while REAL "zero effort" guys like Ryan accomplished nothing and still made $6M a year! Talk about bad circumstances! Duchene played the best hockey of his career in Ottawa, despite the team being crap and everyone fleeing the sinking ship!
And now in Nashville... "we see the same thing happen again"... BOY! Aging core, bad goaltending, ZERO help from defense. Say what you say about Subban, but Poile didn't even bother to look a replacement for him! A rookie cannot be the answer, unless he's Makar or Hughes! Can't count on Fabbro being "the guy" just yet! Overall I think this team is underperforming right now, but I don't see how that makes Duchene a locker room cancer! What the hell mates?
As for Tavares! Two time CAPTAIN! Enough said! If you want to point fingers, point at Babcock and Matthews! Their personal feud is hurting this team! One has to go! Also can't underestimate the negative effect of removing a true FATHER FIGURE and a MENTOR for these young fellas, Patty Marleau, from this team! But not Tavares' fault, by any means!