The wait is over. What seemed to be a never-ending discussion, the Matt Duchene trade saga has come to a conclusion.
Matt Duchene is no longer a member of the Colorado Avalanche. Duchene has been traded to the Ottawa Senators in a rare three-team trade.
We have acquired Bowers, Hammond, Girard, Kamenev and draft picks from Ottawa and Nashville. https://t.co/kZC78dGZGF
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) November 6, 2017
The news shocked the hockey world Sunday evening, many thought it would never happen. This story was been circulating for around two seasons, and its many ups and downs have been well documented. News of its potential broke early last week, but talks died. But apparently, they got revived.
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Bear with me for a second please, as this one gets a tad messy when the pieces start piling up. In the epic three-way deal, Duchene has been dealt to the Senators. The Sens turned around and ousted center Kyle Turris to the Nashville Predators. Then the messy part, the mountain of picks and prospects traded to Colorado in order to put a bow on this trade.
In all, Colorado got three picks, three prospects, and a goalie. Nashville traded a 2018 second round pick, defenseman prospect Samuel Girard, and forward prospect Vladislav Kamenev. For the crown jewel in Duchene, Ottawa traded Colorado a 2018 1st and 3rd round pick, forward prospect Shane Bowers, and veteran goaltender Andrew Hammond.
Ottawa walked away with a potential top center, Nashville bolstered their playoff aspirations with another strong center, and Colorado picked up pieces to help jumpstart a rebuild.
Much has been made about the Duchene saga in Colorado. For a while now, it seemed like a deal wasn’t going to come to life. Joe Sakic’s unreasonably high demands stagnated the trade market and scared off most shoppers. It was obvious that Matt Duchene himself was very unhappy with the situation, having wanted out for quite some time. He was unengaged in his play, refused to talk with media, and just seem downright frustrated.
I am not the biggest fan of how Colorado GM Joe Sakic has handled this situation, but I shall admit, he acquired much more than I thought he would. He didn’t get the “young, top pairing defenseman” he wanted, mostly due to his own negotiations, but he did get a decent haul for how long this story has dragged on.
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So who won this deal? That is something that cannot be answered now. Fans can pick it apart and speculate all they want, but this will take time. It may take a few years before we can declare a winner and loser. We must wait and see how the pieces fit into place.