NHL free agency: 5 teams who should sign Matt Duchene
2. Columbus Blue Jackets
No suitor for Matt Duchene has more cap space to sign him than the Columbus Blue Jackets. Currently, they have well over $30 million of cap space, according to CapFriendly.
Duchene was traded to the Blue Jackets at the trade deadline. They gave up a lot to get him, but he wound up being a terrific fit. On paper, he only had 12 points in 23 regular season games with them, which doesn’t sound like much. However, it’s worth noting his shooting percentage was 6.7% during that time, which is very low for him.
During the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Duchene was a huge reason the Blue Jackets were able to upset the top-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning. In 10 postseason games, he had 10 points as their number one center. Seven of those points came against Tampa.
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That said, let’s discuss the pink elephant in the room nobody wants to acknowledge – the cost of re-signing Duchene. Not only would it take a significant contract, likely in the range of $9 million to over $10 million per year. It would also cost the Blue Jackets their 2020 first-round pick, which could be a high one given how much the Metropolitan Division has improved. And it’s not lottery protected.
The Blue Jackets, do, however, have one fairly significant advantage. They are the only team who can offer Duchene an eight-year deal. That might get his AAV down closer to $9 million, or maybe even slightly below it. For that reason, I still like their chances of signing him. But they’re not the favorites.