Ottawa Senators: Anthony Duclair’s road to stardom

Ottawa Senators forward Anthony Duclair has had quite a few bumps in the road so far in his career, but it has led him to the 2020 NHL All-Star Game.

The Ottawa Senators are one of the youngest teams in the NHL. Entering the season, The Athletic ranked them 15th in average age (27.7) and it has gone down a bit since then. Hockey Reference currently has them as the 12th-youngest. However, their best players are their younger ones.

Entering Jan. 21, four of their top five point leaders are under 25. Jean-Gabriel Pageau (27 years old), Brady Tkachuk (20 years old), and Thomas Chabot (23 years old) are all on the list as people expected. However, there’s a strange name at the top – Anthony Duclair.

During All-Star Weekend, Duclair will be getting a well-deserved recognition by participating in the events in St. Louis. It is his first All-Star Game appearance and it marks a significant career turnaround for the former third-round pick.

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When Duclair arrived in Ottawa as a part of the Ryan Dzingel trade at the 2019 trade deadline, he was mostly an afterthought. He wasn’t a fit with the Columbus Blue Jackets, putting up 19 points in 53 games. After putting up 12 points in his first 24 games in October and November, he had seven points in his remaining 29 games with the Blue Jackets.

The Senators gave Duclair a chance for the rest of the 2018-19 season, and he ran with it. Duclair found his game with 14 points in his 21 games in Ottawa. This earned him a spot on the 2019-20 roster.

For Duclair, this was a final chance to prove he could be an everyday player in the NHL. The Blue Jackets weren’t the first team to get tired of him. After being drafted by the New York Rangers in 2013, he was traded to the Arizona Coyotes in 2015 as a part of the Keith Yandle trade. Duclair put up seven points in 18 games with the Rangers, but struggled to earn consistent playing time.

His career with the Coyotes started off with a bang. As a 20-year-old in 2015-16, Duclair put up 20 goals and 24 assists for 44 points in his first full NHL season. He placed 10th in the Calder Trophy voting that year and also finished in the top five on the Coyotes in goals and points.

However, Duclair’s career took a rocky turn after that. He battled inconsistency during the 2016-17 season, finishing with a less than stellar 15 points in 57 games. Duclair continued this battle in the 2017-18 season with 15 points in his first 33 games with the Coyotes before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for Richard Panik.

The Windy City wasn’t a good home for Duclair, as his struggles were even more evident. In 23 games with the Blackhawks, he had eight points. At the end of the season, the Blackhawks didn’t even bother tendering him a contract.

Duclair then signed a one-year deal with the Blue Jackets, hoping to rediscover his career. Though he had a strong start, he clashed with head coach John Tortorella. Weeks before Duclair got traded to the Ottawa Senators, here’s what Tortorella had to say about him.

"“I don’t think he knows how to play … I don’t know if he just can’t comprehend it or he’s just stubborn. But he’s running out of time.”"

It’s apparent Duclair took that message to heart because in Ottawa, he’s finally looking like the player everyone expected him to be. His calling card has always been in his offense. However, Duclair’s lack of competence in other areas cost him early in his career.

With the Senators, not only has he already set a career-high in goals with 21, he’s also on pace to shatter his previous career high in points. Through 47 games, he already has 33 points. Duclair is on pace to finish with over 50 points for the first time in his career.

He has even earned himself a spot on Ottawa’s penalty kill. That shows how much of a commitment Duclair has made to improving himself in all three zones. Head coach D.J. Smith said this in December about his All-Star forward.

"“Certainly, he’s scored goals for us but he’s been a really good teammate and guys like him because he comes to the rink with energy every day,” said Smith. “He’s blocked shots, he’s done all the things we’ve asked of him and it’s good for him to be rewarded.”"

He has taken advantage of getting a chance on a younger team with minimal expectations. Oh, and Duclair got to show his old coach Tortorella that he knew how to play by picking up a hat trick against the Blue Jackets in November.

When the Senators acquired Duclair less than 12 months ago, few people thought anything of it. But now he’s emerged as one of the Senators’ most important players. More importantly, Duclair has become a player who their young players can look up to. He’s a great example of how much hard work you need to put in to make it in the NHL.

Back in 2016, John Scott became the NHL’s most unlikely All-Star of all-time. He wound up stealing the show in Nashville. And who would have thought Duclair would be an All-Star back in October? Perhaps nobody. Duclair is this year’s John Scott. No one thought he would be in the All-Star Game. And maybe Duclair will put on an unforgettable show in St. Louis, just like Scott did in Nashville.