NHL Free Agency: 3 teams who should sign Anthony Duclair
Anthony Duclair is hitting NHL free agency. Which teams would make the most sense for him?
The Ottawa Senators did not qualify restricted free agent Anthony Duclair before Wednesday’s deadline, meaning he’ll hit NHL free agency. Duclair will now become an unrestricted free agent on Friday at noon EST.
The former third round pick of the New York Rangers has bounced around the league in his six NHL seasons. Duclair has played for New York, Arizona, Chicago, Columbus, and Ottawa.
Many believed that Duclair found a home in Ottawa. He was happy to be one of the faces of the rebuild and made his first career All-Star game in 2020, which was his only full season with the Senators. Duclair twice has hit the 20 goal mark, once last season, and in his 2015-2016 rookie season. Last season Duclair and Brady Tkachuk were the only two Sens to hit the 20 goal mark.
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He is also thought of as one of the fastest skaters in the league and placed sixth in the All-Star Skills Competition fastest skater competition. Finishing behind names like Mathew Barzal, Connor McDavid, and Nathan MacKinnon is nothing to be ashamed of.
However talks did not work out, Duclair is rumored to have wanted more money than Ottawa was offering and will now go into free agency.
The move is surprising with the Sens having about $42 million in cap room after the Bobby Ryan buyout and before re-signing Chris Tierney or newly acquired goalie Matt Murray.
We can assume that Ottawa is trying to be budget-friendly in preparation to lock up the aforementioned Tkachuk and not knowing how long the NHL’s flat cap will be in place. No matter the reason, Duclair is a free agent tomorrow, and here are the teams who should sign him.
Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings are in full rebuild mode and despite having the worse record, the lottery gave them Lucas Raymond at pick number four. Raymond is thought to have true all-around impact potential, but we do not know when he will make his NHL debut.
The point being, Detroit needs everything at every position. Duclair was happy to be a part of the process in Ottawa and scored 20 goals on a bad team. If Detroit re-signs Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi, Duclair would help round out a highly skilled top six led by Dylan Larkin.
Before those re-signings, Detroit has about $28 million in cap space. If the Red Wings sign Duclair, it may only be in the short term, but players who know and are willing to contribute in a rebuilding environment are valuable.
Dallas Stars
Dallas has more questions than you would expect from a team that just made a Stanley Cup Final appearance. The Stars have aging stars who are providing diminishing returns. I am sure that everyone else is having the reoccurring dream where Mike Emrick is just yelling the Stars players ages as they somehow manage to compete against Tampa. Or maybe it is just me.
Either way, the Stars only had one player score 20 or more goals in last year’s shortened season, (Denis Gurianov). Dallas does tend to play a more defensive style winning games by a score of 2-1 and being physical. Well, the forwards that are doing that are not going to be able to forever. The Stars’ highest-paid player, Tyler Seguin, makes $9.85 million and only scored two goals during the entire playoffs.
Duclair would give Dallas’ top six a boost in speed, skill, and youth. My only reservation would be that both sides would need to give a bit on playstyle. Duclair would need to work on his defense, while Dallas would need to become more aggressive offensively. Seguin and Duclair on the same line with some chemistry would be nasty.
Colorado Avalanche
Colorado has plenty of high prospects coming up, not the least of which is center Alex Newhook. In a pandemic world, so many prospects path to the NHL face new challenges. Youth will not round out the Avalanche top six for at least another year or two.
The Avs sit with $22 million in cap space and because of that are linked to the big free agent names of Alex Pietrangelo and Taylor Hall. More so Hall because of his rumored willingness to accept a short-term contract to play for a competitor, as well on bet on himself for another payday in the post flat cap era.
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If Hall is signed elsewhere, or Colorado focuses on Pietrangelo than Duclair could be an excellent plan B. Playing alongside Nathan MacKinnon they could have the fastest line in the league. Or on Colorado’s second line, playing alongside perennial 50 point scorer Nazem Kadri could excel as well. Either way, Duclair would make the already very dynamic Colorado even more so.