Matt Duchene traded to Ottawa

The Colorado Avalanche have traded Matt Duchene to the Ottawa Senators as part of a three-way trade involving the Nashville Predators. In exchange, Ottawa forward Kyle Turris heads to Nashville and both teams send a combination of picks and prospects to the Avalanche.

From Ottawa, the Avalanche received forward Shane Bowers, goaltender Andrew Hammond, a first round pick in 2018 and a third-round pick in 2019. From Nashville, the Avalanche receive forward prospect Vladislav Kamenev, defenseman Samuel Girard, and a second-round pick in 2018.

Bowers, 18, was a first-round pick by the Senators in 2017, 28th overall, and is currently playing his freshman season at Boston University. Hammond, 29, was playing for the Belleville Senators of the AHL and will likely slot in as Colorado’s third goaltender. Kamenev, 21, was a 2014 second-round pick by the Predators and was playing for Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL and will likely head to San Antonio. Girard, 19, was a 2016 second round pick of the Predators and made his NHL debut this season. The collection of draft picks gives the Avalanche two firsts, two seconds, and two thirds in the 2018 NHL Draft.

Long rumored, the Avalanche were finally able to find a deal that satiated their desire to get younger while adding significant assets for the future. Duchene, 26, ends his Avalanche career after eight-plus seasons with the organization and heads to the Senators, who lost last season in overtime of game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals.

He was drafted third overall in 2009 in what was to be the beginning of a brand new era of Avalanche hockey as they transitioned away from the Joe Sakic days. Duchene’s first NHL game was played the night Sakic’s iconic number 19 jersey was raised to the rafters and in a cruel twist of fate, Sakic is the man who ultimately pulled the trigger on ending Duchene’s career in Colorado.

The speedy Duchene never quite fully lived up to the expectations placed upon him as the team made the postseason just twice during his eight-plus years in an Avalanche sweater. Even so, Duchene’s Colorado career ended with him finishing in the top 10 of many statistical categories in Avalanche history: Games played (6th), goals (4th), assists (6th), and points (6th).