Breaking: Pittsburgh was THIS close to acquiring Duchene

Imagine?!

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 6 years ago
Breaking: Pittsburgh was THIS close to acquiring Duchene
KeyStone Press

One of the biggest trades in recent memory almost didn't happen.

As we know, the Ottawa Senators acquired Matt Duchene from the Colorado Avalanche in a three-way deal that saw Kyle Turris head over to the Nashville Predators.

The trade went down last Sunday night, and as it was previously reported, the deal nearly happened two days before that. When the trade fell through and became public knowledge, the Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford attempted a last-second coup to steal the services of Duchene from Ottawa.

“I think when it was uncertain if the Nashville-Ottawa-Colorado three-way [trade] was going to get done, I think Pittsburgh made a last-second offer to try and get Duchene,” Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on Hockey Night in Canada Saturday. “Obviously it didn’t work and the three-way happened.”

The powerhouse Penguins aren't off to their best start, and the motivation behind this move was to keep them at the top and give them a chance to contend for the fathomed "three-peat".

Duchene had 10 points through 14 games with the Avalanche this season and has been held pointless through his first 2 games against his former team in Sweden.

Source: Sportsnet