Rumor: Duchene sweepstakes down to just two teams

According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, pending free agent Matt Duchene already has his mind made up on where he’ll play in 2019-20 and moving forward… or at least he’s narrowed his choices down to just two.

The Columbus Blue Jackets forward is slated to hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent on July 1st and has made it clear to Blue Jackets management that he’ll be testing free agency. So… where will he end up?

Check out these quotes from Friedman, taken from his latest 31 Thoughts Podcast:

“I think the most likely destinations are Nashville and Montreal. … He always wanted to play Nashville.”

“We all know it. As for Montreal, the club has the necessary cap space on its payroll and is very interested.”

Interesting. No doubt that Duchene would fit in well with the Nashville Predators and it’s worth noting that he owns a home in the Nashville area. As for the Canadiens, they could desperately use a center with Duchene’s skill set. It’ll be interesting to see how things play out in free agency for Duchene, but don’t be surprised if he lands up in Nashville or Montreal this summer.