Surprising new contender has emerged for Matt Duchene.

New contender emerges for Duchene.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Surprising new contender has emerged for Matt Duchene.
Austyn Mcfadden/CSM/Zuma

It seems like veteran center Matt Duchene is headed for a major payday this summer one way or another. In recent days there has been plenty of talk regarding Duchene's future in the National Hockey League and the expectation is that he will sign the largest contract of his NHL career once he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer. 

There has been a ton of speculation regarding where Duchene will end up, but both the Nashville Predators and the Montreal Canadiens emerged as the clear front runners when Sportsnet's National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman named them as the 2 most likely destinations during his podcast.

"I think the most likely destinations are Nashville and Montreal," said Friedman during his 31 Thoughts Podcast earlier this week. "He's always wanted to play for Nashville, we all know that, and on the other side I think Montreal's got cap room and I think they are interested."

Those of course are both very interesting potential destinations for Duchene, but on Saturday night TSN NHL insider Darren Dreger provided an update that put 2 entirely different teams in the mix for Duchene, including one huge surprise. 

"Well it starts with the Columbus Blue Jackets," said Dreger during Insider Trading. "Pat Brisson, the agent for Matt Duchene, continues to have conversations with Jarmo Kekalainen so there is the possibility that he stays with Columbus." 

I suppose the fact that the Blue Jackets would attempt to get a deal done before the free agency period does make a great deal of sense, and as a result is not all that surprising, but the next team that Dreger mentioned certainly was.

"But among the suitors, the Arizona Coyotes. They've got a new injection of ownership there so perhaps there is more capital for John Chayka to work with, and I am told that Matt Duchene is Arizona's primary focus."

It would certainly be a huge surprise to see the Arizona Coyotes become big players in the free agency period this summer but, when you consider that their roster was decimated by injury and they only just missed the playoffs this season, it does make sense for them to go for some big names. The Coyotes have already been linked to a huge trade rumor involving Penguins star forward Phil Kessel, so it does seem like there is an appetite here from the Coyotes to make some waves.

Source: