It came to the surprise of many when Matt Duchene was bought out in the sixth year of his eight-year, $56 million contract as one of Barry Trotz first moves as the new general manager of the Nashville Predators.

Duchene wouldn’t need to look much farther for his next team as he signed a one-year deal with the Dallas Stars, in hopes to load up on offence for a deep cup run.

While the Stars narrowly missed out on making their second Stanley Cup Final appearance since 2020, they would end up falling in six games to the Edmonton Oilers.

The Haliburton, Ont. native had a pretty productive 2023-24 season in the lone star state, putting up 25 goals and adding 65 points, good for fifth on the team.

However, despite scoring the game six overtime winner over the Colorado Avalanche in the second round, Duchene was only able to manage two goals and six points in 16 playoff games and being blanked in the west finals.

The Stars still look to be early favourites to bring the forward back for the near future, but there are also other teams sniffing around for his services.

Dallas Stars

It seems that Duchene has found a new home in Dallas and is also not too keen on moving on so quickly. Both the Stars organization and Duchene have expressed mutual interest on keeping him in Texas

In an interview with SportsDay TALK with the Ticket, Duchene said that his next move won’t be based on money as it is “not in his number one bucket”. Duchene was only making $3 million on the AAV last season and signing at a similar number would be a “hometown discount” for the Stars.

Duchene could command a deal north of $4 million for the next three seasons and if the Stars were able to save any money on that would go a long way in ensuring potential playoff success going forward.

The Stars are currently sitting with $16 million in cap space for next season, and after a breakout campaign from Thomas Harley, the Restricted Free Agent (RFA) might eat into a chunk of that space.

Dallas has plenty of space to bring Duchene back, and also keeping a majority of their core roster in tact for at least one more season before changes need to be made.

This might be the most likely scenario for him.

Prediction: The Stars sign Duchene to a three-year, $10.5 million ($3.5 million AAV)

Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings started their offseason shuffling earlier than other teams by shipping out Pierre-Luc Dubois, who was acquired last season and only heading into the second season of an eight-year extension, and acquiring goaltender Darcy Kuemper from the Capitals.

With the move the Kings were able to save $3.25 million and currently show they roughly have $23.5 million in cap space, but have a laundry list of UFA’s and RFA’s to decide on first before looking outside the organization.

Former second overall pick Quinton Byfield had a breakout 20-goal, 55-point campaign as he looks to lock up his first big NHL deal. The Kings also need to make a decision on if they want to keep Matt Roy, who is looking to lock up a long-term deal this offseason.

After cutting Dubois after only one tumultuous season, the Kings could be in the market for more centre depth and adding the likes of Matt Duchene would only benefit the dynamic play of Byfield as Duchene could potentially shoulder the load of centre responsibilities from the young star as he continues to develop.

Prediction: The Kings sign Duchene to a three-year, $12.75 million deal ($4.25 million AAV)

Boston Bruins

Playing in their first full season without either Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci in nearly two decades, it was always going to be a tough task to replace their production and in their place came Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle.

Zacha and Coyle both posted career highs in points this past season as the Bruins once again knocked out the Leafs in the first round of the playoffs before being knocked out in the second round to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers.

Adding Duchene would most likely see him draw in as the top line centre, should they miss out on the higher profile free agent centre Sam Reinhart. The Bruins are looking for a more offensively dynamic centre who can help get star winger David Pastrnak open for his patented one-timer and with Duchene they would find a cheap option which will undoubtedly get that job done.

Prediction: The Bruins sign Duchene to a four-year, $17 million contract ($4.25 million AAV).

Whether or not Duchene stays in Dallas, heads to one of the other teams listed above, or maybe goes to another team in free agency, they will be assured to get someone who will immediately improve their team as he is looking to pick up his first Stanley Cup.

Where do you think Duchene will end up? Let us know in the comment section below!

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