For Stars' Matt Duchene, facing the Avalanche still stirs up emotion: ‘That's the beauty of our game’

DALLAS Before the Mikko Rantanen Bowl, there was the Matt Duchene get me out of Colorado drama.

Yeah, I know, Duchene smiled as it was brought up.

It still seems like yesterday but the trade request was nine years ago in 2016, Duchene at the time feeling he couldnt stomach yet another rebuild in Colorado.

The actual transaction finally happened in November 2017.

In between, stressful times.

Advertisement Everyone involved long ago turned the page, but even all these years later, playing his original NHL team in this opening-round playoff series still stirs up some emotions.

Oh for sure, I was a die-hard Avalanche fan as a kid, the Dallas Stars center told The Athletic in an interview this weekend.

It was a dream come true to play for that team.

I wish things had gone better for our franchise the (nine) years I was there.

We kind of rebuilt three or four times.

I just got to the point where I felt I needed a new opportunity.

For me, I look at it as exactly what I needed.

As Duchene explained, after the trade to Ottawa finally happened in November 2017, having to look his boyhood hero Joe Sakic in the eye and ask the then-Avs GM for a trade was one of the hardest things he ever had to do.

Now hes battling the Avs again in a playoff series for the second spring in a row.

Worshipping that logo as a kid and now having the rivalry that we have, its definitely different, Duchene said.

But its great, I mean, thats the beauty of our game, right? You never know what situation youre going to find yourself in.

Theyre a hell of a team.

This is a heck of a matchup.

Its too bad it has to be in the first round, but it is what it is.

So much focus is on Rantanen in this series; he was blindsided by a trade to Carolina in January and then flipped March 7 at the deadline to Dallas.

He never wanted out of Colorado.

In fact, Im pretty confident that if Rantanen knew the Avalanches last contract offer of $11.65 million a year times eight seasons would truly be their last and he would be traded shortly thereafter if he didnt take it, he would have signed it.

He signed for eight years at $12 million per in Dallas on March 7.

Theres no way Rantanen would say no to Colorados last contract offer had he truly known that was it.

He loved it in Denver.

The trade rattled him.

Advertisement Rantanen made the best of it, finding a long-term home in Dallas.

So many players in recent years have been drawn to the perennial Cup contenders.

The Stars are one of the most sought-after teams in the league by free-agent players.

So here we are.

The Rantanen revenge series against his old team.

He wasnt very good in Saturday nights opening 5-1 loss to the Avs.

Heres betting that changes in Game 2.

In the meantime, Duchene has lived the whole playing-Colorado-in-the-playoffs thing, and hes there for Rantanen if he needs counsel.

I talked to him a bit.

I think we all deal with it in different ways, said Duchene.

I just said to him, Hey, if you need to talk about anything, let me know.

Ive been through it.

He played well that first game back (in Denver).

Sometimes that little extra bit of emotion actually clears your head a little bit in a funny way.

It has for me over the years against them.

Its always different when you play your first team, continued Duchene.

I remember going back there for the first time and I felt like I had never been there before.

Just sitting on the other side.

It looked like a rink I had never been in before.

Its funny how that happens.

Now, its far enough removed.

Its my third time playing these guys in the playoffs.

Itll never just be another team for me, but now its not the same emotions as it used to be for sure.

Its a lot more normal a feeling.

In his 16th NHL season (where does the time go?), the 34-year-old Duchene has some Yoda-like, Jedi master wisdom to him.

Hes been there, done that, and whats wild is hes playing some of his best hockey all these years later.

His 82 points this season was the second-highest output in his NHL career.

We both broke into the league together and hes always been so dynamic and creative, I feel this year especially, former Avs teammate Ryan OReilly of the Nashville Predators told The Athletic over the weekend.

Every time he touches the puck, youre holding your breath.

He makes something happen every time.

Hes so fun to watch ...

but playing against him is such a challenge.

You have to be dialed in and try to keep the puck off his stick or youre going to be defending a lot.

Advertisement It was OReillys team in Nashville that decided to cut ties with Duchene in the summer of 2023, buying out the remaining three years of his contract.

New GM Barry Trotz was shaking things up.

Duchene and others were out.

OReilly and others were brought in.

Duchene was stunned at the time, and lets not kid ourselves, some of that has helped fuel two excellent seasons in Dallas, for sure.

Of course, said the native of Haliburton, Ont.

I never took that as an indictment on my hockey.

I think it was a business decision where a team was looking to go (in) a total different direction and looking to gut the whole thing.

I was a casualty of that.

Its business, but it is hard not to take it personally.

But even the year it happened in Nashville, I had a pretty solid year.

The year before that, I had a career year (86 points).

The great thing is when I came here to Dallas, the coaches and the organization, (GM) Jim Nill, nobody for one second thought my best years were behind me.

They believed in the player that I was.

Coming here has been a great fit.

Im playing with great players, coaches are awesome.

Its been a really great spot for me.

It was a complete no-brainer for Nill, who has had Duchene on back-to-back, one-year, $3 million bargain contracts.

Hes been a big part of our team here, Nill told The Athletic .

Hes been here for two years and been one of our leading scorers and changed the dimension of our team.

But its also who hes become as a person, thats been neat to see.

Hes a good man, hes got a big heart, he does a lot of things behind the scenes that people dont know.

Thats big for the team and the organization.

The No.

3 pick in the 2009 draft embraces an NHL journey thats brought him to Denver, Ottawa, Columbus, Nashville and now Dallas.

Being bought out in Nashville was just part of that journey.

God always had a plan, as much as it hurt at the time, Im grateful every day that it happened, Duchene said.

Because it was so great for me.

I have a chance at a run again.

We had a great run last year and were looking for another one here.

Advertisement In Dallas, hes found a team that keeps knocking at the door.

Its what every veteran player in the league wants as he chases that Cup ring.

One hundred percent.

The big thing where Ive changed my focus over the years, and I think as you get older, you start to feel this way, Im just grateful for the opportunity, said Duchene.

Its so hard to win, everything has to go right, you got to stay healthy, you need your goalie to steal some games, you need to score timely goals, theres so much that has to go right no matter how good you are.

Especially with the parity in this league right now.

Im just grateful for the opportunity.

Hopefully, at some point, I get my name on the Cup, and if I dont, Ive still had such a blessed career and a chance to do what Im doing.

He pauses.

Some Yoda wisdom coming.

When I was younger, with all the expectations and stuff like that, and playing on some teams that werent great teams, you put a lot on yourself and you look a lot further down the road than you need to, said Duchene, an Olympic gold medalist in 2014.

Its part of the growth process of being an athlete.

I was super young at 18 when I started, Im grateful for all the ups and downs and the success and failures and hopefully it helps me to help this team win.

In the Avs dressing room, only Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Erik Johnson (back again) remain from Duchenes time there.

The trade request, nearly a decade old, is water under the bridge.

It was one of those things where he just wanted a fresh start and lots of guys end up asking for that during their careers, Johnson said this weekend.

He just felt like thats what he wanted.

We had just finished dead last.

So I guess some of us understood why he didnt want to be part of another rebuild.

Yeah, that was his choice, and it all happens for a reason and it worked out great for the Avs and worked out well for him.

So, I dont think theres any hostility about it, its just the nature of the business.

Hard to feel hostile about it when getting pieces out of that three-team blockbuster, including blueliners Samuel Girard and Bowen Byram, helped the Avs win the Cup in 2022.

Advertisement Johnson has such respect, like OReilly does, for how his former teammate is still excelling.

I feel like hes a guy thats just got a lot better as hes gotten older, Johnson said of Duchene.

Hes taken his game again to a new level.

He puts in a lot of work in the offseason, hes a guy who really cares about his game.

He was a really good player for us in Colorado and he was a good player in Nashville and now a really good player in Dallas.

Hes a guy we got to watch out for.

Im really impressed how some guys slow down when they get older but he seems like a guy thats gotten a little better.

Hes a smart player and hes found a way to get it done.

Duchene has the type of game and skating ability that suggests hes got lots of miles left on those tires.

Which brings us to his next contract.

Hes a UFA again after the season.

Hes been eligible for an extension since Jan.

1, but understands the Stars have a lot going on.

He definitely wants to stay, though.

Of course, yeah, Duchene said without hesitation.

I wanted to come back last summer because I felt this team had a great shot.

It would be great to make something work here.

Last year wasnt really the deal I wanted to do, term or the amount, but at this point in my career, its about winning and being in a place that my family is comfortable (in).

You try to make the business side and the hockey side meet and the family side meet.

Hopefully we can do that this July.

That would be great.

I was thinking about it after Jan.

1, right up to the last game (of the regular season).

It was on my mind a little bit.

But now thats gone, now its all about the playoffs and trying to win.

(Top photo: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images).

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