Chart topper: How Duchene turned offseason adversity into harmony with Stars

Matt Duchene is killing them softly in Nashville.

The full-time professional hockey player and part-time country crooner made a triumphant return this week, dazzling fans with his guitar work and vocals at the famous Tootsie’s on Broadway and befuddling the Predators via a different instrument. You could fold the lyrics into a pretty good song about dedication and thick skin and redemption, and mix in a little bit of class at the same time.

Duchene is 33, he’s played more than 1,000 NHL games and he’s on his fifth team, so that in itself is a pretty good journey. But the fact that he was bought out by the Predators last summer – in other words, paid to go away – and is now rising up from that experience is a pretty good verse in this epic ballad.

Duchene was one of the Predators’ most expensive players with three years remaining at a salary cap hit of $8 million. With new management taking over, they decided to make some adjustments. They bought out Duchene at two-thirds of the remaining contract and allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent just before the signing period opened on July 1.

That was a crushing blow to a player who had just posted 43 goals among 86 points in 2021-22 and still seemed to have plenty of tread left on the tires. Not only was it tough because Duchene felt he could be a key piece of getting Nashville back into serious contention, it was heartbreaking because Duchene had grown to love Tennessee culture.

He is a huge fan of country music and he, his wife Ashley and their three children had really found a home there after stops in Denver, Ottawa and Columbus. So when Duchene was told the news of the buyout, he said it affected him emotionally. However, the Stars rushed in with a one-year offer of $3 million and Duchene had a good feeling about it.

Half a season later, it almost seems like this was destined to happen.

Duchene is second on the Stars in scoring with 52 points (21 goals, 31 assists) in 53 games and he tallied two goals on Thursday in a 9-2 win at Nashville with the team moms watching from the stands. It was sort of a perfect chance to gloat, but Duchene felt differently.

“It obviously feels good, but you try not to think about that stuff,” Duchene said. “You try to think more about the team and where we’re going and what we want to achieve. We’ve got to keep putting space between us and the teams below us. You’ve got to get the points when they are there.”

The fact that Duchene was added in the offseason might be the biggest change for the Stars. He has helped boost linemates Tyler Seguin and Mason Marchment, and he has helped push the Stars to the top scoring output in the league at 3.76 goals per game. Not only that, but Dallas is leading the division at 34-14-6, and Duchene is riding in rare air when it comes to his previous stops on the tour.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Duchene said. “We’re winning a ton of games, we’re challenging for a division, a conference, a league . . . it’s special. I’ve never been in this position before on a team this high in the standings, so it’s been a long time coming for me and it’s really exciting.”

Duchene is in his 15th NHL season and has played just 32 playoff games. He has made it out of the First Round just once, so he is excited about the opportunities he has here. He also has the organization excited about what he can do to make the Stars better.

“He has world class talent, you can’t teach that,” DeBoer said of the player drafted third overall in 2009. “He made a play [against Carolina] where he enters the zone and he’s in the middle of four guys and he has the composure and the poise to hold onto the puck, make a play through people that creates one of our three goals. There are only a handful of players in the league that have that skill level to be able to do those things, and he’s done it on a real consistent basis for us this year. He just has the ability to break down other teams by himself.”

And that’s both on and off the ice. Duchene likes to talk, and he likes to talk hockey a lot. He gets together with the video coaches and new Stars assistant coach Misha Donskov to go over what each opponent has and doesn’t have. He and his linemates then formulate a game plan for that particular team.

“Every system has got its weaknesses,” Duchene said. “The coaches do a good job of telling us what they’re doing and then we talk as a line and come up with what we want to do. We have different plans for different teams and it’s helped us this season.”

DeBoer said Duchene talks “nonstop” on the bench, and the coach has told other lines they could learn from him.

“I think it’s a great thing and we actually reference them with some other lines that you guys should talk more between shifts and between games about what you can do better as a group,” DeBoer said. “Because the strength of those guys is in their combination of working off of each other, not in their individual skill.”

Marchment said if a play doesn’t work, the trio will talk on the bench about what they could do differently the next time. He said the energy is very positive.

“There are no hard feelings,” Marchment said, “we’re all just trying to get better.”

And that’s an indication that Duchene has landed in the right place. Just like a band of musicians, there is an art to playing off one another to make perfect harmonies.

“It takes three to tango, if that makes sense,” Duchene said. “If Seggy and Mush aren’t open to talking – some guys don’t want to know anything, they just want to go play – but they’re like me in that they want to know stuff, so it’s fun to work with them and talk about it. It’s added up to success this year. Having success as a line isn’t just on the ice this year, it starts off the ice.”

So far, everything has fallen into place for Duchene. He likes his line, he likes his team, he likes his new city. He found a way to turn the rejection of an old relationship into something very positive moving forward.

That sounds like the start of a very good country song.

“We’ve seen it a couple of times now,” DeBoer said of Duchene playing guitar and singing in front of the team. “He’s for real and he’s got some good stuff.”

Both with a guitar and a hockey stick.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.