Player Profile: Matt Duchene

Matt Duchene

Position: Center

Height: 5-11

Weight: 195

Shoots: Left

Salary: One year at $3 million

Did You Know: Duchene won a gold medal, along with Jamie Benn, as a member of Team Canada at the 2014 Olympics.

Last Season:Duchene was the second-leading scorer on a Nashville team that missed the playoffs. It's a tough read on how he played, because Nashville was 28th in scoring at 2.72 goals per game and Duchene was able to still get 56 points in 71 games. That 0.79 points per game wasn't spectacular, but it came on the heels of his best season ever (1.10 points per game) with 86 points in 80 games in 2021-22. He has battled injures, but he was at 0.88 points per game the year before in Nashville, so he doesn't seem to be trending down. The reason for the buyout? He had three years remaining on his contract at $8 million per season and the Predators have a new GM in Barry Trotz, so they appear to be taking a new direction.

Looking Forward:The timing of the buyout could work out well for the Stars. They get a 32-year-old center one-year removed from his best season ever who is motivated to have a great year. And they get him on a one-year deal for $3 million. As mentioned above, Duchene is scoring near a point a game over the past three seasons, and he seems to be walking into a roster that should help foster that kind of scoring pace. Dallas finished seventh in the league in scoring last season at 3.43 goals per game and could get even better in its second season under head coach Pete DeBoer. Duchene looks like he fits on a line with Tyler Seguin and Mason Marchment, and the chance to roll up some points there seems realistic. If there are injuries to players like Roope Hintz or Wyatt Johnston, Duchene could jump up and fit with some pretty good scorers there, as well. The power play ranked fifth in the league at 25.0 percent, and Duchene could help make that even better. Dallas has some history in working with a player who was bought out in Ryan Suter. The veteran defenseman found new life with the Stars by taking a lesser role and letting go of some of the leadership responsibilities he had in Minnesota. The same thing could happen to Duchene, where he is allowed to just play his game and not worry about anything else.

He Said It:"That's something that's frustrated me beyond what I could explain. Just to not have that real good taste. We had a heck of a team that year in Columbus. We could've gone to the finals that year, and so it was even more heartbreaking that we didn't go further."

• Duchene on the fact he has played in just 32 playoff games in a 14-year career. On the bright side, 24 of those games have come in the past five seasons.

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.