Tucked away in the middle of Elliotte Friedman’s always interesting 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet, is a nugget surrounding Arizona Coyotes forward Anthony Duclair. Friedman writes that it “sounds like Arizona is working to find Duclair a fresh start,” which would certainly be selling low on the youngster. Duclair was a 20-goal scorer two years ago, but has just 12 goals and 28 points over his last 86 games and spent time in the AHL last season.
Despite his struggles, Duclair is just 22 and makes just $1.2MM this season. Though he’s a restricted free agent, any acquiring team would be getting several years of team control and a player who has shown the talent to be an effective scoring threat in this league. His camp doesn’t have a ton of leverage going into contract negotiations unless he takes off in the second half of the season, and should come in at a reasonable cap hit on another bridge deal or arbitration ruling.
Duclair was part of the package Arizona received for Keith Yandle several years ago, and was originally drafted in the third round by the New York Rangers. You have to wonder if an Eastern Conference team would be a preferred destination for Arizona if they indeed move him, not wanting him to reach his potential an a rival club. Coyotes’ GM John Chayka has never showed much hesitation in trade talks, but has seen his offseason moves blow up in his face this season. None of the win-now moves have resulted in much success, and Duclair could be used to regain some of the future assets they spent on the likes of Niklas Hjalmarsson, Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta.
Interestingly, even through his struggles Duclair has remained a positive possession player. His shooting percentage was one of the biggest factors in his unfortunate numbers last season, as he scored on just 6.6% of his shots. If he can continue to generate shot attempts at a similar rate while surrounded by better players that 20-goal, 45-point potential could show up quickly. Don’t think the Coyotes haven’t realized that with their analytical front offense, meaning they won’t be just giving him away.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Im at the Rangers game right now. I’ll hunt down Jeff Gorton and demand he get him back to New York.
Make sure you take Charles Oakley with you for backup
Lol Coyotes need some more defensemen, Rangers should offer one of their defensemen not named Shattenkirk, McDonaugh, or Skjei. As a Rangers fan I’d gladly give up one of Holden/Smith/Staal for Duclair.
Would like the Habs to jump in and get Duclair. Hometown kid who still has a good sized ceiling. He’s a good buy-low candidate and Chayka can’t expect teams to hand over a premium return for a player who is obviously being shopped and hasn’t produced in his nearly 2 seasons.
Ceci for Duclair. It blows my mind that Ceci has value but we keep hearing over and over how he’s covered around the league. Arizona might even need to throw in something else lol.
The Rangers have to be all over this…. I know he’s a W and we need a Centre, but bringing Duke back into the mix would at least stir the fan base…..
Holden, Gilmore and draft pick to AZ
For
Duclair
Duclair would look nice with a spoked B. They have enough futures to send back the other way too….