Colorado Avalanche award Matt Duchene a two-year, $7 million contract extension-NHL offseason Update
It is not hard to imagine that Matt Duchene had one of the best weekends of his life as Colorado Avalanche re-signed the 21-year-old forward to a two-year deal worth a reported $7 million on Saturday, June 23, 2012.
For many, it certainly comes as a surprise since a trade was expected after the centre player had one of his worst career seasons and could definitely have put up a better performance. With just 28 games (14 goals, 14 assists) in 58 games played, Colorado
could have cut him loose but Duchene’s magic was just too strong for the Avalanche to resist.
"Matt is an important part of our team," Avalanche general manager, Greg Sherman, said in a statement. "We are excited to come to terms with him and we look forward to seeing him at camp."
For Matt Duchene, coming out of his entry-level deal, which was a three-year, $2.7 million contract, and now earning a cool $3.5 million in salary cap hit each year, life could not be better for the 21-year-old.
Now, Duchene will be working towards a bigger and longer contract for sure.
"The next contract, I'll be looking for a longer-term deal worth more," Duchene said by phone from Los Angeles. "This deal was good for both sides. I'm very happy with it."
Being a player that averaged over 60 points a season in the first two with 55 (24 goals, 31 assists) in 2009-2010 and 67 (27 goals, 40 assists) in 2010-2011, the last National Hockey League (NHL) season was frustrating due to various injuries that limited
him to 58 games.
"It was real frustrating, but I learned a lot. I'm learning to get better bio-mechanics with my body. I feel great right now. I wish training camp started tomorrow," Duchene added.
It was learnt that had Duchene avoided the injuries this past season and continued with his 60-plus points, the Colorado Avalanche management was prepared for a contract which would at least last for the next five or more seasons, but have instead chosen
on taking it slow and steady.
The deal was good for both sides, but now, fans will wait and see if Duchene can play out the work on his part.
Tags: