Matt Duchene said it was the most difficult request he has ever made.
The Colorado Avalanche, his favorite team as a child, drafted him third overall in 2009. Duchene spent the next nine seasons as one of the franchise's greatest players, scoring the fourth-most goals (178) since they moved from Quebec in 1995. But Duchene felt it was time to leave the team, before his contract was up in summer 2019 and before it entered yet another rebuilding phase -- so he had to ask the team's general manager Joe Sakic, his favorite player growing up, to move him.
"Asking for a trade out of Colorado, from Joe Sakic, who was my idol, was the hardest thing I've ever had to do," Duchene said Monday in Ottawa after the Senators acquired him in a three-way blockbuster trade that sent center Kyle Turris to the Nashville Predators and seven assets -- players and picks -- to the Avalanche.
"It was something I sat on for a long time. I wanted to wait and see how things panned out," Duchene said. "Last year when it happened, it was around the time I saw the writing on the wall in terms of the future of that franchise, in terms of the rest of my contract. We had a horrific year last year, and I could see a rebuild coming. It was something I've been a part of, multiple times, and I just couldn't do it."
The biggest issue with another rebuild? That Duchene has barely tasted playoff hockey, especially in comparison with John Tavares (24 playoff games) and Victor Hedman (65), the two players drafted ahead of him in 2009.
"I wanted to play playoff hockey. I have eight playoff games to my name right now. For me, that's not where I want to be at this point in my career," Duchene said about joining the Senators, who made the Eastern Conference finals in coach Guy Boucher's first season in 2016-17.
"I only have one shot at this. I get to play this game for however long my body lets me play it."