The Colorado Avalanche have plenty of question marks as they enter their third consecutive offseason -- sixth in seven years -- without taking part in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Probably more question marks than usual after a horrid 22-56-4 record, the worst in 21 seasons of Avalanche hockey.
One includes the future of
Matt Duchene, who struggled mightily in the second half of the season. He finished with 18 goals -- three in his final 39 games -- after scoring a career high 30 last year.
"I'm guessing there's probably going to be a rebuild this summer," he said. "It's been disappointing for me. I've played here for eight years and I've been through several different rebuilds. Obviously we haven't been able to get it right yet.
"I don't know what my future holds here. We'll see what happens, but if it ends after this year I've been very blessed and lucky to be a Colorado Avalanche, it was my favorite team as a kid. I've enjoyed living in Denver, I met my fiancée here. There's been a lot of good things out of it, so if I happen to be moving on it's one of those things where I'm just thankful for the opportunity.
"I'm excited for the summer. I'm getting married, I'm going to have another summer of training. I have some new things that I'm going to work on. It's all about trying to get better all the time. I'm excited for the future."
Does the fact that the Avalanche were Duchene's favorite team while growing up make this nightmare of a season even worse on a personal level?
"I think so," said Duchene, who will play for Canada in the World Championships. "I don't know what's going to happen this summer. There's a good chance I won't be here next year. The fact that this is the way my career here is going to end -- potentially -- is tough to swallow. It's really unfortunate. I just hope that everyone knows that I gave it everything I had every day I walked into this room.
"It meant a lot to me to be part of this franchise and trying to help it win. Hopefully, brighter days are ahead. Whether I'm here or not, I wish only the best for this franchise."
When I told Duchene he sounded resigned to being moved this summer, he responded:
"No, I don't know what to say. This time of year you just reflect. I don't know what's going to happen. If I'm back, great. Hopefully things turn around and we have a big year next year. You just got to face reality as a pro. We'll see what happens."
The Avalanche were 9-9-0 on Nov. 21 following a 3-2 overtime win in Columbus when they returned home for five games against Edmonton, Vancouver, Nashville, Columbus and Dallas. They turned a 3-2 third-period lead against the Oilers into a 6-3 loss and went 0-4-1 on the homestand.
Defenseman
Erik Johnson sustained a broken fibula in the game against the Stars and missed the next 36 games.
Yet the turning point for Duchene came after a four-game road trip with Nashville, Boston, Montreal and Toronto. They lost to the Predators, beat the Bruins, then were routed 10-1 by the Canadiens.
Seymon Varlamov made 51 saves the next night in a 3-1 win against the Maple Leafs.
"What happened in Montreal, that was a disaster," Duchene said. "We won that game in Toronto, but Varly stole it for us. I think that was the point where it kind of went wrong. We went on a 2-10 stretch after that, won both of those games in OT. Even though we went 2-2 on the road trip, to me the writing was on the wall. We were in trouble.
"We never got any traction, we spun our tires. We'd have a really good game and lay an egg in the next one. We fell apart, that's the bottom line. You fall apart in this league for two weeks, you're done. That was the case with us. The difference between having a good year and a bad year is absolutely miniscule now. The parity is so good."
Losing Varlamov to season-ending hip operations in late January and early February only added to the Avalanche's miserable season, but they were already hopelessly out of the playoff hunt by then.
For his part, Duchene said he didn't think the trade rumors involving him before the March 1 deadline affected his play despite the worst slump of his career.
"You're going to have up and down years in this business," he said. "I feel like I played some good hockey this year, I really do. I'm not the kind of person who wants to make excuses or doesn't want to look in the mirror. Sometimes I do it too much to the point where I put too much pressure on myself. You take the lessons from it, you'll be stronger for it, move on.
"What I went through is an anomaly. I feel like I played the same way as I have. Talking to my teammates, talking to my coaches, I'd ask 'Hey, do I look the same?' I'm that type of person, I search for answers. The answer is, it was just an incredible stretch of bad luck. I've never gone through anything like this in my career and I probably won't ever again.
"It wasn't a confidence thing, just an incredible insane stretch of bad luck. I've almost gone crazy trying to figure out how to deal with it and how to change it. The answer is, you just keep going. It seems like everything that could go wrong with this team this year did.
"I take a lot of pride in what I do trying to be the best that I can be. It just wasn't going in. Guys go through this kind of stuff. Hopefully people haven't written me off. I'll be back to where I can be. I'll play in the World Championships and hopefully do what I've done the last few years and be a factor on that team and hopefully win a championship again."
*****
Rene Bourque, Cody Goloubef, John Mitchell and
Fedor Tyutin will be unrestricted free agents July 1. Restricted free agents include
Sven Andrighetto, Mikhail Grigorenko, Rocco Grimaldi, Matt Nieto, Duncan Siemens, Patrick Wiercioch and
Nikita Zadorov.
Colorado Avalanche Blogger •Avalanche Insider • 
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