With the news of Gabriel Landeskog being named the youngest captain in NHL history and the contract dispute of Ryan O'Reilly, especially with the year O'Reilly just had, it seems that fans are forgetting about Duchene.
Since Landeskog was given the C, people from other teams have been asking if Duchene is "unhappy" and if he "wants out."
The answer to that is simply no. He just signed a new contract that was friendly to the Avs, a new two year deal with a $300 thousand raise from his entry level deal. He is still a restricted free agent at the end of it to give the Avs more time to negotiate (see: O'Reilly contract situation) in case a deal has not been reached before free agency period.
Could Duchene be traded? Yes, anyone can realisticaly be traded but that does not mean the Avs are actively shopping him. Talking to one of my buddies, he laid out the potential of Duchene perfectly.
You know what bugs me? How Duchene is getting majorly passed over on. Everything is Landeskog this, or could it have been O'Reilly that. Don't get me wrong... I would argue, like many others, I'm both of theirs biggest fan.
That being said, Duchene will and should still be the major building block offensively going forward. He is HANDS DOWN, the most gifted and creative offensively, has so much more heart than people give him credit for and has the ability to dominate this league for years.
It's really too bad he got hurt last year, it's tainted his name so much more than it should have to a lot of people in the 'hockey world' that should know better. The future is all of the kids together.
Duchene certainly has a lot of untapped potential. To illustrate the point, Ryan O'Reilly, even with his team-leading 55 points last season, O'Reilly is sitting at 107 points in his career. With his paltry 28 last year, Duchene has 150 points in his career.
Yes Duchene has work left to do to become the player the Avs fans hope he can be but the reports of the how much work are encouraging.
Adrian Dater posted that Duchene has "been working out like, six hours a day, all summer, getting in the best shape of his life, ready to prove to the world that last year was just an aberration."
Duchene is working as hard as he ever has to get ready for the season (whenever that starts) and he still has most potential on the team. If he can find chemistry with P.A. Parenteau and stay healthy, he stands a good chance of breaking out.
Yes Landeskog is the new leader and everyone loves O'Reilly's natural leadership and great defense. They are key cogs (no pun intended) to the Avs' future. However, Duchene is their biggest offensive threat and the Avs will need him to break out in order to make it into the tough western conference playoffs.
Remembering Lokomtiv
Today is the one year anniversary of the plane crash the claimed 44 lives as the team was flying to Belarus for their first game. The plane crashed less than 2,000 feet after takeoff, resulting in one of the worst disasters in hockey.
Take a moment to remember those who lost their lives on that day.
Colorado Avalanche Blogger • 
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