Finally, it's over.
Matt Duchene got his wish to be traded, if in a weird way, during the first period Sunday of the Avalanche's 6-4 loss to the New York Islanders at the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn.
On a personal note, I'm sorry to see him go. I always enjoyed our conversations, not all of them about hockey, and he was the best quote on the team until his "situation" became so awkward this season.
So it's definitely good for him and the Avalanche to have parted ways and ended this unhappy soap opera.
Duchene left Sunday's game with 10:37 remaining in the first period -- he took two shifts totaling 1:59 -- having been traded to Ottawa in a three-team trade that included Nashville.
The Avalanche received four players and three draft picks, while the Predators got forward
Kyle Turris from the Senators. Turris has since signed a six-year, $36 million contract extension with Nashville.
The Avalanche got defenseman
Samuel Girard, 19, forward
Vladislav Kamenev, 21, and a 2018 second-round draft pick from Nashville. They got forward
Shane Bowers, 18, goalie
Andrew Hammond, 29, and 2018 first- and third-round picks from Ottawa.
Duchene, who was in his ninth season with the Avalanche, will leave for Stockholm with his new teammates Monday and next week's two games against his former teammates. The Avalanche were to leave Sunday night for Stockholm.
He is in the fourth year of a five-year, $30 million contract and will be an unrestricted free agent after next season unless he signs an extension.
"I'm excited," Duchene told reporters as he headed out of the arena for a ride to the airport and a flight to Ottawa. "I'm extremely grateful for my years in Colorado. It was my favorite team as a kid and it was an absolute honor and privilege to play here. It's bittersweet for sure, but I'm excited for a new opportunity in Ottawa.
"It'll be amazing to be close to home," added Duchene, who lives in Haliburton, Ontario. "They've got a team that can win a Stanley Cup. I'm really excited to go there and just nothing but a pleasure to have played here for Colorado."
The 5-feet-10, 162-pound Girard had a goal and two assists in five games with the Predators this season. He will join the Avalanche in Stockholm. He was Nashville's second-round (No. 47) pick in the 2016 NHL draft. The Roberval, Quebec, native was a two-time QMJHL first all-star team selection the past two seasons with the Shawinigan Cataractes, where he had 24 goals and 168 assists in 190 games.
“We feel this deal brings us some top prospects as well as some high draft picks as we continue to build for both the short and long-term future,” Avalanche general manager
Joe Sakic said. “We’ve said all along that we wanted to be patient and wait for the right deal, and this is the opportunity we feel is best for the organization.”
Sakic said Duchene asked to be traded last Christmas.
"When he came off the ice we sat down and had a conversation," Sakic said. "I know he's happy, he's relieved, he's excited to go to Ottawa, and we feel that we did our best for our team."
Duchene, 26, had four goals and six assists in 13 games this season. The Avalanche's first-round pick (No. 3) in 2009, he ends his Colorado career with 178 goals and 250 assists in 586 games. He is seventh in goals and 10th in assists in franchise history.
"Probably the last, almost a year, it's been tough," he said. "But at the same time it's a learning experience, a growing experience. It's part of the business and none of this is personal. It's a business and I can't say enough good things ...
"I mean, Colorado's given me so much. My wife's from there, we got our dog there. A huge part of my heart and my life has been there. It's very emotional to be saying goodbye to that. You never know, maybe one day I'll be back, but it was an honor to play for Joe and Patty (Roy) and to play with (Peter) Forsberg and all those guys. That was something I dreamt about as a kid and I got to live it.
"I feel nothing but an absolute privilege for that, and I'm really excited for this new challenge in Ottawa, and I'm excited to get there.
"I was kind of waiting before the (game in Philadelphia on Saturday), wasn't sure it was going to happen," Duchene said. "I was joking before (Sunday's) game with my family, this might happen today. I kind of knew before they told me. I saw them talking on the bench. It was very strange, but I kind of half expected it. It could be the weirdest way possible. It's one of those things, it's a business. I'll have a good story for people one day.
"I'm relieved it's over for sure. It was a long year, a long couple of years. There were rumors about this in 2015 in the fall. I'm relieved it's over, but I'm very thankful for my new destination and very thankful to have been an Av."
Sakic said the Avalanche, now 8-6-0 for the season, and Duchene handled the constant trade talk as well as possible.
"I got to be honest, the team handled it well, and Matt handled it well," Sakic said. "I give him credit. He came in -- this is something he's wanted since last Christmas. I had a lot of conversations with Matt. I told him, 'Just be patient, it's going to happen for you.' We just had to wait until we felt we were getting the right deal. We're building and want to keep building with youth. We feel like we accomplished that.
"He played hard, the whole team ... it's a close team and everybody handled it right. I'm sure everybody is happy they won't have to deal with the questions anymore."
Girard led all QMJHL defensemen with 75 points (nine goals, 66 assists) in 59 games last season.
"He sees the ice real well. We're excited with what he's going to bring," Sakic said.
The 6-2, 194-pound Kamenev was Nashville's second-round (No. 42) pick in 2014. The Orsk, Russia, native has eight points (three goals, five assists) in 10 games this season with the AHL Milwaukee Admirals. He had 51 points (21 goals, 30 assists) in 70 games with Milwaukee last season.
The 6-2, 186-pound Bowers was Ottawa’s first-round pick (No. 28) in 2017. He's from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is a freshman at Boston University with six points (four goals, two assists) in 10 games. He had 84 points (37 goals, 47 assists) in 116 games in two seasons with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL.
Hammond has a 2-2-1-1 record in seven games this season with the AHL Belleville Senators. He has a 2.21 goals-against average and.925 save percentage.
Hammond, who is from Surrey, British Columbia, went 20-1-2 between Feb. 16-April 11 in 2014-15 and has a career NHL record of 27-14-6 in 55 games with a 2.31 GAG and .923 save percentage.
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