Matt Duchene Avalanche Player Profile
It isn’t often that a draft pick ends up exactly where he wants to be, but that’s what happened for Avalanche forward Matt Duchene.
Position: Center
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2009 NHL Entry Draft, 3rd Overall
Vital Stats: 5’ 11”, 190 lbs, born January 16th, 1991
Matt Duchene was selected with the 3rd Overall Pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft behind John Tavares (New York Islanders) and Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning). Matty was initially expected to go 1st or 2nd, but the Islanders felt that Tavares was the better forward & the Lightning were in desperate need of Hedman’s defense.
Duchene has long been an Avalanche fan, and you can see him do a little fist-pump in this video from draft day (at 0:15) when Hedman was selected ahead of him by Tampa Bay, virtually assuring that Matt would go to Colorado. His excitement at being drafted by a franchise that had just recorded its worst record since moving to Colorado gave the Avalanche faithful reason to believe that there were better days ahead. Duchene’s immediate impact on the team reinforced that belief.
Coach Joe Sacco met Duchene at Lake Erie before being promoted from the Monsters to the Avalanche as Head Coach. He thought enough of Matt that he invited him to join the revamped Colorado roster in the early stages of the 2009-2010 season.
On October 17th, 2009 Duchene boosted his rapidly rising stature within the organization by logging his first NHL goal in a win over the rival Detroit Red Wings. The Avalanche announced a day later that Matty would spend the remainder of the season with the team, forgoing a potential move back down to the minor league affiliate Lake Erie Monsters.
Matt logged his first two-goal game on November 30th against the same Tampa Bay team that spurned him in the draft. He has scored 20 Goals and logged 22 Assists in 61 games this season. Duchene is tied with fellow rookie Chris Stewart at 42 Points on the season, good for 3rd best on the Colorado roster.
