Elliotte Friedman is usually someone who has a very good reputation of breaking would-be trades and speculation in his 30 Thoughts column.
Today, however, he starts off not with a rumour, but just an idea. The Montreal Canadiens could swap Alex Galchenyuk to the Colorado Avalanche for Matt Duchene.
I want to re-iterate what Friedman says and that this is his opinion only, and not based on anything he has heard.
Friedman suggests that the certainty of Duchene’s contract ($6 million AAV for two more seasons) would more attractive to the Canadiens than Galchenyuk, who would need to be re-signed at the end of the season. At this point, you would also think that $6 million AAV would be the lower end of what we can expect Galchenyuk to command with a new contract.
Duchene has 15 goals, 17 assists for 32 points this year in 48 games while Galchenyuk has 12 goals, 17 assists in 37 games. Galchenyuk is also three years younger, and has been kept on the wing for the majority of his career. We will have much more on Duchene tomorrow in our Trade Deadline targets series, as we analyze the value of his production in depth.
