It shouldn’t be a surprise that Avalanche GM Joe Sakic wanted Skjei in a trade for Duchene; the end-to-end playmaking that Skjei offers is rare in the NHL and with New York’s obvious need at center, Sakic, evidently, tried to up Duchene’s potential value to the Blueshirts. As McKenzie noted on the NBC Sports Network broadcast of the Rangers vs. Bruins game last night:
“From the New York Rangers perspective, they were very much in on Matt Duchene, or they would have liked to be in on Matt Duchene with the Colorado Avalanche. But the Avalanche were absolutely insisting that Ranger defenseman Brady Skjei be part of any package for Duchene, and that was basically a non-starter for the New York Rangers.”
Now, Gorton’s refusal to include Skjei in a package for Duchene doesn’t mean that there isn’t an offer that couldn’t convince him to trade the young lefty. But the reality is that Duchene is going to be a free agent after next year—and an expensive one at that—making him more of a rental option for a contender. If the Rangers see themselves that way, then Skjei is going to be an integral part of a playoff run and flipping him for a Derek Stepan replacement doesn’t make much sense.
As a player, even though Duchene is more explosive than Stepan, his speed and skill haven’t proven him to be a much more productive. His 0.73 points per game (P/GP) is only marginally better than Stepan’s 0.70 P/GP. In that respect, replacing Stepan with Duchene is, effectively, a lateral move, and not one worth sacrificing a blue-chip defensive prospect or, perhaps sooner than later, your top-pairing defenseman.
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Originally Posted by Giacomin
