The Dallas Stars have signed 33-year-old forward Matt Duchene to a one-year contract worth $3 million each season per Chris Johnston. This is a re-up of the deal he signed with them in the 2023 offseason.
In his career, Duchene has 341 goals and 468 assists for 809 points in 1,056 games. What makes him a good player to bring back?
Duchene’s Return to Form in Dallas
In the 2023 offseason, Duchene was bought out by the Nashville Predators with three seasons left on an $8 million average annual value (AAV) contract. It wasn’t exactly due to his play, as he scored 56 points in 71 games, but he entered the open market needing to prove that he was still the player of old—he had 86 points back in 2021-22.
Signing a one-year contract with the Stars for 2023-24, Duchene was excellent on their second line. Scoring 25 goals and 40 assists for 65 points in 80 games, he was very productive with only 16:46 of average ice time. With 49 of those points coming at even strength, it is clear that he is still a great offensive weapon.
Related: 2024 Free Agency Tracker
Even with his age, Duchene still provides great speed as he finished in the 74th and 88th percentiles for top skating speed and speed bursts over 20 miles per hour in 2023-24, but he is also a very efficient shooter. Now a veteran in the NHL in all sorts of cultures, playing for basement-dwelling teams such as the 2016-17 Colorado Avalanche and 2018-19 Ottawa Senators yet also a Stars team that went to the Western Conference Final, he has seen it all in his career. Here, he gets to stay with a contender
Fit with Dallas
The Stars, who lost Joe Pavelski due to retirement, should be happy to get Duchene back on such a good deal. He can probably slot on the first line if he is asked to, but that spot might be reserved for youngsters such as Wyatt Johnston or Logan Stankoven. Either way, he is an above-average second-line player.
Running it back on a contender makes sense for Duchene at this stage of his career. He has yet to win a Stanley Cup, but he came pretty close with the Stars in the 2024 postseason with 10 out of the required 16 wins. With him opting for a relatively cheap deal, this allows Dallas to make some more splashes if they desire. They still have restricted free agent (RFA) Thomas Harley to sign, so they have less money in reality than they do on paper. Still, they have the cap space to make things happen.
