The Pittsburgh Penguins are rumoured to be in on acquiring star forward Matt Duchene from the Colorado Avalanche.
As reported earlier this week, the Pittsburgh Penguins are interested in Matt Duchene’s services. They had previously been reported to be interested in him at the trade deadline. The team wanted to bolster their roster for a deep playoff run. Well they won the Stanley Cup without him and now they want to go for a three-peat.
Pittsburgh Penguins
But if the rumours are true, what would it take to acquire such a forward?
The Rebuilding Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche are a rebuilding team. You know what that means. They want to trade their highest value players, like Duchene, for future pieces. These pieces like draft picks and prospects will give them a chance to win later rather than sooner.
The Avalanche already have Nathan Mackinnon and Gabriel Landeskog. They will want some of our top young players or draft picks packaged together for Matt Duchene.
Proposal
I’m thinking it will take a mid-level prospect/young gun and a first or second rounder to acquire Duchene. Much like in the Phil Kessel trade, a prospect like Kasperi Kapanen and some picks could be sent Colorado’s way. I don’t know if anything else will be packaged our way, so I’ll just assume we’re trading just for Duchene.
A player like Daniel Sprong may be enough to entice the Avalanche’s desires. They get a great young prospect for the future and we get an NHL star for the present. We could also throw in a second round pick for him.
This could be a stretch but flipping a player like Jake Guentzel could be an option. Although, I personally wouldn’t want to do that. Guentzel played spectacularly in his rookie season and even better in the playoffs. We know he’ll be a great player. But the value is there, and a young player like that is what Colorado is looking for.