Biggest Name on Trade Market: Matt Duchene

     Less than two weeks away from the Trade Deadline, the spotlight grows on players who are on the Trading Block. The Trading Block is a list created by the team on which players are available to get traded. The trade market has tons of names swirling around, however; no name is bigger than Matt Duchene. Duchene, the star center from the Colorado Avalanche, is a very talented offensive player who is only 26 years old. In Duchene, a team would receive a speedster who has playmaking skills, a decent shot, and the versatility to play center or the wing. It's rare to see stars on the trade market particularly this young. As a result, General Manager Joe Sakic is asking for hefty offer in return for his young, star player. Sakic is looking for a young prospect (young player), an established young player, and a first round pick in the NHL draft.  Before we consider any teams, lets take a look at the Avalanche's current weaknesses. For Sakic, he lacks elite prospects in his farm system past Nathan MacKinnon (franchise center), Mikko Rantanen (elite winger), Tyson Jost (future second line center who plays a strong two way game), and Nicolas Meloche (offensive defenseman). As currently constructed, the Avalanche are barren of young defenseman and need a young goaltender. Sakic's asking price is insane but a couple of teams have enough ammo to live up to Sakic's price. To me, two teams that I believe that can land Duchene are the Carolina Hurricanes and Nashville Predators.                                                                                       Lets start with the Carolina Hurricanes, a very young and upcoming team. Carolina has an impressive young core led by players like Sebastian Aho, Justin Faulk, Noah Hanifan, Jacob Slavin, Elias Lindholm, Viktor Rask, and many more. Overall, Carolina is one of the youngest teams and adding Duchene can help them develop their young stars. Also, Carolina has one of the strongest groups for defensive prospects. Their top three defensive prospects are Hayden Fleury, Jake Bean, and Roland McKeown. Fleury and McKeown play similar games in terms that they are both tall and physical and acumen favors the defensive part of the game. On the other hand, Jake Bean is an offensive dynamo but lacks the size and physicality on the defensive side. Carolina should be dangling two out of three players to land Duchene. Carolina has enough players on the NHL level who excel on the defensive side so keeping Bean would be the more intelligent thing to do. In my opinion, the trade to land Duchene would be Fleury, McKeown, and a first round pick. Both sides would come out of the trade happily.                              The next team, the Nashville Predators are a Stanley Cup contending team with average team of 27. The Predators' core is led by Ryan Johansen, Filip Forsberg, James Neal, Roman Josi, and PK Subban. The Predators lack a true threat from the center position besides Johansen. Duchene would fit right in and immediately make an impact. Nashville has a decent of young defenseman but the strength of their prospect pool lies in their forwards. The only defenseman worth looking at is Dante Fabbro, an elite puck moving defenseman with a decent shot and an undeveloped denfensive game. Kevin Fiala and Vladislev Kamenev are the main headliners for the forward prospect group. Fiala is better a scorer while Kamenev has the better all-around game. I believe if Nashville gave up Fabbro, Kamenev, and a first round pick, they could land Duchene. Duchene would be a perfect fit for the Predators right away while Fabbro and Kamenev would be building blocks to add for the Avalanche's future.                                                                                                            In my opinion, the better deal for Colorado is the Carolina deal. To add two defenseman of that caliber along with the first round pick should really benefit Colorado. As for Duchene, being traded by the team that drafted you will always stink. Unfortuantely, the NHL is a business and not a perfect world.

Showcasing Duchene's talent level and why he is the top name on the trade market.