Matt Duchene Is Not The Superstar The Colorado Avalanche Should Trade

The rumor mill is already hot. Analysts are looking at which teams look like they could be on their way to a lost season and which players they could trade to true contenders. Despite some hype for a comeback season, it isn’t looking good for the Colorado Avalanche. As of Sunday, they are last in the Central Division. They are on the way up, but they are still far away from playoff contention.

The one player who seems to be in the rumors the most is Matt Duchene. The 24-year-old forward already is one of the best players on the team, one who also has Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon. This could be a three-headed monster for the next decade.

Duchene is not the player this team should trade right now. The right player to trade is Jarome Iginla.

Iginla is still a great goal scorer. Teams will line up just to get a taste of one of this generation’s best players. He is 38 years old, but still has 13 points on a bad team.

Iginla spent 13 seasons with the Calgary Flames before being somewhat of a journeyman the past few years. Despite not locking down routs, he is still a 30 goal scorer.

Duchene is too young and too good to just say goodbye. The Avalanche are really missing Ryan O’Reilly and Paul Statsny this year. They have not been able to replace those two players, and you can tell by their depth. Iginla, MacKinnon and Duchene have a combined 23 goals. The rest of the team has 26. They are in the middle of the pack, thanks mostly to a hot streak by new goalie Reto Berra, in goals against. If Berra comes down to Earth, they will need to rely on offensive shootouts. Until a legit defense comes for this team, they need to keep as many young scorers as possible.

Iginla could bring a legit defender back to Colorado. At the same time, there isn’t a need to make any trade. This team won three games in a row and is working its way out of the basement. They just crushed the one of the best teams in the league in the Montreal Canadiens 6-1. This could be just a bad start, but if they are looking to make a move, trade the guy with a very short time on this team’s future not somebody who could be the centerpiece of a future champion.