It doesn't bother you at that losing has followed Matt Duchene's NHL career? Sure, some of the teams he has played on weren't very good, but it's definitely fascinating that the Avalanche suck before a mid-season trade of Duchene and the year beforehand, the Sens were quite good and even still decent at the time they acquire Duchene and then they just completely fell off the rails. Food for thought is all.

No, I don't believe in superstitions like that lol. He's a great hockey player and fills a need

He's a nice complementary player. If you recall back in the day in Toronto, Kessel was suppose to the future, the end-all-be-all of the Leafs playoff drought, but that wasn't the case, and he really didn't win anything until he became a nice complementary piece to the Pens stacked lineup. When Duchene plays with Team Canada, he's not their star, not even close, he fills certain roles nicely and will always be a very good 2C, but he will never be that 1C that I think a lot of people expect of him.

very true

I don't think you can compare the Kessel situation in TOR to Duchene in COL

It's not so much a comparison, as it is an example of teams expecting too much of good players, especially good players when they were younger. It doesn't mean Duchene is bad, he's just not a player you can build a team around, and his time spent in Colorado is living proof of that. Maybe it was more Ottawa's dysfunctional dressing room and management that played more a role in the deterioration of the team last season, but it just seems peculiar that losing follows Duchene around.

They don't have another center coming up in their system. I believe Bellows is a W. Duchene is still a very good hockey player and would be a great # 2 center behind Barzal. Would you rather Nelson as the # 2 center when the season begins LOL?