Veteran Matt Duchene is feeling right at home with the Stars.
DALLAS - Changing teams and moving cities can be daunting at times - especially with a young family - but Matt Duchene’s stay in the Lone Star State has been smooth sailing to date.
Duchene, 32, was asked on Friday about the latest stop on his NHL journey, and he couldn’t be happier with his decision to have signed a one-year contract with the Stars in July.
“I’ve obviously been through it before. It’s funny, my dad and my wife both have asked me how I’m doing and I’m like, ‘What do you mean?’ And they’re like, ‘Well, I’d be overwhelmed if I had to learn all this new stuff that you’re going through,’ and I haven’t even thought about it,” said Duchene. “Everyone’s made it really easy around me and it’s been a really great atmosphere to come into, from the coaches to the players, but then just the experience, too. It’s been a pretty easy transition so far.”
Speaking of experience, the veteran forward enters the campaign boasting 976 career games on his resume between Colorado, Ottawa, Columbus and Nashville, so he definitely knows a thing or two about adapting to fresh surroundings.
Duchene acknowledges that there’ll likely be bumps along the way at some point during the year, but he’s well-equipped to deal with and rise above them.
“I know how it can go. You can start hot and cool off, or you can start cold and get hot as you get comfortable. I’ve had it both ways with new teams,” said Duchene. “I think this time around it’s just about understanding that there’s going to be adjustments and giving yourself grace, and then when things are good, you want to keep the pedal down and keep going, so that’s kind of how I’m looking at it. It’s just a day-by-day thing.”
Given the sheer volume of high-caliber talent around him, though, Duchene should have more highs than lows in the weeks and months to come.
There’s real potential to do some damage production-wise given the volume of weapons up and down the lineup.
One of those weapons could be prospect Logan Stankoven, who’s making a legitimate case for a spot on the opening-night roster. Duchene skated on a line with Stankoven earlier this week in a preseason game against Minnesota, and it’s safe to say he was impressed.
“You could tell he’s got it. You could tell he’s going to be a really good player in this league for a long time. Obviously with the depth we have, he might get a little bit of a later start than he might deserve, but I think he’s going to have a huge year wherever he’s at, wherever he starts,” praised Duchene. “You can tell why he’s had success in the past. He has it. Whatever it is that makes great players great, he has it, so it’s going to be fun to watch him mature and turn into the player he’ll become.”
From an individual standpoint, Duchene is being talked about by head coach Pete DeBoer as a power-play catalyst who can add another valuable option in that department.
The Stars had the NHL’s fifth-ranked man advantage last season at a 25 percent conversion rate, and DeBoer sees a prime opportunity with the addition of Duchene to create “a more dangerous second unit” when the opposition gets into penalty trouble.
“It’s just impressive to be around this group. The level is really high,” said Duchene. “It’s really fun to come in and see how dialed in it is here and the talent and everything like that. It’s great.”
And DeBoer is thrilled to have him on board.
“Matt’s been exceptional. He could’ve taken a lot more money to go and play somewhere else, but he wanted to play here and he wanted to win a Stanley Cup. It’s one thing to say that, it’s another thing to actually walk away from money like that to do it. You’ve got to admire that commitment,” said DeBoer. “He’s excited to be here. You see him play and we’re excited to have him.”