Anthony Duclair Signs With Columbus Blue Jackets

Friday: The team has officially announced the contract, putting Duclair on his fourth NHL team. GM Jarmo Kekalainen released a statement about the young forward:

Anthony is a skilled, young player with world-class speed, who has played in over 200 NHL games as a 22-year-old and was one of the league’s top rookies just two years ago. He is eager for an opportunity to improve as a player and we think he has a chance to be an impactful addition to our hockey club.

Thursday: After failing to receive a qualifying offer from the Chicago Blackhawks last week, Anthony Duclair became an unrestricted free agent and could sign anywhere he chose. That landing spot is apparently the Columbus Blue Jackets, as Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports that the young winger will sign a one-way contract worth a league minimum $650K for 2018-19. Duclair would have cost the Blackhawks nearly twice that much, as his qualifying offer would have had to be $1.2MM.

Duclair, 22, will be on his fourth NHL team when he joins the Blue Jackets organization. Originally drafted by the New York Rangers, he was originally part of the trade that brought Keith Yandle from Arizona in 2015. He proceeded to score 20 goals in his first season with the Coyotes, but hasn’t come close to replicating those numbers in the years since. After a midseason trade brought him to Chicago this year, he registered eight points in 23 games and didn’t have quite the impact the team had hoped. $1.2MM (or more, as Duclair was arbitration eligible) was deemed too high a price for the Blackhawks to pay.

In Columbus, the speedy winger joins a deep forward group that won’t be able to guarantee him a role in the top-nine. Though he has certainly shown the skills to perform at that level in the past, he’ll have to do it again before head coach John Tortorella—who was actually fired from the Rangers job just a month before they selected Duclair in the first place—gives him an increased role. For the Blue Jackets though this is a low-risk, high-reward move that could turn out to have huge benefits should Duclair find his game once again.

At the very least they likely have another trade chip, as there were other teams interested in Duclair when he hit the open market. Because he signed with the Blue Jackets while he is still so young, Duclair will actually be a restricted free agent when the contract expires next summer. This time around the qualifying offer will be just above league minimum, meaning Columbus or any acquiring team would be able to retain him for a reasonable amount.