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Matt Duchene

Stars Activate Matt Duchene, Nils Lundkvist From LTIR

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The Stars announced they’ve activated center Matt Duchene and defenseman Nils Lundkvist from long-term injured reserve. Both are expected to be in the lineup for this evening’s game against the Penguins.

Duchene’s absence has been longer than anyone expected. The 34-year-old has been limited to four appearances this season with an upper back injury that he first sustained against the Wild on Oct. 14. He was initially listed as day-to-day and missed one game before attempting a return. He hasn’t played since reaggravating the injury when he re-entered the lineup on Oct. 18 against the Blues, though.

The 17-year veteran has still carried a day-to-day designation throughout his absence. He wasn’t moved to LTIR until after he had already missed the 10 games and 24 days required for a placement, so he was eligible to come off at any time.

Coming off a 30-goal, 82-point showing for Dallas last season, Duchene could have been among the most high-profile unrestricted free agents on the market last summer. Instead, he opted to take a significant discount to return to the cap-strapped Stars, signing a four-year, $18MM deal to potentially retire in Dallas. The 5’11” pivot initially joined the Stars for the 2023-24 season after a high-profile buyout by the Predators. At the time, he had three years remaining on a contract paying him an average of $8MM per season. He signed back-to-back one-year, $3MM pacts with Dallas before finally landing some term this past summer.

Duchene has been a highly valuable cog in the Stars’ top six since his arrival, particularly in the wake of top-line fixture Joe Pavelski’s retirement and continued long-term injury issues for Tyler Seguin. His 0.90 points per game since joining the team are third on the club behind only Mikko Rantanen (1.17) and Jason Robertson (1.02). His 82 points last year were only the second time in his career that the 2009 third overall pick has crossed the 80-point mark and were four short of his career high.

While battling through his back problems to begin the year, Duchene still managed a goal and an assist before his extended absence. He also went 12-for-23 on faceoffs (52.2%), and Dallas outchanced opponents 20-18 when he was on the ice at 5-on-5.

At first glance, with Duchene out for virtually the entire season, the Stars’ offense hasn’t missed a beat. However, their shot generation is in the basement – 26.0 per game for 26th in the league – despite their actual goal production being fourth at 3.45 per game. That’s fueled by an unsustainably high 13.3% shooting rate. Duchene’s return, particularly with Seguin’s ACL tear likely ending his season, should help them boost their underlying numbers to help cushion the blow as their finishing luck recedes.

Lundkvist is also an important return for a Dallas defense that’s also been without Lian Bichsel and Thomas Harley as of late. The 2018 first-rounder has still yet to elevate himself past a No. 7 job, but it looked like he was well on his way toward doing so before sustaining a lower-body injury in his fourth appearance of the season against the Canucks on Oct. 16. He hasn’t played since.

In those four games, though, the 25-year-old righty had rattled off a goal and two assists while averaging 16 minutes per game in second-pairing duties with Harley. While the skilled rearguard is highly unlikely to continue producing at a 0.75 points per game clip the rest of the way, that added layer of puck-moving support on Dallas’ back end behind Harley and Miro Heiskanen was an element they sorely missed last season.

With Harley out, not only is Lundkvist expected to step back into the lineup as Dallas’ second-pairing righty – he’ll anchor the unit with call-up Vladislav Kolyachonok on his left flank. That arrangement shouldn’t need to last for too long, though. Harley, who hasn’t played since Nov. 13 due to a lower-body injury, has returned to practice and shouldn’t be too far off from a return, per Robert Tiffin of D Magazine.

While LTIR activations usually must be accompanied by some cap-clearing moves, that isn’t the case here. The Stars already had two open roster spots, plus Seguin, Bichsel, and Adam Erne remain on LTIR to keep their pool of $5.36MM well above their current cap exceedance of $1.77MM.

Snapshots: Panarin, Duchene, Mrazek, Ivan

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While many pending UFAs have recently signed extensions, that hasn’t been the case for Rangers winger Artemi Panarin who is now one of the top veterans on an expiring contract.  With talks between the two sides believed to have not gone well so far, some have wondered if a return to the KHL could even be an option.  Speaking with reporters recently including Mollie Walker of the New York Post (subscription link), the 34-year-old wouldn’t rule the idea out, simply saying that it’s hard to say right now what’s coming next for him.  Despite the contractual uncertainty, Panarin is hovering near the point per game mark and is tied for the team lead in scoring with 26 points and would get plenty of interest if he makes it to the open market next summer.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • The Stars have been without center Matt Duchene for nearly six weeks due to an upper-body injury. DLLS Sports’ Sam Nestler notes (Twitter link) that the 34-year-old has already technically been medically cleared to return.  However, he continues to experience some lingering symptoms.  As a result, head coach Glen Gulutzan indicated that Duchene will still need to be out a little while longer to get properly conditioned to return.  Duchene has a goal and an assist in four games this season after tallying 82 points in 2024-25.
  • Ducks goaltender Petr Mrazek suffered what appears to be a lower-body in their game against Chicago this afternoon, relays WGN’s Charlie Roumeliotis (Twitter link). He was injured in the third period and while he was able to skate off under his own power, he wasn’t able to return.  Anaheim is already without starter Lukas Dostal so, for the time being, Ville Husso is their top available option.
  • Following their victory over Montreal on Saturday, the Avalanche announced (Twitter link) that they have returned forward Ivan Ivan to AHL Colorado. The 23-year-old got into three games after being recalled up earlier this week, picking up an assist while averaging 8:19 of ice time.  Ivan has played in 18 games in the minors with the Eagles this season, collecting two goals and four assists.

Dallas Stars Place Matt Duchene, Adam Erne On LTIR

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Dealing with several injuries on their blue line, the Dallas Stars have opened up some cap space to recall a defenseman. The Stars announced they’ve placed forwards Matt Duchene and Adam Erne on the long-term injured reserve.

Technically speaking, Duchene is already eligible to return from his LTIR placement since it was made retroactive to October 18th. Duchene’s undisclosed injury has limited him to just four games this season, during which he has scored one goal and one assist.

It’s been an unfortunate beginning to the 2025-26 campaign after signing a four-year, $18MM contract with the Stars this offseason. The former third-overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft was a point-per-game player with Dallas last year, scoring 30 goals and 82 points in 82 games. He was expected again to be a contributing middle-six center for the Stars this season.

Fortunately, the long-term loss of Duchene has been offset by the exceptional play from Wyatt Johnston and Roope Hintz. The pair has combined for 15 goals and 37 points for the Stars this season in 33 games, with the former contributing offensively nearly every game, scoring 11 goals and 21 points in 19 contests.

Meanwhile, Erne’s eligibility for return has been pushed back a few weeks. Dallas placed Erne on the injured reserve a few days ago, and he won’t have satisfied the requirements for return from LTIR until December 5th.

Still, the Stars didn’t allude to a potential return date for Erne when they placed him on the IR, although today’s news gives additional clarification. The nine-year veteran had scored two goals and three points in 14 games for Dallas before suffering the lower-body injury.

Placing both players on LTIR allows the Stars to activate Jamie Benn, who’s very close to returning, at some point over the next few days. Additionally, Dallas will also have the flexibility to recall a defenseman — likely Vladislav Kolyachonok.

Central Injury Notes: Hintz, Duchene, Thomas, Zuccarello

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The Dallas Stars will be without some significant talent ahead of the Western Conference Final rematch tomorrow night. According to team reporter Brien Rea, the Stars won’t have forwards Roope Hintz or Matt Duchene against the Edmonton Oilers tomorrow night. Additionally, Jake Oettinger is also doubtful, given that he and his wife just had a child.

It’s more of the same for Duchene. The 17-year veteran will have missed Dallas’ last eight games due to an upper-body injury after tomorrow night’s contest. He’s only appeared in four games this year, scoring one goal and two assists with a 52.2% success rate in the faceoff dot.

Meanwhile, Hintz will miss his fifth straight game due to an undisclosed injury. He’s been a much bigger void to fill, given that he’s been a point-per-game player to start the campaign. Since Duchene left the lineup, the Stars have averaged two goals per game.

Other injury notes from the Central Division:

  • In some positive news, the St. Louis Blues will return Robert Thomas to the lineup tonight. According to Lou Korac of the NHL, Thomas returned to practice this morning and was included in all line rushes. He’s missed the team’s last four games with an upper-body injury. Unfortunately, Thomas’s absence was notably evident, as the Blues lost all four contests.
  • The positive news isn’t only isolated to St. Louis. According to Joe Smith of The Athletic, Minnesota Wild veteran Mats Zuccarello looks very close to returning. Zuccarello suffered a lower-body injury before the start of the regular season. Like Thomas, his absence has been noticeable. Despite leading the league in power-play goals, the Wild are only averaging 1.61 even-strength goals through their first 13 games.

West Notes: Canucks, Lundkvist, Duchene, Pospisil

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Under the new CBA rules, players sent to the minors must play in at least one game before being recalled.  However, Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province reports that the Canucks asked for a waiver of that rule as it applies to defenseman Victor Mancini.  In order to maximize their LTIR pool when they moved Nils Hoglander on there, they needed to swap out Mancini for Jimmy Schuldt.  Their hope was to get a waiver to allow them to immediately recall Mancini to the active roster since it wasn’t quite the same type of paper transactions that some teams engaged in daily in previous years.  Considering the 23-year-old remains with AHL Abbotsford, it’s fair to say their request was denied but his stint in the minors is likely to be a short-lived one.

Elsewhere out West:

  • The Stars announced Monday (Twitter link) that defenseman Nils Lundkvist was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. The placement is retroactive to October 21st so he’s eligible to be activated as soon as Thursday although the expectation is that he’ll miss multiple weeks.  The 25-year-old got off to a strong start to his season with three points in his first four games after recording just five assists in 39 outings in 2024-25.  Notably, Dallas lacks the LTIR space required to recall a replacement so if they need one in the short term, they’ll likely have to move Lundkvist to LTIR at some point.
  • Still with Dallas, Victory Plus’ Brian Rea relays (Twitter link) that the Stars will be without forward Matt Duchene tonight against Columbus. Originally listed as probable for this one, he’ll instead miss his second straight game due to an upper-body injury.  After surpassing the 80-point mark for just the second time in his career last season, Duchene has a goal and an assist in his first two outings in 2025-26.
  • Flames winger Martin Pospisil skated on his own for the first time on Monday as he works his way back from an undisclosed injury that has caused him to miss the first seven games of the season, notes Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg (Twitter link). The 25-year-old had 25 points and 301 hits in 81 games with Calgary last season.  With Daniil Miromanov clearing waivers and being sent down today, the Flames now have an open roster spot to activate Pospisil when he’s cleared to return, barring any further roster movement between now and then.

Central Notes: Hague, Duchene, Foligno

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The Nashville Predators were dealt a blow in the preseason when defenseman Nicolas Hague suffered an upper-body injury, but the team has adapted well to his absence. The club is off to a solid 2-2-2 start, a notable improvement from where they began last year, and now they’re set to get Hague back from his injury. The Tennessean’s Alex Daugherty noted today that it’s been four weeks since Hague was originally ruled out and prescribed a four-to-six week recovery timeline, and he added that one shouldn’t be surprised if Hague returns to the lineup at some point this week. Later in the day, Daugherty reported that Hague was on the ice for the Predators’ practice, further underscoring the likelihood that his return is coming sooner rather than later.

Hague was first seen back on the ice on Oct. 11, per team reporter Brooks Bratten, for an optional morning skate. He was originally injured during the team’s second preseason game against the Florida Panthers. At that time, Hague was paired with team captain Roman Josi on the club’s first pairing. Josi was paired with Adam Wilsby during the team’s most recent game, and Hague could end up claiming that spot back from Wilsby when he’s ready to make his Nashville debut. The 6’6 blueliner has played in 364 career NHL games and won the Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023. Nashville acquired him (and a conditional 2027 third-round draft choice) in June, sending Colton Sissons and Jeremy Lauzon to Vegas in return.

Other notes from the Central Division:

  • Dallas Stars forward Matt Duchene missed the team’s practice today, reports the Dallas Morning News’ Lia Assimakopoulos. Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan expressed confidence that Duchene would be able to play tomorrow when the Stars host Duchene’s former team, the Columbus Blue Jackets, but added that Duchene has been battling an upper-body injury suffered last week. Duchene is one of the Stars’ key offensive producers; he led them in scoring last season with 82 points in 82 games.
  • Chicago Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno returned to practice today after stepping away to tend to a personal matter, reports NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis. Foligno’s leadership has helped the Blackhawks to a surprisingly strong start to their season. The team, which was projected by many media outlets to be among the NHL’s worst for 2025-26, has gone 3-2-2 to start the season, good for 13th in league standings. Foligno has been a core veteran for the club since arriving in 2023, scoring at least 15 goals and 35 points in each of his two seasons there.

West Notes: Bjugstad, Bortuzzo, Jeannot, Duchene

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For the next few weeks, there will be plenty of speculation about which teams will add which players. However, most of the noise leading up to July 1st will be about which players’ teams won’t keep, and the Utah Mammoth reportedly has a few. According to Craig Morgan of The Sedona Conference, the Mammoth are likely to let forward Nick Bjugstad and defenseman Robert Bortuzzo pursue other options this summer.

Given the more than $20MM available to the Mammoth this offseason, letting both players walk is more about performance and team-building rather than money. Bjugstad is inarguably the most valuable of the two, coming off an eight-goal, 19-point performance in 66 games for Utah during the 2024-25 campaign, averaging 12:19 of ice time. Still, it’s a far cry from his performance from a year ago, when Bjugstad registered 22 goals and 45 points in 76 games in a second-line role.

Meanwhile, there’s a legitimate chance that Bortuzzo is seriously contemplating retirement after completing the 14th season of his professional career. Limited by injuries this past season, Bortuzzo finished with two assists in 17 games, while mostly playing as the team’s seventh and sometimes eighth defenseman. The Mammoth already has eight defensemen signed through next season, leaving little room for Bortuzzo on the roster.

Other notes from the Western Conference:

  • Along similar lines, Russell Morgan of Hockey Royalty reports that the Los Angeles Kings aren’t expected to offer Tanner Jeannot a contract for the upcoming season. Jeannot has seen his stock drop precipitously in recent years, going from scoring 24 goals and amassing 318 hits with the Nashville Predators in the 2021-22 season, to a 13-point campaign in 67 games for the Kings this past season. He can still be relied upon for physicality, but Jeannot will have a difficult time finding a similar salary on the open market this summer.
  • On the cusp of reaching the open market and objectively becoming one of the top centers available, Matt Duchene instead chose to re-sign with the Dallas Stars on a four-year deal worth $18MM, likely leaving several million dollars on the table. In a new interview with Lia Assimakopoulos of The Dallas Morning News, Duchene indicated how easy a choice it was, saying, “First of all, any guy I’ve talked to wants to come back, so that’s great. I mean, it’s such a desirable place. I think it’s a place that anybody in the league would be lucky to play. And most guys in the league want to play for our team, and that speaks to the culture that the organization has created.“

Stars Sign Matt Duchene To Four-Year Extension

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The Stars have signed center Matt Duchene to a four-year extension, per a team announcement. It’s worth $4.5MM per season for a total value of $18MM. His deal carries a no-movement clause through 2026-27 before decreasing to a five-team approved trade list for the 2027-28 and 2028-29 seasons, per PuckPedia. The yearly breakdown is as follows:

2025-26: $3MM base salary, $3MM signing bonus
2026-27: $1.8MM base salary, $3MM signing bonus
2027-28: $3.6MM base salary
2028-29: $3.6MM base salary

Duchene could have tested the market as one of the top unrestricted free agent centers available, but he’ll instead opt to stay in a Dallas market where he’s excelled as a key top-six contributor over the past two years. In doing so, he takes a significant discount on his market value, at least on a per-year basis. A four-year offer at a much higher price may not have been out there for the 34-year-old, but AFP Analytics projected a three-year deal for Duchene to fall in the $7MM range per season if he hit the open market.

The 2009 No. 3 overall pick is coming off a spectacular 2024-25 campaign. While the Stars scored the third-most goals in the league, their offense was largely generated by committee. Duchene was the only Dallas player who played at least 25 games that hit the point-per-game mark, leading them in scoring with a 30-52–82 line while playing in all 82 games. Averaging over 17 minutes per game, it was the second time Duchene had hit 80 points in his 16-year NHL career and the fourth time he had hit 30 goals.

Duchene initially arrived in Texas on a one-year, $3MM contract for 2023-24 following a surprise buyout by the Predators with three years left on his contract. He posted 25 goals and 65 points in 80 games last year before taking a repeat of that deal to stay with the Stars last summer. It was a significant discount then, and he takes another significant discount now, locking in some highly-desired security through the rest of his mid-30s as well.

The Stars need any help they can get to ice a cap-compliant roster for 2025-26. Duchene’s steep discount certainly helps, but they still find themselves in a position to clear multiple salaries in order to even ice a full roster, let alone re-sign any other pending UFAs. Dallas now has just $455K in cap space with a roster of only 17 players, per PuckPedia. They need to open at least $1.9MM cap space at an absolute minimum via trades to be able to sign three league-minimum players for a bare-bones 20-man roster. In reality, they’ll move at least two of Mason Marchment ($4.5MM), Mathew Dumba ($3.75MM), and Ilya Lyubushkin ($3.25MM) to open up far more than that to give them some in-season flexibility while not taking a catastrophic hit to their forward depth. Jamie Benn, Evgenii Dadonov, and Mikael Granlund remain as pending UFAs up front.

For Duchene, he’ll still be getting compensated more than his contract with Dallas indicates. The expiry of his new deal following the 2028-29 season lines up with when his buyout paychecks from the Predators will end. He’s still set to receive $6.56MM from Nashville in 2025-26 and then $1.56MM annually through 2028-29.

Image courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images.

Matt Duchene Seeking Multi-Year Deal This Summer

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Matt Duchene has spent the last two seasons with the Stars on one-year contracts.  However, just because he signed a one-year pact to remain with Dallas last year doesn’t mean he will this time around.  Speaking with reporters today (video link), the center indicated that while he’d like to remain with the Stars, he’s also looking for stability beyond another one-year deal.

The 34-year-old fit in quite well with Dallas after he signed a one-year, $3MM contract following his somewhat surprising buyout from the Predators in 2023.  He put up 25 goals and 40 assists in the 2023-24 campaign before struggling in the playoffs where he had just six points in 19 games.  Still, that was more than a good enough performance to earn a second act with the Stars but once again, their cap situation necessitated another one-year, $3MM agreement.

This season was better than his first with Dallas.  Duchene potted 30 goals along with a career-high 52 assists in 82 games while logging over 17 minutes a night during the regular season.  Unfortunately for him and the Stars, his playoff struggles returned as he scored just one goal with five helpers in their 18 contests before being ousted in five games by Edmonton earlier this week.

While the second straight postseason struggle likely doesn’t help his value, Duchene is still very well positioned to land a fair-sized raise and a multi-year deal this summer if he reaches the open market.  He is a legitimate second center in a market that will feature a lot of teams looking to upgrade down the middle.  On top of that, he has been above average at the faceoff dot in every season but his first back in 2009-10 and with nearly 900 career points in over 1,100 games, he’s a proven commodity.  It’s not outlandish to think he could double his contract from these last two seasons.

But if that happens, Duchene won’t be able to get his wish to stay in Dallas, at least barring some moves to open up salary cap flexibility.  The Stars have less than $5MM in cap space this summer per PuckPedia with several roster spots to fill with that money.  It’d be one thing to try to free up a bit of room to sign Duchene around the salary he’s earned the last two years but it would take multiple moves to have a chance to pay him market value.

With that in mind, Duchene will have to decide between taking less than his value to stay on Dallas with the hopes of getting at least two years on his next deal or testing free agency where he’d undoubtedly get both big money and term.  He has the next month to deliberate just how important remaining with the Stars is to him.

Stars Re-Sign Matt Duchene

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3:49 PM: The Stars have announced the signing.

9:28 AM: UFA center Matt Duchene won’t test the market. He’s returning to the Stars on a one-year deal worth roughly $3MM, per Chris Johnston of The Athletic.

It’s a great deal for Dallas, who gets Duchene on a solid discount and reserves cap space for later in the day. Assuming a $3MM cap hit, they still have nearly $15MM in space with nine open roster spots. It isn’t enough to keep deadline pickup Chris Tanev around, though – the veteran blue-liner landed with the Maple Leafs on a six-year deal after they acquired his signing rights via trade during the draft.

The deal could be identical to the one-year, $3MM pact that landed him in Dallas as a free agent last summer. Duchene was a surprise addition to the market after having the final three seasons of his seven-year, $56MM deal with the Predators bought out.

It’s hardly an unexpected outcome. Reporting over the last month indicated strong mutual interest in an extension, and Duchene was public about his willingness to take a discount.

A considerable discount it is for the 33-year-old, who had 25 goals and 65 points in 80 games for Dallas last year. He was the No. 5 free agent on our Top 50 list.

Duchene will be relied upon heavily to help replace the offense lost by Joe Pavelski’s expected retirement. It’s a solid bet that he’ll keep up his previous level of production – it’s roughly in line with his averages over the past three years.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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