Despite the fact Matt Duchene has spent the past five days in training camp as a member of the Colorado Avalanche, the forward’s future with the team remains a muddled mess.
The 26-year-old’s name has repeatedly been brought up in trade rumours dating back to before March’s trade deadline. He chose to skip the team’s pre-training camp earlier this month and there were doubts regarding whether or not he would even show up to Colorado’s official camp when it opened this past Thursday.
When asked Monday if he would stay with the Avs if no trade occurs prior to the start of the 2017-18 season, Duchene said he hadn’t looked that far ahead and is taking his current situation “one day at a time.”
“I’m day by day,” Duchene told Mike Chambers of The Denver Post. “I’m just enjoying playing hockey. A lot got blown out of proportion. I said what I wanted to say then. Nothing’s changed since Thursday. I’m here to get better, I’m here for those reasons—that I said on Thursday.”
Duchene has two years remaining on his contract and an annual salary cap hit of $6 million, but does not have a no-trade or no-movement clause.
“I’m here to honour my contract,” Duchene told reporters last week when camp opened. “I’m here out of respect for the fans. I’m here for my teammates.”
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