After yesterday’s non-tender deadline, the Ottawa Senators announced that they were not qualifying Anthony Duclair and letting him test the open market. Could he be a fit for the New York Islanders?

Anthony Duclair’s Interesting Career

Duclair was drafted in the third round (80th overall) in the 2013 draft by the New York Rangers. He played 18 games with the Rangers in 2014-15, scoring one goal and seven points, prior to being sent back to his QMJHL team, the Quebec Ramparts. Two months later, he was part of the package the Rangers sent to the Arizona Coyotes, along with John Moore and two draft picks, in exchange for Keith Yandle and Chris Summers.

Duclair spent two and a half years playing in Arizona, scoring 34 goals and 74 points in 172 games before requesting a trade from the Coyotes, saying he “deserved a little better” with regards to handling him as a player. He was granted his trade, as halfway through the 2017-18 season, he was dealt alongside Adam Clendening to the Chicago Blackhawks for Richard Panik and Laurent Dauphin. After tallying two goals and eight points in 23 games with the Blackhawks, he was non-tendered as a restricted free agent, allowing him to explore the market.

Ahead of the 2018-19 season, he signed a one-year, $650,000 deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and in 53 games, scored 11 goals and 19 points. At the trade deadline, he, along with two second-round picks, was traded to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Ryan Dzingel and a seventh-round pick. He was part of the package due to Blue Jackets’ head coach John Tortorella getting fed up with him, saying that he has “bad listening skills”, gone “off the rails”, even going as far as saying “I don’t think he knows how to play”.

Duclair had a resurgence with the Senators, as after being acquired, he tallied 31 goals and 54 points in 87 games, and was their representative at the 2020 All-Star Game.

Why was he non-tendered?

Heading into the free agency process, Anthony Duclair served as his own agent. Ottawa Senators General Manager Pierre Dorion said that they offered Duclair a “substantial raise”, but nothing could be agreed upon by the two sides. The Senators were unwilling to risk arbitration with him since he could potentially be worth more than they were asking as a result of arbitration, so they decided against sending him a qualifying offer, allowing the 25-year old to test free agency for the second time in three seasons.

Dorion says Duclair decided to represent himself. Says they offered him a "substantial raise." Nothing was agreed upon.

Duclair will be on the UFA market Friday.

— Hailey Salvian (@hailey_salvian) October 7, 2020

Why He Would Fit on the Islanders

There are countless reasons why Anthony Duclair would be a fit on the Islanders, but one sticks out in particular, that being familiar with a current Islander in Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Per frozensports.dobbersports.com, Duclair played a significant amount of time with Pageau during their time on the Ottawa Senators last season, both on the power-play and even-strength. The line of Pageau centering Duclair and Brady Tkachuk was tied for his second-most productive even-strength line of the season. That line was also tied for the most productive power-play unit he was part of, alongside the unit of the three of them and Tyler Ennis.

If Anthony Duclair were to sign with the Islanders, he would likely serve as one of Pageau’s winger, both due to comfortability and natural fit on the forward core, taking the spot of another one of his former teammates in Derick Brassard, who, like Duclair, is an unrestricted free agent and is likely on his way out.

He is also a threat to score at both even strength and on the power-play. Of his 23 goals this season, five were power-play tallies, and he added another three power-play assists, resulting in 32.5% of his points this season coming on the man advantage.

Is Signing Anthony Duclair Worth It?

If the Islanders are able to clear cap space and are looking externally for help offensively, and, most importantly, on the power-play, the Islanders should look at Duclair over someone such as Patrik Laine or Mike Hoffman, who would be much more expensive, with regards to both cap space and assets. Per capfriendly.com, he made $1.65 million last year, and based on his increase in production, will likely get double what he earned last year, so potentially a one or two-year deal at $2.5 to $3 million could interest Anthony Duclair to join the Islanders.

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