Dutchy delivering: Matt Duchene becoming prominent piece of Stars’ playoff run

Matt Duchene’s experience has made him a unique individual.

At 35, he has logged 1,195 games over 17 regular seasons, so he is a grizzled veteran. But much of his career has featured playoff disappointments and early postseason exits, so he’s still learning in that regard.

Could it be that this season, it all comes together?

“I think you just learn to relax,” Duchene said. “I think that has come over the past few years.”

Duchene has been a big part of the calm for the Stars this season. He missed 24 games with a concussion that he called the most devastating injury in his career. That put him behind the 8-Ball for much of his first seven weeks back, when he had three goals and six assists in 22 games. It was a challenge for the player and his teammates, as Tyler Seguin was lost for the season in early December and Duchene was slow to fill that hole.

However, the concussion was a tough experience, and getting right wasn’t as easy as it could have been.

“I would say the confidence and my rhythm and feel with the puck was something that kind of was up and down,” Duchene told The Ticket radio station. “I'd have games where I was like, ‘Okay, I'm me tonight,’ and then I'd have games where I'm like, ‘Man, I haven't had a sniff of anything good here in a while.’ There's a whole bunch of different variables. When you're trying to catch up to a moving train, that can really hamper that.”

And yet he did finally catch up.

From the beginning of the Stars’ 15-game point streak on Jan. 23 to the end of the season, Duchene had 34 points (12 goals, 22 assists) in 31 games and ranked second on the team in scoring. That was more like the Duchene who had 82 points in 82 games the year before.

“He’s been huge for us all season, and especially big when we needed him on the power play,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “He thinks the game well and he has great chemistry with our players.”

Duchene has always been a creative player. He was drafted third overall by Colorado and stepped into the league at age 18 as a top line player. However, the Avalanche were rebuilding and after seven-plus seasons, he had logged just eight playoff games.

That led to a trade request that landed him in Ottawa. His experience there didn’t work out great, so he was traded to Columbus. After the best playoff performance of his career, Duchene then signed a seven-year free agent deal with Nashville for $56 million.

He played four seasons with the Predators, but was bought out and became a free agent in 2023. Given the chance to choose his next destination, he signed a one-year “prove-it” deal with the Stars.

The veteran center was a perfect fit in Dallas, as he could balance Roope Hintz, Seguin and Wyatt Johnston down the middle. He landed on a line with Mason Marchment and Seguin, and that trio was solid.

Duchene’s scoring dried up a little in the playoffs as he had 6 points (2 goal, 4 assists) in 19 games in 2024, but he signed another one-year deal to come back to the Stars. Last season, he was healthy and on his game, but again had 6 points (1 goal, 5 assists) and was minus-16 in 18 playoff games.

The Stars liked what they saw in Duchene and he inked a four-year extension, planning to finish his career in Dallas and try to win a Stanley Cup here.

Despite the concussion and rollercoaster season, Duchene currently leads the Stars with 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists) in just four games this postseason. With Hintz out because of a lower body injury, Duchene has been crucial.

“It’s a big hole to fill with Roops [Hintz], and he’s done a marvelous job,” Gulutzan said. “He’s helping us in a lot of areas, faceoffs, the way he plays defense, checking, all of that’s important. It’s good on him.”

Duchene, who can be overly critical of his own play, has landed in a good spot. He is a huge part of the day-to-day dressing room and a huge part of the production on the ice.

“The best way to approach these games is to stay as present and as calm as possible,” Duchene said. “That’s something I’ve learned the last few years just being here and having a chance every year. You can get really antsy about the result, and you learn you can’t be like that. So we just have to stay focused on the job at hand and play one game at a time.”

He might be in the perfect place to do just that. All of those experiences and all of that scar tissue has turned Duchene into a very good hockey player…a very good “playoff” hockey player.

“I think confidence is a big thing and when you score some big goals and make some big plays, it kind of takes all of that pressure off,” Gulutzan said. “I actually see Dutchy as playing some of the best hockey I’ve seen him play.”

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.