George Richards, FHN Publisher
Anthony Duclair appears to be the perfect signing for the Florida Panthers in this strange, pandemic offseason.
For the most part, new general manager Bill Zito has loaded up cheap talent on short term (mostly one-year deals) in his first go at building his own squad.
So, yeah, Duclair fits right in to the “prove it” mentality of these new Florida Panthers.
And, he is ready to get to work in South Florida.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday afternoon from his place in Arizona, Duclair said he planned to fly to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday so he could start preparing for a training camp which is expected to begin Jan. 3.
On Sunday, the NHL announced it had agreed to terms with its players’ union on a 56-game 2021 schedule which will begin Jan. 13.
“A couple of guys (from the Panthers) reached out,” he said. “I am going to a team I am pretty familiar with a lot of guys and that’s going to be great.
“Looking at the lineup, it’s very talented and there is a lot of depth at forward and on the defensive corps. There is an A-class goalie in Bob with a lot of prospects coming up … so I am very excited.
In a normal world, Duclair likely wouldn’t have even hit the free agent market as he and the Ottawa Senators would have theoretically worked out a contract deal.
Duclair, just 25, had a breakout season for the Senators last year (at least in the first half) as he scored a career-high 23 goals and earned an Atlantic Division All-Star invitation along with new teammate Jonathan Huberdeau.
For a player who has bounced around from the Rangers to the Blackhawks, Coyotes and Blue Jackets, it appeared he finally found a home with the Senators.
Only that didn’t play out.
A restricted free agent this summer, Duclair said reports out of Ottawa that he had turned down a three-year contract worth north of $4 million per season were not true.
Not being tendered a contract by the Sens — and being cut free to sign with anyone he wanted — surprised him, he added.
“I didn’t see that coming,’’’ he said. “At the same time, I truly respect Pierre Dorion and the organization’s decision to let me go. They felt it was best for them to move on.”
Due to that, Duclair — who is serving as his own agent — became a free agent.
Again, in a normal NHL world, Duclair probably would have found himself a nice deal somewhere.
But, as is the case with Florida free agents Mike Hoffman and Erik Haula among others, the market went into a deep freeze not long after opening up.
With the NHL gearing up for a January start, things are opening up again.
Duclair was one of the first big names still out there to sign in some time when he took Florida’s one-year, $1.7 million deal Thursday.
“It has been an unusual offseason,’’ Duclair said. “I had the time to really think and join an organization that I felt was going to be the best fit for me.
“It is a decision where I took my time to make it. I just wanted to make sure I’m going to a situation where I can have the opportunity to showcase what I can do.
“I felt like Florida was the right fit for me.”
When Ottawa did not tender Duclair, the first thought was he would be reunited with Zito and the Panthers.
In 2018, Zito was assistant GM with the Blue Jackets when they took a flyer on a then-22 Duclair after Chicago declined to tender him an offer.
Duclair signed for the league-minimum with the Blue Jackets and played well — despite occasional trips to John Tortorella’s doghouse — before being traded to the Sens at the 2019 deadline for Ryan Dzingle in Columbus’ plan to go for the gold.
“Being a free agent at 22 years old is definitely not ideal,” Duclair said after signing with the Blue Jackets.
“It’s going to raise some eyebrows and raise some questions.”
That hasn’t changed, hence why Duclair feels it is imperative he talked to teams personally as his own representative.
Florida is his sixth organization in seven seasons; he is a definite talent but that movement at such a young age does raise some eyebrows.
“Representing myself in the open market was a great experience,” Duclair said.
“At this stage of my career, where I’ve moved around a bunch, I think it was important for me to contact GM’s and let them know where I am at this stage of my career. Tell them my story.
“Just having the opportunity to chat with a couple of them I know … some of them understood and respected the move. I just wanted to tell my story. It was a great experience. In the future, I’d like to learn the business side.”
Ottawa coach D.J. Smith, talking to NHL.com last season, said he saw a maturing player in Duclair.
“I think he’s at that point where he feels comfortable,” Senators coach D.J. Smith said. “Teammates respect him, he enjoys coming to the rink, and he’s allowed to just play hockey and he’s been great. In saying that, it’s taken him a lot of time to get to this.
“I’m sure he would say he’s made a lot of mistakes along the way.”
Zito, however, knows him well.
Duclair said Saturday that Zito was one of the first people he talked to upon becoming a free agent for the second time and the two talked numerous times over the past few months.
“Bill Zito and I had numerous conversations these past few months since I became a free agent,’’ Duclair said.
“It wasn’t always talk about contract negotiations and stuff like that.
“Sometimes we’d talk about hockey, myself and how I’ve grown these past few years. I just felt like this was the right fit for me and I just decided to pull the trigger on Florida.”
Duclair seems to fit right in on this team which has a lot of “prove it” not only individually but as the sum of its parts.
Few teams in the NHL have as much to prove as the Florida Panthers do. And, that mentality could help them in this odd season which may start as early as Jan. 13.
The Panthers, as an organization, did not live up to their hype last season and it cost Dale Tallon his job.
Zito came in and started restructuring, allowing Evgenii Dadonov and Hoffman to walk as free agents (as well as Haula, Mark Pysyk, Lucas Wallmark and Brian Boyle).
Most of the replacements are players like Duclair.
They are coming in on a discount, looking for a chance to show their true worth.
“Bill was probably the first GM I talked to on the first day of free agency,’’ Duclair said.
“We contacted each other, we had a really good talk. I really liked Bill’s vision and his mindset of how he wants to build this team.
“I just felt good vibes from the beginning. I’m happy to join Bill Zito’s team and the team in Florida.”
On the ice, Duclair looks like a nice fit to a team that lost a fair share of scoring with the departures of Hoffman and Dadonov.
Duclair scored on 14.4 percent of his shots two seasons ago with Columbus and Ottawa. Last year, he connected on 12.5 percent of his shots.
On the Panthers, Duclair’s shooting percentage would have ranked him fourth among players who took over 150 shots.
Duclair would have been behind Jonathan Huberdeau (15.1), Evgenii Dadonov (15) and Mike Hoffman (13.6) and ranked ahead of Sasha Barkov (11.6) and Frank Vatrano (9.9).
His 180 shots on goal would have ranked second on the Panthers behind only Hoffman (214).
With 23 goals, Duclair would have tied for third on Florida with Huberdeau.
One concern: 21 of those 23 goals were scored in the first three months of the season.
In the final 26 games — from Jan. 2 against the Panthers through the finale March 11 in Los Angeles — Duclair scored just two goals with seven assists.
With the Panthers, Duclair is going to see a world of opportunity potentially open up.
If he ends up playing in a top six role, he could find himself playing on the top line with the likes of Barkov and Huberdeau — basically replacing Dadonov, who, coincidentally signed with Ottawa with Duclair gone.
Duclair could also end up on a second line centered by Alexander Wennberg, one of a handful of former teammates from past stops.
Wennbeerg, Sergei Bobrovsky and Markus Nutivaara were teammates in Columbus.
Vinnie Hinostroza, who signed a one-year, $1-million deal, was briefly a teammate of Duclair’s in Chicago where both were coached by Joel Quenneville.
Chicago, which acquired Duclair from Arizona on Jan. 10, 2018 after he requested a trade, did not tender him as a RFA after he scored two goals in 23 games allowing him to sign with Columbus.
“I have had lots of time to dissect all the lineups in the league just to see where I could fit,” Duclair said.
“These types of guys (in Florida) are pretty eye-popping. I would love to play with some of these guys, learn from these guys even if I am not playing with them. Being around talent like that at practice every day and seeing them work is definitely going to be beneficial.
“Whomever Coach Q puts me with, I will try to do my best to make it work. It’s awesome to go to a team where I know some guys from previous teams I have played on and not just going to a brand-new team where I don’t know anyone.
“There’s a lot of familiarity and I am really excited to be around the kind of talent the Panthers have.”