Matt Duchene was sick.
Really sick.
That’s why he missed Monday’s game against San Jose.
And even as he battled a bad stomach virus, he got a good laugh that so many people thought he might have been traded.
“I started laughing,” Duchene said, per the Denver Post. “I never thought of it at the time. I thought if we announce that I was sick, there wouldn’t be any questions about it. But I guess there was. I mean, I understand it. It’s part of the business and it’s something that may or may not happen at some point here. It was not a big deal. I just kind of laughed it off. It’s to be expected, I guess.”
Indeed it is. Things have gotten so bad for the Colorado Avalanche (13-30-2) that it’s now expected that Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, and/or Tyson Barrie will be traded. It may not happen before the March 1 deadline, but at some point fairly soon, a big move seems inevitable.
Read more: Fixing the Avs’ defense through trades will prove tough
Duchene, 26, leads the Avs with 15 goals. He scored a career-high 30 last season. And with a reasonable cap hit of $6 million through 2018-19, he represents a significant chip for GM Joe Sakic to play.
Duchene will be back in the lineup tonight at home to Vancouver.
Related: Sakic doesn’t plan on trading MacKinnon, Rantanen or Jost