Anthony Duclair’s stock as unrestricted free agent has risen significantly in the past few months. A strong finish after being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning could have the 28-year-old in line for a decent payday July 1.
He may not be in the same league as free-agent forwards Sam Reinhart or Jake Guentzel, but when the Tampa Bay Lightning needed a skilled and experienced winger to keep them in a playoff spot, Duclair was just what the doctor ordered.
Duclair produced at nearly a point-per-game pace after being acquired from the San Jose Sharks with 15 points in Tampa Bay’s final 17 regular-season games. He finished with 24 goals in 73 games with the Lightning and Sharks, his fourth NHL season with at least 20 goals.
He’s also appealing because the speedy forward was a key player in the Florida Panthers run in 2021-22, when the team notched an absurd 122 points and won the Presidents’ Trophy. He scored an NHL career-high 31 goals that season.
In 2023, he helped the Panthers reach the Stanley Cup Final, returning from a torn Achilles to post 11 points in 20 postseason games.
Consistency is the rub for Duclair. As such, he’s already played for eight teams in the NHL. His time with the Sharks last season wasn’t so inspired, likely caused by the Sharks’ bottom feeding status in the League. But he increased his value with the Lightning to close out the season.
The Lightning likely can’t bring Duclair back since they only have roughly $4 million salary cap space and need to re-sign captain Steven Stamkos. More cuts are on the way in Tampa.
So, here are three teams that could be interested in signing NHL free agent Anthony Duclair.
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1. Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver took major steps toward becoming a legit Stanley Cup contender this season, taking the Pacific Division by storm and finishing with 109 points. It was a remarkable 26-point increase from the year prior.
Despite countless improvements for the Canucks, there have been calls for a trade or buy out of Ilya Mikheyev, their underachieving top-six winger.
While often finding himself on the same line with world-class talents J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson, Mikheyev authored a mere 31 points in 78 games, while Pettersson and Miller boasted 103 and 89 points, respectively.
This would be an ideal spot for Duclair.
His natural goal-scoring ability and speed, paired with the chance-creation and passing talents of Pettersson and Miller, make him a favorable signing. Duclair should also be an affordable option with tremendous upside for an already potent Canucks offense.
Of course, Vancouver’s deep pockets coming into next season ($24.7 million in salary cap space per PuckPedia) could put them in the running for Reinhart or Guentzel instead, but Duclair remains a good fit.
2. Nashville Predators
After a remarkable streak of wins down the stretch of the regular season, the Predators lost to the aforementioned Canucks in the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs in six games. There a team that’s always bordering on playoff contention, and could use some extra juice offensively next season.
The Predators hit it right with Gustav Nyquist, the 34-year-old veteran forward, who had 75 points this season. That’s 21 more than his previous NHL career high with the Detroit Red Wings nine years ago.
But the Predators need another home-run signing that involved an under-the-radar good signing. Duclair could fit the bill.
General Manager Barry Trotz’s crew would be aided immensely by tacking Duclair on to the second line, where Mark Jankowski has been serviceable, but not ideal.
Likely parting with Anthony Beauvillier on the horizon, the Predators need an experienced (but not aged) winger in order to distribute points more evenly among Nashville’s top lines.
3. …Utah?
Think about it.
The unnamed NHL club from Salt Lake City has a whopping $40.5 million in projected cap space.
Injured forwards Jakub Voracek and Bryan Little, who both haven’t played in over a year, combined for $13.5 million of salary going down the drain. That’s not a problem anymore.
The possibilities are endless, but it’s not necessarily the right time to go on a massive spending spree, though they do need to reach the salary cap floor.
While Reinhart and Guentzel are obviously appealing, would they be enough to get the former Arizona Coyotes back into the playoffs?
Likely not.
That’s why Duclair is such a great option for Utah. Still under 30 years old, he could be a long-term signing helping bridge the gap between developing their young talent and fielding a competitive team for their new fans to get excited about.
It would get SLC buzzing about having an exciting forward with elite scoring capabilities to play top-six minutes along with Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz and Alex Kerfoot. That’s much needed if they want to avoid a schlep to the Delta Center to watch the shriveled husk of Arizona’s failed operation.