Predators buy out Matt Duchene’s contract

On July 1, 2019, Matt Duchene agreed to terms with the Predators on a seven-year contract valued at $8 million per season.

After seeing him play four seasons, the team decided it had had enough. The Preds announced this morning that they would buy out the offensive forward’s contract.

Duchene joins Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Patrik Nemeth, Zack Kassian, Josh Bailey, Mike Reilly, Kailer Yamamoto and Blake Wheeler in the group of players who have all had their contracts bought out this year:

Is this surprising? Hard to say.

After all, Duchene is only 32 years old and collected 56 points in 71 games last season. In 2021-2022, he finished the campaign with a career-best 86 points…

But the Preds have been cleaning house since Barry Trotz took over as GM, and the organization is doing things in a big way. In the last few days, Ryan Johansen and his fat contract were traded to Colorado… Even though the Preds are keeping 50% of his salary, they were able to free up $4 million under the payroll.

Duchene’s contract buyout will hurt for the next three years. With three years left on his contract, the Preds will have to pay him until the end of the 2028-2029 season…

Here’s what the structure looks like regarding the penalties imposed on the Preds:

More details to come…