Quoting: capfriendlyaccount
All I can think of with this is how badly Ottawa botched the situation. Probably could've got a first for him at the deadline. Instead they let him walk after he asked for too much.
They didn't trade him at the deadline because at the deadline the world was a completely different place, and they probably had every intention of getting a deal done. Not acknowledging that feels like you're leaving out some significant context.
Also I don't know how you can say they botched the situation. They offered him a deal that would have been fair even pre COVID of 3×4.25, and Duke wanted like 5×5. The options for Ottawa were to cave and hand out a massive contract to a guy who had one goal after the All Star break, go through the ugly Arbitration process and still end up paying well above market value for one year, or to non tender him and circle back once the market sets a price on him. To their credit they did circle back, though I believe Duclair was upset that the original offer was no longer on the table. From the Sens perspective they did right by him, and when they couldn't get a deal done, they spent the money elsewhere, on a much more impactful star in Evgeny Dadonov. I'd rather Dadonov at 3×5 vs Duclair at 3×4.25
Personally I'd have rather they'd circled back harder on Duclair instead of signing Galchenyuk who is just a significantly worse version of Duclair, but things don't always work out. There's only one person "at fault" for how things turned for Duclair and its him. He misread his value substantially, fired his agent and went into the most chaotic free agency in recent memory unprepared.
Wish nothing but the best for Duclair though. He was so much fun when the Sens were just not fun to watch, and had some pretty awesome moments, especially when he dropped a hatty on Torts. Hope he finds a long term home in Florida though, and there’s a good chance he gets to play with Barkov which is definitely a step up from JGP and Chris Tierney lmao.