Dallas Stars veteran forward Matt Duchene was named the Bill Masterson trophy nominee on Friday. Duchene, 33, is a left-handed center and right wing from Haliburton, Ontario, Canada. Duchene’s nomination came at a rather unexpected time as some, if not most, of the hockey world, were uncertain if the 33-year-old would improve the Stars’ scoring depth entering the 2023-24 NHL season.
Matt Duchene might’ve been a locker room cancer in Nashville, Tennessee, but things have been on the way up in Dallas, Texas, since the start of the 2023-24 NHL season. Duchene’s line with Tyler Seguin and Mason Marchment has arguably been the most surprising this season. Also, Duchene has helped the Stars reach uncharted waters on offense as he has unlocked Tyler Seguin’s scoring, and as of Friday, April 5, has registered 62 points (24 goals and 38 assists) in 74 regular season games, along with a plus-15 rating and 16 penalty minutes. In addition, Duchene played in his 1,000th NHL game on December 7, 2023, and recorded an assist on Mason Marchment’s goal in the Stars’ 5-4 shootout win over the Washington Capitals.
The Nashville Predators decided to buy out Matt Duchene in the 2023 NHL season after four seasons in Nashville, Tenn. Duchene, then-32, had three years left on his seven-year, $56 million contract with the Predators, but was quickly signed by the Stars to a one-year, $3 million contract on July 1, 2023.
The Bill Masterson trophy is awarded annually by the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey.
The remaining Bill Masterson trophy nominees are the Anaheim Ducks’ Urho Vaakanainen, the Arizona Coyotes’ Connor Ingram, the Boston Bruins’ Danton Heinen, the Buffalo Sabres’ Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, the Calgary Flames’ Oliver Kylington, the Carolina Hurricanes’ Frederik Andersen, the Chicago Blackhawks’ Colin Blackwell, the Colorado Avalanche’s Jonathan Drouin, the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Zach Werenski, the Detroit Red Wings’ Alex Lyon, the Edmonton Oilers’ Vincent Desharnais, the Florida Panthers’ Oliver Ekman-Larsson, the Los Angeles Kings’ Viktor Arvidsson, the Minnesota Wild’s Marco Rossi, the Montreal Canadiens’ Joel Armia, the Nashville Predators’ Michael McCarron, the New Jersey Devils’ Curtis Lazar, the New York Islanders’ Cal Clutterbuck, the New York Rangers’ Jonathan Quick, the Ottawa Senators’ Claude Giroux, the Philadelphia Flyers’ Sean Couturier, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, the San Jose Sharks’ Justin Bailey, the Seattle Kraken’s Joey Daccord, the St. Louis Blues’ Nathan Walker, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Michael Eyssimont, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Ilya Samsonov, the Vancouver Canucks’ Noah Juulsen, the Vegas Golden Knights’ Alex Pietrangelo, the Washington Capitals’ T.J. Oshie, and the Winnipeg Jets’ Laurent Brossoit.
The winner of the Bill Masterson trophy will be announced on Wednesday, June 26 at the MSG Sphere, the site of the 2024 NHL Draft, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
