Duclair Thinks Sharks Will Trade Him

The pending UFA explained today: “The situation I’m in, I think it was obviously pretty apparent that I was going to be moving, so I needed somebody to represent me and make those calls on my behalf. Obviously, can’t be making [those calls] in the middle of the season, so I decided to go that route.”

So in terms of having outside representation, what’s different about this season as opposed to other seasons?

“This was the first situation where it obviously was gonna happen,” Duclair said, referring to getting traded while representing himself. “The other times, I either had an agent or I was really confident that I was gonna stay.”

All this said, Duclair didn’t rule out coming back to the San Jose Sharks.

The 28-year-old winger has been on a tear, scoring seven goals in his last 11 games to tie the team lead with 16. He has 27 points in 56 contests.

David Quinn would like to keep Duke, but it’s not his decision.

“He’s had an agent for a couple of months now, which is a good move for him. You get someone speaking on your behalf. You get someone making phone calls for you,” Quinn said. “He’s an unrestricted free agent, and I don’t want him to go anywhere, but I certainly understand our organization’s situation and his probable desire to get into a situation to get the chance to win again.”

Reading between the lines, the ball appears to be in the San Jose Sharks’ court to try to keep Duclair. The Sharks are already his seventh team in a decade-long NHL career, and the winger has previously stated that he’s open to coming back. Surely, a longer-term contract offer would grease the wheels there.

Instead, it appears that the Sharks are going to see what they can get for Duclair by the Mar. 8 Trade Deadline, where there should be some interest.

But if San Jose doesn’t move him?

“I think it’s probably a conversation maybe in the summertime,” he said about staying, “but as far as right now, we stand where we stand.”