The Matt Duchene speculation is over people.

On Friday, The Senators sent the 28-year-old and Julius Bergman to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Vitalii Abramov, Jonathan Davidsson, a 2019 first round pick and conditional 2020 first round pick. The news comes just days ahead of the NHL’s February 25th trade deadline.

 

This marks the second time Duchene has been involved in a major deal in less than two years. In November of 2017 he was sent to Ottawa from the Colorado Avalanche in a three-way deal involving the Nashville Predators and ironically enough, he faced Colorado in his first game as Senator. Let’s fast-forward to 2019 now and wouldn’t you know it, Ottawa is set to host Columbus on home ice. What are the odds?!

Hockey fans were quick to point the coincidence out on Twitter:

 

And someone obviously had to crack a joke about there being a video tribute for his “return.”

 

Come on Paul…

Discovering the news was actually a bit easier this time around for Duchene. He literally had to leave mid-game the last time he was traded from the Avs. Just bizarre.

 

 

#MattDuchene was already on his way to catch a flight while the Avs were still on the ice.

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Tonight’s going to be a weird one at the Canadian Tire Centre.

 

 

Matt Duchene is a Columbus #BlueJacket Thoughts? 🤔 #TradeCentre

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(H/T Darren Dreger)