The Colorado Avalanche announced that they have signed center Matt Duchene to a two-year contract extension through the 2013-14 season. The team did not release the terms of the deal, but Adrian Dater of the Denver Post reports it's worth $7 million, which comes out to a salary cap hit of $3.5 million per year.
Duchene was the Avalanche's first-round pick in 2009 (third overall).
During his first three years in the league he's scored 65 goals to go with 85 assists in 219 games.
He's coming off a down year during the 2011-12 season as his production saw a considerable decline on a per-game basis. He still has a ton of offensive ability and is still one of Colorado's cornerstone players.
Duchene was eligible for restricted free agency this summer, and now that his contract is taken care of the Avalanche can turn their attention to their remaining free agents, and they have a lot of them. The list includes Steve Downie, Peter Mueller, Ryan O'Reilly, Ryan Wilson and Erik Johnson.
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