Yep, I heard the same thing. He wants a top-four defender, high-end prospect or player, and a pick, and he's not budging from that price. I certainly wouldn't give that up for Matt Duchene, and I'm one of #9's biggest fans. He's a tremendous talent, great mix of speed, skill, and grit, but he's also got certain quirks to his game that don't make him one of those centers you can just plug in wherever and have him work. And then there's the slightly concerning injury history (it's not bad but going forward I wonder if he'll hit that fragile stage kinda like Stamkos suddenly has).
Either way, Sakic is dealing from a position of extreme weakness. Everyone knows he pretty much has to get a deal done or eat some serious crow, and Duchene himself is coming off the worst year of his career. He isn't just trying to "win" a potential Duchene trade, he wants a home run. The only way that happens is if the Isles stumble out of the gate and Snow completely panics.
In other news, Dater is reporting the Avs are offering something like $2 million per to Zadorov and he's asking for something around $3.5. If that's true, this franchise deserve to crash and burn for the next ten years.
Brian Dumolin put up almost identical numbers to Zadorov (Zads happens to be a little younger and of course is on a FAR lousier team) and earned himself roughly $4 million per year.