Stars' Matt Duchene placed on IR to begin season

Fantasy hockey: Duchene cannot play while on injured reserve, and his three-game week goes to zero until he is activated.

By Fantasy Roundup Staff · September 30, 2026 · Updated October 1, 2026

Matt Duchene cannot play to begin the 2026-27 season. The Dallas Stars placed the center on injured reserve Wednesday with a lower-body injury, and no return date has been announced.

Duchene was averaging 0.83 points per game over a 209-game sample, with 16:57 of ice time a night and 2:21 on the power play (sixth among all Stars skaters). Those numbers come from recent multi-season work, and they all go to zero for fantasy managers while he is out.

Fantasy impact

Player by player

Matt Duchene

Duchene cannot score from the press box, and his three-game week (Friday, Saturday, Monday) drops to zero for as long as he remains on injured reserve. His recent averages show 0.28 goals and 0.55 assists per game, but those numbers mean nothing until he is activated. He was skating 16:57 a night with 2:21 of power-play time per game.

His underlying play grades 11 out of 100 among forwards in shots, scoring chances and ice time, a measure of how sustainable his scoring is. That low process score suggests his 0.25 power-play points per game were carrying much of his fantasy value, and even that disappears while he is out. Do not add or start Duchene until the Stars announce his return.

What to do

• Drop Duchene in shallow formats where you cannot wait for an uncertain return date.

• Move him to an IR slot in deeper leagues if you have one available.

• Stream a replacement center for the three Dallas games this week (Friday, Saturday, Monday).

Schedule this week