Stars’ Matt Duchene talks interest in Dallas during 2019 free agency, why he wears No. 95

New Dallas Stars forward Matt Duchene recently joined David Mino and Saad Yousuf on Sportsradio 96.7 FM/1310 The Ticket [KTCK-AM] to discuss what led him to Dallas and the reason he wears the No. 95.

Here are some highlights, edited for clarity:

Is Dallas a spot that you’ve wanted to see as home for a while?

Matt Duchene: “To be honest with you, I wanted to be a Nashville Predator the rest of my career once I signed there. When I went through that process, I wanted to try — Nashville was the place that we really were looking to go. At the same time, Dallas was a very close second. We wanted to see what their interest level was or what they could do [in 2019]. I talked to my agent. I literally remember where I was sitting when we talked about it. I just said, ‘Hey, what about Dallas?’ I sent him a list of teams that I’d be interested in. My second was Dallas and my third was another team that wasn’t able to do it at the time, as well. He said, ‘Yeah, I talked to Jim Nill, they don’t have the room.’ It was very short-lived, so I never really thought about it to be honest.

“Once I went to Nashville and signed a seven-year deal there, you expect to play out that deal. Obviously, I didn’t have trade protection, or much I guess, but you still expect — you go in, do your job and you play well, conduct yourself well and there’ll be no reason that that won’t happen. It’s a tough, crazy business and stuff, but stuff happens that you never see coming. I went from being in a position where I wanted to play the rest of my career for Nashville, and I knew there was going to be a little bit of a process getting to where they want to want to be. Who knows, maybe they’ll turn around quick? But I was in for it. When everything went down, you had to change gears very quickly and that was a tough band-aid to rip off for me. I had to do it very quickly and the wound was still very fresh. Having said all that, right away there was basically two spots I was looking at. I remember saying them out loud before we even started talking to anybody and Dallas was one of them. They were the No. 1 right from the start and they were the first team out of my mouth. Fortunately, they had mutual interest. It was crazy how it worked out. It was really hard to go through, but yeah, we’ve had interest in Dallas for a while and knowing that would be a great spot for us. Kind of crazy how it all came about, but sometimes the best things in life are unexpected and kind of come out of nowhere. We’re definitely hoping that’s the case and so far, it’s been just an amazing experience. We’re beyond excited to be part of this organization.”

You’ve worn No. 95 for a majority of your career. You’ll be the first Dallas Star to wear that number. Is there a reason why you’ve picked 95?

Duchene: “I’m very specific when it comes to numbers. I’ve actually worn No. 9 more than I’ve worn 95. I’ve just worn 95 for more teams. I already knew [9 was retired in Dallas]. Obviously, I told Jim Nill — he asked me if I wanted to stay with 95. I said, ‘Yeah, I was thinking about calling up [Mike] Modano and asking if he’d unretire his number for me for a one-year contract. I thought maybe I would just stick with 95.’ Obviously joking.

“But 95, basically I wore five as a kid when I was younger and then switched to nine. When I got traded to Ottawa, I was back in my home province. All the numbers I wanted to wear were taken. I was like, ‘You know what? I want to create something my own, something that nobody wears and something that’s kind of true to my roots of minor hockey, growing up here in Ontario.’ So I went with 95 and you know, it’s kind of stuck. I think it suits me and it’s kind of my own thing. It’s kind of followed me since. Now my kids only know me as No. 95, so that’s another thing. I don’t want to confuse them too much. They get pretty excited, my son will run around the living room and announce his own name and call himself No. 95. I figure we keep it going for now.”

You grew up with Tyler Seguin and he’s getting married at the Bahamas. Is it too late to get the invite?

Duchene: “You know what, I would never expect that in a million years. Even if he did, I don’t think we’d be able to with all the craziness. We’re up in the middle of nowhere here in Cottage Country in Ontario. We don’t really have anybody to watch the kids. My parents are here, but I wouldn’t wish the three of them on my worst enemy right now. So we kind of got to stay local for now, but I’m sure he’s gonna have an amazing wedding. What a spot to have it.”

Listen to the full interview here.

Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.