Anthony Duclair on custom skates, being his own agent, and owning his own path in the NHL
The Florida Panthers forward understands "hockey is a business" better than most
Because of his injury Anthony Duclair was never able to wear the custom skates that Pater Gubernator, AKA Guby Customs, designed and customized for him to use with the Florida Panther’s reverse retro jerseys.
And that’s a shame. Because these things would have looked awesome with the Panthers power-blue reverse retros.
“Normally for games skates I don’t want to be too fly (with the customization),” Duclair said. “I try to keep it simple for now, who knows about the future, but I did give him free range for the reverse retros and those came out really nice, he took his time and we raised some money for charity when he auctioned them off.”
Duclair’s relationship with Gubernator, in part, helped the artist go from living in his friends living room after getting displaced by 2020 flooding in Fort McMurray, Alberta to creating custom skates for a living.
Gubernator has since customized skates for the league and various television partners, while at the 2023 NHL All-Star Game, fittingly in Florida, he was also doing skates for Mitchell Marner.
“It’s been pretty cool, he’s been doing my skates for three seasons now and he’s done a great job,” Duclair said. “I love how he’s been able to expand it and do some stuff for the league, for the (NHLP), you saw the stuff at All-Star, I’m really happy for him for sure, he’s really grown his art into a business, it’s great.”
It’s a fitting topic to discuss business with Duclair, because he understands the business side of hockey better than most.
Right decision or wrong, Duclair has represented himself since parting ways with his former agent, and current Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes.
Duclair left the Ottawa Senators after the 2019-20 season without a qualifying offer, signed a one-year deal with Florida worth $1.7 million, and then re-upped with the Panthers on a three-year $3 million per season contract before the 2021-22 season.
There are reports that Duclair left money on the table in Ottawa, reportedly leaving a three-year deal worth $4.25 million per season on the table. But he also said on Monday, that it wasn’t always about the dollar amount when it came to representing himself.
“To be honest you learn about the ugly side of the business (being your own agent),” Duclair said. “It’s not something you take personal, it’s just business and and for me it was something I wanted to for years (to represent) myself. Even though it was during COVID and some people felt it wasn’t the right time to represent myself, but I just wanted to do what was right and actually take control of my career.
“I didn’t really enjoy how my career was going and for myself I wanted to make the best decision that was for me, and I think for myself, I did pretty good, which is the most important thing,” Duclair added. “Got out of Ottawa and came here to an organization that welcomed me with open arms … you have to look at what situation is best for you and get to be direct to the GM yourself, there’s not a third person and you get to represent your best self to the GMs, not have someone else do the talking for you.”
Duclair said being his own agent came with some interesting caveats, while agent-to-GM negotiations can feel impersonal, Duclair said he was able to learn more about how certain NHL GMs treated players like people, especially with how open they were to talking to him directly.
“You know what you are coming into and what the person running things is and how they handle their business,” Duclair said. “You know directly who you are dealing with, and I think that’s important for me.”
Duclair said he greatly respects how Panthers GM Bill Zito handled negotiations, that both sides were trying to take care of their business and their families, and that he’s looking forward to dealing with Zito in the future when it comes to his next contract.
Duclair has only played eight games this season for Florida after having offseason surgery to repair a torn achilles tendon. In his eight games back in the lineup he has three points (one goal, two assists), and has 21 shots in a top-six role.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice is in his first season in Florida and said Duclair’s rather instant success since returning to play can be attributed to how he approached being involved despite not being able to do much physically.
“We made sure right from the summer that he was part of every meeting so he never missed a meeting all year with the exception of pregame meetings (when it’s only players dressed for that game),” Maurice said. “We probably drove him nuts. You watch six months of video, so when he came out to play he was systemically as good as anybody we had.”
Maurice said Duclair would also look at the game with a “coaching mindset,” from the press box, which isn’t often a universal statement about players.
“You would talk to him after the game about what happened and he gives you a pretty good description of what happened that not a lot of players can give,” Maurice said. “He gives the coaching description, he’s got it. He’s got a great intuition and he reads the game.”
Duclair’s intuition and feel for the game brings me back to another point about his exit from Ottawa, and the outside belief he left money on the table by not accepting the Senators offer in October of 2019.
Duclair may have made a poor financial read on the situation, his best deal likely would have been in Ottawa. But he also made a read on what he felt would be his best situation both personally both on and off the ice, and that at the end, he said is the most important thing.
I am interested to see where he goes with his career after he retires. Sounds like he's got some skills that could make him successful at a few different roles.