A now-former Colorado Avalanche assistant coach has some offseason advice for Matt Duchene.

"I think he needs a break right now," Tim Army, who was dismissed by the club Wednesday after six seasons, told Terry Frei of the Denver Post.

"He has produced 30 goals in the league, he for sure should be a 25-goal guy every year. He has that ability and that’s a lot of goals in today’s game. I think he needs a summer to get away and forget about hockey for a little while."

Duchene has averaged 25 goals for every 82 regular-season games played, but mustered only 18 in 77 appearances in 2016-17.

His tenure with the team predated Army's, but the assistant watched as the winger experienced some ups and downs in his career trajectory, leading to an expectation that he's a leading candidate to be traded as part of a roster retooling.

But from Army's point of view, what Duchene really needs is some time to clear his head outdoors, and not a change of scenery within the hockey world.

"I think sometimes he thinks himself into trouble," Army continued. "He overthinks things and he needs sometimes to let go and just go play. When he gets a little tight, it doesn’t go his way, he starts to overthink and grips the stick too tightly. It limits his ability to attack and make plays and attack openings. When he gets on a roll, he’s scary."

Duchene did kick off his summer by playing for Canada at the World Championship, where he scored one goal in 10 games.

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