Canadiens: Pierre-Luc Dubois Reportedly Available Once Again

Much like the Canadiens, the Winnipeg Jets have had a disastrous season and will also be missing the playoffs this season.

Paul Maurice is no longer their coach, the Jets’ defence has once again been terrible and Neil Pionk has publicly taken a lot of the blame for the Jets’ misfortunes this season. However, that hasn’t been the case for Pierre-Luc Dubois, last season’s prized acquisition the club received in return for winger Patrik Laine.

The Ste-Agathe-des-Monts native has enjoyed a solid season. He tied his career high in goals with 27 and has 58 points in 78 games. His career high is 61 points, the year he scored 27 goals in 2018 with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Dubois has played his role of being a big power forward centerman, something of a rarity in today’s NHL. His 106 penalty minutes are a career high and he has also showed many improvements in defensive responsibilities, despite his -7 rating.

That being said, the 23 year old will once again be an RFA this summer and will certainly command a raise from his current $5 million cap hit, something the Jets aren’t that willing to do according to Elliotte Friedman.

Now completing his 2 year $10 million bridge contract, Dubois is reportedly seeking a contract similar to Nick Suzuki, who signed an 8 year $63 million contract extension that comes into effect next season at a $7,875,000 cap hit.

With the Canadiens needing an upgrade down the middle to support Suzuki, it’s no stretch of the imagination that rumors will start appearing once again linking Dubois to Montreal. We remember that the Canadiens were very aggressive with trying to pry Dubois out of Columbus. The most persistant rumor was that then general manager Marc Bergevin offered a package consisting of Joel Armia, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Ryan Poehling and a draft pick. When Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen rejected the trade and asking for one of Nick Suzuki or Phillip Danault, Bergevin hung the phone up.

The price for obtaining Dubois will certainly be sky high and Winnipeg will be looking for a significant upgrade at the blue line.

The Canadiens will need to fix their cap space before considering Dubois with Shea Weber and possibly Carey Price taking up a huge chunk of the LTIR section of the salary cap. Weber has been the center of many trade rumors with the Arizona Coyotes in line to pick up the hefty contract.

Furthermore, with the Canadiens already having slim pickings at the blue line, the team would have to make a huge sacrifice in order to land Dubois. A Jeff Petry will certainly not suffice to appease the asking price for Dubois, and he will likely refuse to move to the arctic winds of Winnipeg.

Jets’ GM Kevin Cheveldayoff will likely see Montreal coming and immediately ask for one of the Canadiens’ top defensive prospects. A package that would include one or a few of Kaiden Guhle, Mattias Norlinder or Jordan Harris will likely be required to make this deal happen. Furthermore, an NHL player will probably be needed in order to fill the gap left by Dubois up front, so the likes of Christian Dvorak and/or Ryan Poehling might be considered, but again, the overall final package in order to bring in Dubois would have to be massive.

Is trading for Dubois doable? Yes. Should the Canadiens do it? That’s up for debate. Although having Dubois paired with Josh Anderson will certainly leave a few bruises to the opposing teams.

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