Columbus Blue Jackets: 3 intriguing landing spots for Pierre-Luc Dubois
When Pierre-Luc Dubois was pulled from the ice five shifts into the Columbus Blue Jackets‘ eventual 3-2 loss to the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning, it effectively spelled the end of the two sides’ increasingly ugly relationship.
Now, sure, technically, that isn’t true per se. John Tortorella stated in his postgame interview that PLD was pulled from the game due to a poor shift, and the 22-year-old forward could be back on the ice – or riding the hardwoods – in a day, a week, or maybe a little longer. But at this point, assuming the two camps don’t have an astonishing meeting of the minds, any chance of Dubois remaining a member of the Blue Jackets long-term is pretty much over.
Make no mistake about it: Pierre-Luc Dubois’ days with the Columbus Blue Jackets are numbered, and general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen would be wise to make a move sooner than later.
Which teams would be the most intriguing landing spots for Dubois? Not which teams are the most realistic landing spots or which teams can put together the best package to get a deal done, but which could change their fates in the most intriguing way with PLD in their uniform? Well, I’ve scoured the league and settle on a few intriguing options who should keep Kekäläinen’s phone number handy as the league year inches forward.
The Montreal Canadiens
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The Montreal Canadiens and Pierre-Luc Dubois have been linked together for years now – literally.
The Canadiens reportedly attempted to trade for PLD during the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, coveted him again in 2018, and would surely still love to see the Quebec native wearing a red, white, and blue jersey at some point in the not too distant future.
Do they necessarily need him? No, the Habs have a pair of intriguing young centers in 2018 trade acquisition Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who was selected third overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. But will either player ever be as good as Dubois is right now, let alone better?
That, my friends, is the question.
With the generally held belief being that the Columbus Blue Jackets would require a package of Suzuki-plus to surrender PLD and his two-year, $10 million deal, there is at least a chance a deal finally goes down, if for no other reason than that it appears the Habs are Dubois’ preferred destination.
While I personally wouldn’t pull the trigger on any deal that gives away Suzuki – as I think he’s one of the brightest young puck distributors in the NHL – I can see why the Blue Jackets would want him and why the Canadiens could convince themselves that such a move is in the best interests of their franchise.
The Ottawa Senators
Keeping things Canadien, er Canadian, a team that doesn’t get brought up very much at all in trade conversations for Pierre-Luc Debois – not as much as, say, the Los Angeles Kings at least – is the Ottawa Senators.
While many assumed this would be a rebuilding year for Ottawa, they clearly didn’t know what Pierre Dorion had up his sleeve, as the Senators’ general manager has been wheeling and dealing at an alarming rate, with picks and players coming and going like a darn Karma Chameleon.
The Senators shipped a second-round pick to the Arizona Coyotes for veteran center Derek Stepan – who has been playing pretty well in a black, red, and gold jersey thus far – and followed it up by acquiring Braydon Coburn, Cedric Paquette, and a second-round pick in 2022 from the Tampa Bay Lightning for forward Marian Gaborik and goaltender Anders Nilsson – both of whom went on long-term IR.
Surely the Senators are a team looking to get good in the not too distant future and build a team that can thrive around franchise winger Brady Tkachuk.
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What better way to optimize Tkachuk’s scoring prowess than to pair him up with a franchise center like Debois?
Though the Senators may ever so slightly cringe at the idea of trading away another massive package for any player no matter how great, Ottawa has the picks, prospects, and veteran players needed to put together a fairly competitive package and could parlay some of their future potential for a chance to compete right now in the North, and eventually Atlantic Division moving forward.
Will it happen? Probably not, but I sure would like to see it become a reality.
The Minnesota Wild
Alright, alright; I get it. “Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Minnesota Wild, how original.” Well, you know what? Why mess with a classic?
There’s a reason these two parties have been linked together so often: Because it just makes too much sense.
The Minnesota Wild are a pretty good team. They have a decent mix of young and old players, have a promising head coach in Dean Evason, who is four games into his first official season as a full-time head coach, and have played surprisingly well in the new West Division desperately waiting for a fourth team to punch their tickets to the playoffs alongside the Vegas Golden Knights, the Colorado Avalanche, and the St. Louis Blues.
They also have a collection of players with varying degrees of tradeability that the two parties could negotiate over from Mat Dumba to Kirill Kaprizov, so both parties could conceivably leave a perspective deal with more or less what they want moving forward.
The Wild, in the opinions of many, are a center away from being a legitimate contender in the West/Central Division. They also have the money to lock up PLD on the kind of contract he’d like moving forward and a clear ‘face of the franchise’ role just waiting for someone young player to come in and take.
Pierre-Luc Dubois can unquestionably fill that role if he’s fully committed and locked into playing for Minnesota. He can also give the team a clear direction to build their roster around moving forward, as opposed to their current strategy of spinning their wheels in the mud a little harder to try to break free from their middle-of-the-road status.
If the Wild can turn in a package sweet enough to get the Columbus Blue Jackets to surrender PLD’s services, it could go a long way to making Minnesota a perennial playoff contender once more.
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Would it work? Who knows, but it is the very definition of an “intriguing landing spot,” which is the whole point of this list.