If you ever find yourself trying to gain the trust and adoration of your team’s fanbase, don’t do what Winnipeg’s Pierre-Luc Dubois has just done. His agent (with his permission, no doubt) has just come out and said that Pierre would love to play for the Montreal Canadians as soon as possible.
This really isn’t a surprise that Dubois wants out of Winnipeg. He’s been practically begging to leave Winnipeg ever since he was traded there by the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Patrick Laine a few years ago. Still, I don’t know what him and his agent were thinking by putting this out now.
There is no chance he is going to get moved this late into the offseason, and especially not to Montreal.
First, why would the Habs want Dubois now? They are going through a rebuild where they are trying to take for Conor Bedard. Getting a 60-point scorer certainly does not help your chances of doing that. The earliest Montreal would ever consider trading for Dubois is next season.
Second, why would Winipeg give up their second-best center only a few weeks before training camp? The Jets want to make it back to the playoffs next season to make up for a disappointing 2021/22 campaign. I’m sure they would have counted on Pierre Luc-Dubois to help them do that prior to a few days ago.
Third, Dubois still has this upcoming season left on his 2-year, $10M contract, but it is not as simple as that. Yes, Dubois will be able to test the free agent market next offseason, but as an RFA. The Jets center still has another two years (2022/23 and 2023/24) to play before his RFA (Restricted Free Agent) status would change to UFA (Unrestricted Free Agent). Thus, Winnipeg essentially controls his future for another two seasons.
Unless Montreal trades for Dubois, they definitely will not be putting in an offer sheet for him on the open market. They already learned their lesson with the Sebastian Aho-Jesperi Kotkaniemi situation. Plus, they would likely have to give up a few 1st-round picks in compensation if they were to sign him that way. And there is no way Montreal is willing to do that.
No, Dubois is stuck in Winnipeg for the foreseeable future.
And, unfortunately for him, he has not only alienated the Jets’ fanbase (who already are not thrilled with him), but also has damaged any potential trade compensation for him by expressing his discomfort in Winnipeg. On a scale of 1-10 on how dumb this move was, it is an 11.
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