After lengthy speculation, the Los Angeles Kings finalized a deal for center Pierre-Luc Dubois from the Winnipeg Jets. The sign-and-trade deal – Winnipeg signed Dubois to an eight-year contract with an $8.5 million annual cap hit – is perhaps the boldest move yet by general manager Rob Blake.
Shoring up the Kings center depth comes at a cost, however: going the other way were Gabe Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari, and a second-round pick in this year’s draft.
With the addition of Dubois, this gives the Kings a strong, experienced lineup down the middle. This also allows Quinton Byfield more time to develop without the pressure of playing the center role. It also pushes Phil Danault down to the third line, which will make matchups even more challenging for opposing teams: picking your poison between Anze Kopitar, Dubois, or Danault can’t be a fun decision.
Dubois, the number three draft pick in 2016, began his career with the Columbus Blue Jackets before being swapped for Patrik Laine in 2021. He comes with a lot of unfortunate baggage that at times has overshadowed his on-ice performance. Dubois requested a trade out of Columbus and now informed Winnipeg that he would not be re-signing at the end of his current contract. Each time invited much media frenzy and speculation. To his credit, Dubois seems pleased with the trade and excited about playing in Los Angeles.
Dubois, 25, has both offensive skill and a level of physicality that intrigued the Kings. He put up a career-high 63 points in 73 games this season. That put him as fourth on the Jets; he would have been fourth on the Kings as well. Dubois also recorded 11 power play goals last season, which would have been tied for the team lead on the Kings.
Pierre-Luc Dubois (8×8.5 sign-and-trade to Los Angeles) is a decent generator of 5v5 offence, better yet on the power-play; a great driver of penalty differential and a little underwhelming in front of goal. pic.twitter.com/TOTo7nItpG
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) June 27, 2023
In his media availability, Rob Blake acknowledged that he isn’t done making moves, as the team still needs a goalie. Per CapFriendly, the Kings have $4,536,666 in projected cap space for this coming season, and that’s before factoring in any new contracts for remaining restricted free agents. That also doesn’t consider the cap hits of any players promoted from the AHL.
We will have additional analysis about the trade throughout the week, including some thoughts from Locked On Winnipeg Jets host Harrison Lee about Dubois. What’s your take on the trade? Sound off in the comments!