Yeah. That 25th (out of 31) PK
Dubinsky has no points in his last 15 games. He's -6 in those games. He's been stripped of his asst. captaincy. He's been sent home from the team for who knows what-but it had to be a pretty bad. He got his face caved in so bad that he probably can never fight again.
He's averaging 0.28 points per game. 12th among CBJ forwards. That's the equivalent to the worst 4th liner.
NHL.com - Stats
He's a bigger liability than Umberger was and he's not going to get better. He's going to get worse.
3 more years left at almost $6 million per. A real bargain. Nothing like having an aging 4th liner who is deemed incapable of being an assistant captain and is the lowest point producing forward (PPG) being the 3rd highest paid player on the team.
He's been in rapid decline for 2 seasons. He's barely an NHLer anymore. Running around like a chicken with his head cut off in his defensive zone doesn't make him a good defensive player. It makes him a player who can't generate any offense and who stifles other's offense so he's always in his own zone.
I wouldn't mind seeing a Bobby Ryan for Dubinsky trade. Ottawa would retain $700,000 per year on the first 3 years of Ryan's contract (4 years remaining compared to 3 for Dubinsky). Each team would have a $6.55 million cap hit and cash expenditure for those 3 years. The Jackets would be on the hook for the $7.25 million of the last year which effectively can't be bought out due to the bonus portion of the contract. Ryan is producing at a bit better than 0.50 PPG and while he's in decline, he's not finished like Dubinsky. It's about the only possible trade that I can envision. If something like this can't be worked out, then the CBJ will just have to bite the bullet and buy the bum out. The owner of the Senators is a notorious penny pincher and saving $7.25 million (or more if he immediately buys Dubinsky out) could make the deal a real possibility. I want 4 free Lexus seat season tickets courtesy of Eugene Melnyk if this happens with the terms I've outlined.