Confirmed Trade: [LAK/WPG] Pierre-Luc Dubois (signs 8 years, $8.5M AAV) for Gabe Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari, 2024 2nd round pick

[KingsHockey24]

I think people are overrating the return that Winnipeg got.

Yup.

-2nd line RW'er that can't stay healthy
-3rd line LW'er that's almost 30
-4th line center that has no scoring upside

Reminds me of when everyone was saying the Panthers got robbed with Tkachuk. Well.. the team that gets the best player in the deal usually wins.

I'll take PLD over those replaceable assets any day.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Yup.

-2nd line RW'er that can't stay healthy
-3rd line LW'er that's almost 30
-4th line center that has no scoring upside

Reminds me of when everyone was saying the Panthers got robbed with Tkachuk. Well.. the team that gets the best player in the deal usually wins.

I'll take PLD over those replaceable assets any day.

At worst, it seems like ~$1.10 on the $1, which isn't all that bad when you get a young top 6 center in return, and that's if Vilardi turns out to be a consistently good player.

 

[MessierII]

Gotta give it to the jets. When players want out they really get a haul every time.

 

[fsanford]

I think people are overrating the return that Winnipeg got.

People need to ask themselves with the same pieces and situation occurred last year would the Jets have agreed to the deal.
The answer is probably no.

Gabe had 11 or 12 goals the first 6 weeks of the year and then slid back to like 2 goals per month

He has a lot to prove yet. And he certainly can. But right now the deal is a potential top 6, 2 guys that are probably bottom 6.

There is potential there but its just that, potential.

Deal is a hockey trade that probably helps both sides


To compete with top teams in the west 3 solid centers will help a lot. That's what it's all about

 

[Guffman]

Gotta give it to the jets. When players want out they really get a haul every time.

Guys, this isn't a zero-sum game.

The deal can be good for both sides.

 

[Brent Burns]

I have watched many Kings games over the last few seasons. That is an absolute haul for WPG under normal circumstances, let alone with WPG’s hands tied. Having said that, under Blake’s leadership the org has done incredibly well so I can see it working out for the Kings too. I just think, especially combined with trading Durzi, they’ve lost a lot of capital for less than market value.

 

[larmex99]

I think the draft pick on top of the players was odd, but good on Cheveldayoff.
Hope it works well for both teams.

I believe that the draft pick was in exchange for taking Iafallo and Kupari as it was needed in order to make the $ work for LA. Not saying they didn’t have value as the Kings fans seem to appreciate what they bring to the game. Just saying that LA needed to make it work and Jets likely weren’t looking to add players for free.

 

[soothsayer]

I think people are overrating the return that Winnipeg got.

I think people are overrating PLD. He's never been that impressive when I've watched him. And he's not the guy who will leave it all on the ice to move his team through the playoffs.

As an Oiler fan, I just watched LA give up a guy (Iafallo) who will give his arm for his team in the playoffs and was arguably their best player at times against the Oilers, plus another really good and dangerous young player, for a guy who . . . sometimes looks like he went to the Kyle Wellwood school of enthusiasm on the ice.

I get that LA thinks they need to increase their star power down the middle to get out of the west, but PLD is definitely not that guy to really push them forward. Nor do I think he's a stand-alone legit number 1 center. There's some risk there too.

 

[Baksfamous112]

I forgive you and your fellow Hab fans for your heretical sins over the past year. For penance for these sins, Habs were compelled to overpay for Newhook.

I will leave you with one prophesy. The second round pick that Winnipeg received as part of the Dubois package, that was originally owned by Montreal and used in part to acquire Dvorak, will turn out to be an NHL star.

So sayeth Guffman!

Lmao.

To be fair, it does seem like Hughes had no intention to overpay and I even read somewhere that Barron, Suzuki, Caufield, Guhle, Slaf and Dach were untouchable when discussing a potential PLD trade so technically, we were also right.

This morning, Friedman said that Winnipeg really liked a lot of Habs prospect but ultimately, L.A stepped up and offered more-ready players and a bigger package.. which is fair and the reason why he’s in L.A right now.

Funny enough, he also said that Montreal were not really interested to go as high as L.A in terms of AAV as well.

 

[Sweech]

Wanted to dump my giant .02c opinion.

Personally think it's a good trade for both teams. I know that's not the fashionable opinion especially when most think LA got hosed here but I think it's simply a "hockey" trade where both teams got what's valuable to them. At least that's how I see it as a Jets fan.

Let me break it down:
LA got the more valuable NHL asset with a high end C. People saying his contract is an overpay...hard disagree. I think you'll find most Jets fans (including myself) would have been more than happy to see PLD sign that contract for the Jets. I also think LA can help shelter some of PLD's warts in his defensive play by already having two of the best defensive Cs in the league in Danault and Kopitar. As for PLD being the heir apparent to Kopitar...highly doubt it. PLD could be a better scorer maybe but there's no way he's going to be the defensive two-way player Kopitar is.

I think LA moved pieces that allows them to come out cap neutral at worst and pending the Vilardi contract probably cap positive. That said they still have to work out the rest of the roster with what is left of a shoestring budget. More moves to shed $ will be made. That much is guaranteed.

As for the Jets the retool is here. It was never going to be a full blown rebuild and I don't think it ever had to be. I'm more than happy with the assets returned. Although worries remain on the fact we basically don't have centers on the roster at this point.

That said I was tired of the way the Jets had built the team with most of the forwards being bad on defense (I cannot wait to see the back of Scheifele and Wheeler) and as much as I actually did like PLD he wasn't great on defense either. Though as I said earlier I think LA is the perfect situation to help shelter that.

In return we get two very good defensive wingers who still provide solid offense in Valardi and Iafallo, the latter being a player I've been a massive fan of for ages and really hope we can somehow interest him in staying past the 2 years he has remaining on his contract. As I said earlier I'm so sick and tired of forwards who don't play defense so this is a much welcomed change for the team - hopefully it will continue.

Then we got a 2nd and Kupari. Low end prospect and a pick. It's nice but nothing crazy, hopefully the Kings fans who love Kupari are right and he develops into a really good player, the tools are obviously there.

Overall I actually think this is a trade that actually helps both teams. I already can't wait for the season to start and see how things play out even though both teams still have plenty of deals to make before then.

 

[McShogun99]

LA got the best player in the trade but made their team worse with all the depth players they traded to make room for PLD.

 

[KingsHockey24]

LA got the best player in the trade but made their team worse with all the depth players they traded to make room for PLD.

All three players are pretty easily replaceable though.

We can finally promote Kaliyev from the 4th line to the top six.

Turcotte, Fagemo, Chromiak, Laferriere can all step in for whatever Kupari did.

 

[kylbaz]

Yup.

-2nd line RW'er that can't stay healthy
-3rd line LW'er that's almost 30
-4th line center that has no scoring upside

Reminds me of when everyone was saying the Panthers got robbed with Tkachuk. Well.. the team that gets the best player in the deal usually wins.

I'll take PLD over those replaceable assets any day.

At first I thought it was an amazing haul but now I'm starting to think it's fairly balanced, at the very least not as one sided.
Few points
1. The Jets had no leverage so getting this back compared to Montreal's first rumoured trash offer, it is quite well for the Jets.
2. Months ago Jets fans would have loved to sign him for 8 years at $8.5M, even now they probably would have taken it. The problem is that PLD can take over games but can also be invisible at times. And to top it off he takes stupid penalties. He showed up for game one of the playoffs then disappeared.
3. Vilardi may have health issues but has great potential. I mean there's a reason why 3/4 of the Kings fanbase is mad at this trade.
4. 2nd round picks have something like a 20% chance of becoming an NHLer so I'm never excited about 2nd round picks and not sure why anyone is.
5. Kupari is probably a bust but it can be a low risk high reward if they can turn him into something.

As other Jets fans have said, Dubois wanted out and our hands were quite tied. He could have really screwed us but worked with the Jets organization to help us get the best return possible. Some of his "leaks" weren't the best but in the end this was the best case scenario when it could have been 10x worse.

 

[SCP Guy]

I wonder how many spots lower the Habs 2nd round pick next year will be below the 31st overall pick that was being floated as the center piece in a PLD to Montreal trade?

Its gotta be less than 10 spots no?

 

[CanadienShark]

Kings do alright here. I'm glad he didn't go to Montreal.

 

[kylbaz]

All three players are pretty easily replaceable though.

We can finally promote Kaliyev from the 4th line to the top six.

Turcotte, Fagemo, Chromiak, Laferriere can all step in for whatever Kupari did.

So Iafallo is just a third liner no big deal with 14 goals and 22 assists but Kaliyev can go top six with his 13 goals and 15 assists?

 

[KingsHockey24]

So Iafallo is just a third liner no big deal with 14 goals and 22 assists but Kaliyev can go top six with his 13 goals and 15 assists?

Kaliyev has spent a majority of his career playing with Blake Lizotte and Brendan Lemieux.

TM will play the vets over the young guys 10/10 times.

 

[kylbaz]

Kaliyev has spent a majority of his career playing with Blake Lizotte and Brendan Lemieux.

TM will play the vets over the young guys 10/10 times.

Just curious who has Iafallo played with mostly?

 

[golgoXIII]

LA got the best player in the trade but made their team worse with all the depth players they traded to make room for PLD.

they made place for Turcotte Byfield ans others prospect to step up

 

[golgoXIII]

LA got the best players of the Trade after 55 Games Dubois was 19 the in the nhl for pts he will put ppg this year I'm pretty sure...Vilardi is extremely risky with is injury history Iafallo is a 3 Rd line and Kupari also ...for me LA win the Trade easily

 

[KingsHockey24]

Just curious who has Iafallo played with mostly?

Danault/Arvidsson/Kopitar.

 

[Sweech]

All three players are pretty easily replaceable though.

We can finally promote Kaliyev from the 4th line to the top six.

Turcotte, Fagemo, Chromiak, Laferriere can all step in for whatever Kupari did.

Personal and biased opinion obviously, but I think Iafallo is going to be harder to replace than people think.

Obviously he's a depth middle six guy so the value of what that is depends on the person but I think Iafallo type players are worth their weight in gold for what they give a team.

 

[Brownie to Pancakes]

So Iafallo is just a third liner no big deal with 14 goals and 22 assists but Kaliyev can go top six with his 13 goals and 15 assists?

Kaliyev managed that production with absolutely braindead deployment. With these moves he's forced onto a scoring line instead of a checking line and will produce more than Iafallo easily.

 

[KingsHockey24]

Personal and biased opinion obviously, but I think Iafallo is going to be harder to replace than people think.

Obviously he's a depth middle six guy so the value of what that is depends on the person but I think Iafallo type players are worth their weight in gold for what they give a team.

He's already been replaced with Trevor Moore.

 

[Sweech]

At first I thought it was an amazing haul but now I'm starting to think it's fairly balanced, at the very least not as one sided.
Few points
1. The Jets had no leverage so getting this back compared to Montreal's first rumoured trash offer, it is quite well for the Jets.
2. Months ago Jets fans would have loved to sign him for 8 years at $8.5M, even now they probably would have taken it. The problem is that PLD can take over games but can also be invisible at times. And to top it off he takes stupid penalties. He showed up for game one of the playoffs then disappeared.
3. Vilardi may have health issues but has great potential. I mean there's a reason why 3/4 of the Kings fanbase is mad at this trade.
4. 2nd round picks have something like a 20% chance of becoming an NHLer so I'm never excited about 2nd round picks and not sure why anyone is.
5. Kupari is probably a bust but it can be a low risk high reward if they can turn him into something.

As other Jets fans have said, Dubois wanted out and our hands were quite tied. He could have really screwed us but worked with the Jets organization to help us get the best return possible. Some of his "leaks" weren't the best but in the end this was the best case scenario when it could have been 10x worse.

Just wanted to address something I see written here often: "The Jets had no leverage"

Simply untrue. Even IF the rumours of him only willing to go to Montreal were true (and clearly they were not at all) the Jets still had plenty of leverage.

Let me explain. The Jets still had him as an arbitration RFA. The absolute worst case scenario is what? a 1 year 8-9 mil deal? That's fine. The only thing that could ever hurt the Jets in that scenario would be a long term injury to PLD. Simply sign him for the one year deal and then trade him at the deadline. Can you imagine what a 1-2 C with 50% retained at the deadline is worth to teams making a big cup run is worth? Even when that team knows he's a half season + playoffs rental you could argue he could return more than what the Jets received in this deal.

That said it does hinge on health and the return would be based more on prospects and picks and I think Chevy being the overly prudent man he is didn't want to take that risk and would rather take a re-tool type deal like this one rather than a futures ladden one that he could have had at the deadline.

But overall like I said the Jets still had leverage. This is a top end value asset in today's NHL and was always going to be whether he wanted to walk to one team or not.