Pierre Luc Dubois explains for his poor performance in L.A.

[MoneyManny]

What a crybaby. Zero accountability.

 

[Siludin]

"I don't have the hockey IQ to handle the NHL"
Why would you admit this

 

[bland]

That on TMac if true.

I would say that is a decision made above McLellan to try and validate their stupid acquisition.

Remember when McLellan said that there were players in Ontario that were upset that they weren't on the NHL roster because they were stuck behind worse players on big contracts? The kids in Ontario at that time included Vilardi (who was rumored to be disliked by the Cup core) Kaliyev, Lias Andersson and Toby Bjornfot. All had a taste, performed reasonably well for kids, then were sent back down to change their games to fit into the available role spots that they just weren't suited to fill.

I have been saying this ages now. It makes no sense to force quality prospects to fit into bit parts in a story that has already ended instead of allowing them to play to their strengths, develop a new team identity and use subsequent picks to fill in the gaps as they develop. The stubborn, useless insistence on honoring the fading Cip vets cost the team an entire decade of futility. Dubois was acquired to bridge the gap between the old and the young while still remaining a fringe playoff team instead of accepting their fate and rebuilding. It cost them Faber and Vilardi, and damaged the developmental path of every other prospect.

 

[joestevens29]

"I don't have the hockey IQ to handle the NHL"
Why would you admit this

Probably because he doesn't have normal IQ either.

The whole I don't know where I'm going to live for the next 7 years is something.

I don't know if his mom is still in the picture, but I think she might need to move in with the guy.

 

[bland]

Kaliyev got shafted big time last year for the PLD treatment. With Dubois and Arvidsson now gone, I think Kaliyev will get a shot to play in the Kings top 6 right at the start of the season.

Rumblings are Kaliyev signs in the KHL at this point.

Kaliyev showed up to practice and games then left. Rumor has it he skipped team functions, didn't socialize with his teammates and alienated himself from everyone. He asked for a trade and nobody would even offer a midround pick this summer. His reputation is known. He wants out and hasn't signed his qualifying offer yet.

 

[Oilslick941611]

I actually hate Rob Blake more for giving that contract than I do PLD.

It was a pretty stupid thing to give a player with character issues an 8 Year deal before he even a played a game with your team. It went about as well as I thought it would. That move alone should have cost Blake his job.

 

[brentashton]

"I don't have the hockey IQ to handle the NHL"
Why would you admit this

Because he also lacks common sense.

 

[dgibb10]

"I don't have the hockey IQ to handle the NHL"
Why would you admit this

He's under contract for the next 7 years

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

Even the most average employee does after a few years of experience though.

That would be the hope but I’ve had to manage people across the globe and it’s shocking how many talented people have zero initiative a decade into a job. Given a specific task and micromanaged they can deliver amazing work but otherwise they’ll sit there and do next to nothing and like PLD complain their boss expects them to be autonomous. Not enough hours in the day to play babysitter to these people.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

He's describing what every kid is like in their first job. Overwhelmed, confused, unable to turn general instructions into specific actions without hands-on oversight. Some kids need a few hours to figure it out, some a few days, some a week or two, some will never figure it out. Every kid profits from having a designated mentor who assists them.

The thing is at the NHL level you won't find many coaches who want to babysit guys. It's the majors, coaches expect guys that are plug and play. With the schedule being what it is there just isn't enough time to help individuals along at such a micro level. If things don't 'click' on their own at some point for a young player, they need to be proactive and seek out assistance whichever way they can because no-one's going to go out of their way to babysit players at that level.

 

[brentashton]

That would be the hope but I’ve had to manage people across the globe and it’s shocking how many talented people have zero initiative a decade into a job. Given a specific task and micromanaged they can deliver amazing work but otherwise they’ll sit there and do next to nothing and like PLD complain their boss expects them to be autonomous. Not enough hours in the day to play babysitter to these people.

This isn’t earth shattering. I too was in management/executive in a publicly traded company, my entire work career. Those lacking initiative are the worst to manage. They know what to do but lack the desire to step up. Most are given positive performance contracts and milestones to attain and if they don’t adapt, they get released. Good hiring and prooer management leads to having few if these types to babysit. You don’t keep them around.

 

[benfranklin]

Who tf calls it being "exchanged"?

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

This isn’t earth shattering. I too was in management/executive in a publicly traded company, my entire work career. Those lacking initiative are the worst to manage. They know what to do but lack the desire to step up. Most are given positive performance contracts and milestones to attain and if they don’t adapt, they get released. Good hiring and prooer management leads to having few if these types to babysit. You don’t keep them around.

Yeah used to be easy to move them on, new HR rules make it tougher every year so many get to plod along - they don’t make $8.5 MM/year at least

 

[Stringer Bell]

What other player in NHL history had a relatively strong reputation like this and completely turned it around?

Kessel is one that comes to mind, but I don't think he was ever thought of as poorly as Dubois.

 

[Coffee]

And yet so many others don’t require this level of handholding and take personal responsibility for their career and productivity (or lack thereof). Let’s call PLD what he really is. Self centred, weak willed human.

And that's okay

 

[Oilslick941611]

Quit on Torts/Jackets after the season had barely started

Sucked in the bubble for the Jets because "he couldn't train properly during Covid"

Stunk his first year of a monster contract with LA because he didn't get proper direction and ended up second-guessing himself

In Washington [fill the blank]

It’s going to be too humid for him dc.

 

[nturn06]

Yikes.

Sometimes one sounds smarter if one doesn't say anything.......

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

There’s a rumor that Rob Blake donned full pads to go out on the ice and work with PLD last season. If that’s not enough 1-1 work I don’t know what is. He’s just a walking excuse.

Yeah between this and the gold-star-system kindergarten bullshit Hiller put together for him, I have a hard time buying this.

NO one is harder on the Kings than Kings fans and we pretty unanimously agree that PLD was a f***ing slug the entire time he was here. We didn't even get a single one of those fabled "when he feels like trying" games, 75% of his shifts were the infamous clip of his way out of columbus.

The funny thing is he was actually reportedly a good dude off the ice and that probably makes it worse. He's friendly and pretty stoic and was very good friends with a number of guys, including Byfield. Seems like it was the same way in Winnipeg. You want to root for him. But on the ice he's a complete f***ing sack. Absolutely pathetic hockey player, his time here made Dustin Penner look like Bobby Clarke.

I see a few people saying big whoop he'll still score 50-60 in washington and sure I agree. He actually produced respectable 5v5 production in LA, too, but he was still playing pathetic losing hockey the whole time. There's a reason most Kings forwards were +double digits but PLD was -9 and the only other minuses were his linemates.

 

[redcard]

Who tf calls it being "exchanged"?

Google translate

 

[BaileyFan]

I think the whole laziness narrative is slightly overblown. Yes, he is lazy but the far bigger problem is that he’s simply not that good of a hockey player. He looked plenty engaged and was putting in effort during parts of the regular season and most of the playoffs but he still sucked.

This is a guy who got hot for a week in a bubble in August when literally everyone hadn’t skated for 5 months and happened to be playing against the beloved Leafs. He managed to parlay that one series and a good first half of a season with a Canadian team into $68 million and he STILL has at least one GM thinking “I can fix him”.

The Caps could’ve simply bought out Kuemper and signed some generic C in free agency and they would’ve ended up with a better player for less money and less term than PLD.

 

[Rubi]

Didn't read his explanation. Don't care. Thats my contribution to this thread.

 

[Jovavic]

Yep

 

[mattihp]

"I lived through the worst scenario" is this a poor translation from French or is there a personal tragedy there?

 

[strattonius]

"I lived through the worst scenario" is this a poor translation from French or is there a personal tragedy there?

He just seems to have a difficult personality. Sounds more like he's making excuses for his poor play and blaming it on the environment he was playing in.

 

[mattihp]

He just seems to have a difficult personality. Sounds more like he's making excuses for his poor play and blaming it on the environment he was playing in.

That does sound immature.