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

[kylbaz]

Are we not surprised that he's succeeding now that he's out of Los Angeles? One of the worst organizations in the league, I know he signed on because the lifestyle and the beach are enticing but an organization that would implement a gold-star system like that on a player is soooooo disrespectful (at least for something like the Cardinals putting a homework/study time clause in Kalamari Kyler Murray's contract they tried to wipe it clean once news of it got out).

Pierre, you are free now. Spread your wings, boss.

Do you mind if I bump this in a month when he's playing mediocre hockey and doesn't care again?

 

[Oilslick941611]

Do you mind if I bump this in a month when he's playing mediocre hockey and doesn't care again?

7 games is not a great sample size.

 

[Misery74]

Do you mind if I bump this in a month when he's playing mediocre hockey and doesn't care again?

As a Caps fan, we gladly do this trade 100 times out of 100.

Wait until Kuemper is healthy. Oof.

 

[kylbaz]

On pace for 10 goals and 50 points. Look out

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Are we really trying to do an I told you so with PLD after 1/8 a season

Bold move cotton

 

[Albatros]

Are we really trying to do an I told you so with PLD after 1/8 a season

Bold move cotton

You mean 7⅛ seasons.

 

[LeftKinger]

Are we not surprised that he's succeeding now that he's out of Los Angeles? One of the worst organizations in the league, I know he signed on because the lifestyle and the beach are enticing but an organization that would implement a gold-star system like that on a player is soooooo disrespectful (at least for something like the Cardinals putting a homework/study time clause in Kalamari Kyler Murray's contract they tried to wipe it clean once news of it got out).

Pierre, you are free now. Spread your wings, boss.

Still early bub. Also, did you just concoct this narrative in your brain? Blake has made some questionable decisions but they’ve made the playoffs and lost to McJesus the last 3 seasons. Teams try motivational tactics all the time. They’re not the best but far far from one of the worst organizations in the league.

 

[Brookbank]

Me me me me me, Dubois loves to talk about himself and only himself. His needs will always come first before his team

That's easy to keep repeating. But he says he needed clear direction.

 

[Brookbank]

I don't understand the hate directed to these quotes...

Guy is pretty self aware that he doesn't operate well unless he is given very specific instructions, and admits he has been trying to work on it.

But if you're an NHL club, you really don't want to have to give that detailed of information to players. He has effectively ended his career (at least after this contract).

He has been the biggest whipping boy in the league for the last 2-3 years. People like having a whipping boy.

 

[trick9]

Are we really trying to do an I told you so with PLD after 1/8 a season

Bold move cotton

Almost as dumb as writing off a prime-aged player for 1 bad season on a disaster franchise.

PLD will likely be in Washington what he has been his entire career, player hovering around 60 points. But they've found a really good spot for him and that line has been really good so far.

I mean isn't this a good thing for the Kings too if PLD succeeds in Washington? You finally get rid of Rob Blake who is propably the worst GM in the league. I'd be thrilled.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Almost as dumb as writing off a prime-aged player for 1 bad season on a disaster franchise.

PLD will likely be in Washington what he has been his entire career, player hovering around 60 points. But they've found a really good spot for him and that line has been really good so far.

I mean isn't this a good thing for the Kings too if PLD succeeds in Washington? You finally get rid of Rob Blake who is propably the worst GM in the league. I'd be thrilled.

It would’ve looked worse for Blake had he kept Dubois before the movement clause kicked in and Dubois never rebounded then trading him for a cap dump with much shorter term and Dubois turning it around somewhere else. PLD had caused problems on and off the ice for three different teams, it’s not surprising any team would look for a way out of that.

 

[BaileyFan]

Almost as dumb as writing off a prime-aged player for 1 bad season on a disaster franchise.

PLD will likely be in Washington what he has been his entire career, player hovering around 60 points. But they've found a really good spot for him and that line has been really good so far.

I mean isn't this a good thing for the Kings too if PLD succeeds in Washington? You finally get rid of Rob Blake who is propably the worst GM in the league. I'd be thrilled.

If 60 points for $8.5M is considered “good” to you then be my guest. And that is the absolute best case scenario with him.

You don’t understand the pull Rob Blake has with ownership. PLD could win the Art Ross and ownership would still give Blake an extension as long as the team stays out of the bottom five of the league and makes a token appearance in the playoff race. Blake is inevitable.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Are we really trying to do an I told you so with PLD after 1/8 a season

Bold move cotton

Bold move is to go to bat for the guy in his 8th NHL season how this year it's really going to be different. How the weather for him is not too cold and not too hot this year, the coach likes him, instructions are clear, fans care enough for him to feel important but not enough to feel the pressure. How the guy who has a career-high of 63 points and is pacing pretty much dead on his career average is really going to prove everyone wrong with his 4th team.

PLD is what he is: a high-maintenance second-line center who was overpaid due to his size, draft pedigree and squeezing the market starved for that kind of player. Washington seems in a position to not get weighted down too much by that contract that's going to be more acceptable as the cap grows. So it's not a problem for them but doesn't make PLD a better player than he is either.

 

[Herregud]

I'll take PLD as he is and not as people want him to be. There's still time for him to crash and burn, but his line has been lights out good. I do think we need to pump the breaks a bit with the chest thumping, but there's nothing wrong with being satisfied with where the team is at with him on it right now.

It's a lot of money for the current raw numbers, sure, but considering the lines he and his mates are thrown out against and how utterly oppressive they've been, I'm willing to bet that dam is going to break sooner rather than later. Especially with him shooting just half his career percentage.

Also, I've yet to see or hear anything since he's been a Cap that lends credibility to the "self before team" nonsense. He's kept his head down and gone to work in DC since day one.

 

[qc14]

The Kings needed him to be the two-way 1c they paid $8.5M and traded a bunch of assets for and then didn't put him in a position to be that guy.

Washington needs him to clear the incredibly low bar of "better than 23-24 Kuznetsov" and has put him in a position to succeed. Sure it's a bit too early to take a full victory lap but his line (with two other guys coming off of not great years!) has been top 10 line in the entire league good

 

[stephenball]

He’s played well so far, better than his stats show. Honestly everybody knows his contract is ridiculous. The Caps were in a good position to take a flyer on it, it’s not going to break their salary cap situation now or likely for years. They gave up nothing for him and so far he’s been put in a position to succeed. The Capitals are at this point a better team with him on it. I understand fans have been burned before, and that sucks, and I’m not saying he’s going to be perfect here, but so far so good, his line has been the best for the Caps, even if it isn’t him putting up the points.

 

[FrozenKing18]

I don't know about other Kings fans, but if PLD succeeding in WSH is the catalyst to making Rob and Luc look like idiots and leading to a front office clean house. I'm good with that. It's wishful thinking, but I would happily accept that scenario if it ever happens.

 

[Johnnucleo]

Bold move is to go to bat for the guy in his 8th NHL season how this year it's really going to be different. How the weather for him is not too cold and not too hot this year, the coach likes him, instructions are clear, fans care enough for him to feel important but not enough to feel the pressure. How the guy who has a career-high of 63 points and is pacing pretty much dead on his career average is really going to prove everyone wrong with his 4th team.

PLD is what he is: a high-maintenance second-line center who was overpaid due to his size, draft pedigree and squeezing the market starved for that kind of player. Washington seems in a position to not get weighted down too much by that contract that's going to be more acceptable as the cap grows. So it's not a problem for them but doesn't make PLD a better player than he is either.

This is a solid take. I think also the Kings saw Dubois as the second coming of Kopitar and as such were happy to trade a ton of assets for him. What was really dumb was that the Kings totally failed to put him in any kind of position to succeed. I think he's overpaid yeah, but it is what it is now, just put on 2nd line C and don't expect the moon, and he will be fine

 

[EroCaps]

I don’t like having this dude on my team.

Needs clear instruction?

Bro use your massive body to hit and score goals. This shit isn’t rocket science.

 

[Osprey]

The Kings needed him to be the two-way 1c they paid $8.5M and traded a bunch of assets for and then didn't put him in a position to be that guy.

They didn't need or expect him to be the 1C. He wasn't going to replace Kopitar any time soon... and it was hoped that Byfield would eventually be the player to do that. They also didn't need him to be that much of a two-way player, since Kopitar and Danault are both that. They needed him to be a solid, productive 2C, one that would push Danault down to 3C, and they did put him in that position and with good linemates. It was really not much different than the position that he's been put in this season (playing 2C with Wilson and McMichael), and his production isn't any different, either. The difference is that LA wanted more of an impact from him, considering what they gave up for him, whereas WSH doesn't seem to have many expectations for him because they gave up nothing for him.

...just put on 2nd line C and don't expect the moon, and he will be fine

They did put him at 2C to start last season and he wasn't fine. He was so not fine that they tried moving him to the wing to take the burden of being the center away and then moving him to the 3rd line to give him more favorable matchups.

 

[Langway]

It's not that Washington doesn't have many expectations for PLD but rather they're not placing a big emphasis on production per se. It's more about the process, two-way play and a more attuned role to his skill set than expecting him to be something he's not (a high-end offensive workhorse). He does provide more subtle support elements that are valuable. They're less valuable to a team like LA with their existing center mix but that's a scouting failure more than anything. Shifting him to wing just sort of showed there was no future there.

Whereas I think Washington has a better sense of his strengths and limitations, what keeps him engaged and also have a different mix of centers so that he's able to play a role he's more suited for. Often it's just that simple. Not to say it'll all go swimmingly in DC for PLD but putting players in roles they're suited for rather than shoe-horning them can make all the difference.