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

[JetsFan815]

Watching this guy in the last year and a half of his tenure with the Jets was literally ruining my love of hockey. I am not kidding when I legitimately did not want to watch the Jets play any more due to having to watch this guy out there for a large chunk of games.

Obviously he has all the talent and tools but he only brings it when he feels like it. Maybe he puts it together with the Caps but I am happy to have moved on from him and I am sure so are the LA fans.

 

[Lindemann]

When PLD is on the ice, our 2nd line has had more sustained zone time and scoring chances than not. His numbers don’t show it but he has been creating havoc all over the ice for us so far

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

PLD has put in more effort in Washington in his first 10 games than the entire year in LA last season.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

It's not a surprise to say the least PLD's been good so far with the Caps. The guy can play when he's motivated.

Question is does he do it every year.

 

[Tasteless Beaver]

Isn’t PLD’s only goal this year an empty netter? This isn’t some redemption story, he’s still grossly overpaid trash until proven otherwise.

 

[dabeechman]

Glad he is working out for the Caps, but he doesn't need a coach to tell him how to fix his game. In LA, he was lazy, a draw on his line, and took terrible penalties. If he just tried and applied himself, he'd still be in LA.

 

[Martyros]

He wanted clear directions to do what he's paid to do? He strikes me as a guy that would be given directions on what to do and his response would be "don't tell me what to do".

But no, your problem wasn't having clear directions, it has always been your lack of emotion towards the game. Played like a kid in the backyard while being in his own thoughts about school.

 

[Telos]

Wouldn't matter if he won the Con Smythe the Kings wouldn't regret dealing him. He was acceptable early last season too when the Kings tore it up until around December. By the end of the year it was the most demoralizing performance I've ever witnessed from a player on the Kings in recent memory. He had to go.

That being said, he looks better on paper and can accumulate some points here or there, I wouldn't be surprised if he has some 40-60 points years on some other teams like he has in the past, but his points feel like empty calories compared to his attitude and effort when the game is on the line and each shift starts to really matter. I'd be interested to see a full season or two what he does or if ever put in a clutch postseason situation again. I've never seen a player crush the souls of all his teammates and fans so effortlessly.

 

[Little Psycho]

Get back to me when you whip out the Gold Star System.

 

[BaileyFan]

Watching this guy in the last year and a half of his tenure with the Jets was literally ruining my love of hockey. I am not kidding when I legitimately did not want to watch the Jets play any more due to having to watch this guy out there for a large chunk of games.

Obviously he has all the talent and tools but he only brings it when he feels like it. Maybe he puts it together with the Caps but I am happy to have moved on from him and I am sure so are the LA fans.

This is a spot-on description of what it’s like to be a fan of the team he’s on. Yeah PLD sucks and is an overpaid slug but plenty of players fit that description. What sets him apart is that his obvious disdain for the game is contagious. The more you watch PLD the more you will dislike hockey. The Kings haven’t been great to watch so far this season but it’s been like a detox from the previous 87 games of seeing #80 do his whole coasting routine night after night.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Question is does he do it every year.

Or for a whole year, for starters.

 

[Royale With Cheese]

One day, Pierre is going to retire with $80 million in career earnings. And he will have earned that by giving a 27% effort at his job.

Should be a crime.

 

[Midnight Judges]

Isn’t PLD’s only goal this year an empty netter? This isn’t some redemption story, he’s still grossly overpaid trash until proven otherwise.

Eh it's a small sample. Eye test - he's playing well enough. Fabulous on zone entries, which is something the Caps needed after Kuznetsov went down hill.

 

[Breakers]

Watching this guy in the last year and a half of his tenure with the Jets was literally ruining my love of hockey. I am not kidding when I legitimately did not want to watch the Jets play any more due to having to watch this guy out there for a large chunk of games.

Reminds me of Pettersson right now

Can’t watch games anymore with this guy in the lineup pouting over something.

Maybe it’s personal. Are we really going to be a year or longer of terrible hockey.

 

[EroCaps]

This is a spot-on description of what it’s like to be a fan of the team he’s on. Yeah PLD sucks and is an overpaid slug but plenty of players fit that description. What sets him apart is that his obvious disdain for the game is contagious. The more you watch PLD the more you will dislike hockey. The Kings haven’t been great to watch so far this season but it’s been like a detox from the previous 87 games of seeing #80 do his whole coasting routine night after night.

As a Caps fan having to watch Kuznetsov and Mantha the last several years dog it night in night out in this manner, I am not thrilled.

I frankly don’t buy the clear instruction excuse. He wants to be wooed and treated like a princess to do his job. Man the f*** up.

 

[3074326]

One day, Pierre is going to retire with $80 million in career earnings. And he will have earned that by giving a 27% effort at his job.

Should be a crime.

The real crime is that GMs gave him $80M. Not that he accepted it.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Again, though, it's not so much about boxcar production as team success. If he's doing things that enable them to win games that's mainly all they're concerned about. Of course, it's premature to take any sort of victory lap and there are limits to subtlety and support being worth his AAV. There's a massive amount of term remaining for things to go sideways or grow stale. But for now at least Carbery seems to be keeping him on script and in the sort of role more likely to keep him engaged in the process. With a player like him that's the big obstacle.

Kings had early season success last year too. He was on the roster for the record breaking road win streak to start the season and it was easy to ignore his faults because they weren't backbreakers at the time. That terrible January into February, his shortcomings became very apparent. He didn't step up like they expected him to do. If anything, he retreated further into his own shell. He briefly emerged when Arvidsson returned to the lineup had a week where they seemed to gel. Then he became a ghost again.

But I've said many times, I never understood why Blake wanted him in the first place. He wasn't impressive on paper or with the eye test. He seemed very mid. Winnipeg seemed eager to be rid of him too. Maybe he's in an environment now that can compensate for his weaknesses. We'll see.

 

[shuchukfan]

...an organization that would implement a gold-star system like that on a player is soooooo disrespectful...

With all due respect, his lack of effort almost every game was disrespectful to fans and his teammates. At least the Kings still have a lot of sheets of gold stars left for other things. I can't imagine PLD got too many.

 

[Osprey]

But I've said many times, I never understood why Blake wanted him in the first place.

I think that Blake lives in the past. He can't resist acquiring players that he coveted years ago. He remembered drooling over Dubois in his draft year and finally had a chance to get him. He admired Kovalchuk's elite skill while he (Blake) was still playing, so he wooed him to LA. He wished that he had Edmundson on his team when the Blues won the Cup, so he finally signed him. It doesn't seem to matter to him that 7 years had elapsed in each case and they weren't the players that they once were or, in Dubois' case, expected to become. He still wanted the player that he remembered. It's opposite of Lombardi, who built a team for the future, not the team that he wished that he had in the past.

 

[Bandit]

Eh it's a small sample. Eye test - he's playing well enough. Fabulous on zone entries, which is something the Caps needed after Kuznetsov went down hill.

Ah yes “zone entries”. I wish I could get paid 1 million a year for being “pretty ok” at one of the 2,364 facets of my job. This bozo gets 8 million.