Speculation: Pierre-Luc Dubois Mega thread. (LAK frontrunner, but Montreal has circled back)

[JeffreyLFC]

He's a year older than Suzuki

And Dach who is the current C (and most likely would have been the piece WPG requested) is two years younger than Suzuki. Habs are rebuilding.

 

[Atoyot]

Literally 35 year old Kopitar outscored him last year.
PLD has never gotten above 28 goals and 63 points. That isn't a number 1 center. You can keep trying to convince everyone he is but nothing PLD has done in the NHL has shown that. Sure he shows glimpses of it but he isn't consistent and again he is lazy.
I don't care how big he is McDavid and Draisaitil will go around him.
Centers don't change teams much what is your point?

LA did need to make a trade but you got the wrong player from Winnipeg. You have traded for Hellerybuck.

He did have 48 points through 41 games this past year. Right around where he injured his hip, and the Jets started free falling.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

I do not think you will get futures over Moore from Kings.

Your team has problem retaining players and Moore has 4 years reasonable contract.

Both Iafallo and Moore has value and not a negative asset.

I do not believe you will get better offer from LA.

Would assume Kupari is traded as well

 

[General Fanager]

awesome...this is almost over....

 

[Junohockeyfan]

There must have been chances to add him over the years. It definitely seemed close at the draft last year. I'm being a bit unfair of course but it really seems like Montreal has been trying to low ball teams with the assumption that PLD wants to be a Hab. He probably does want to be a Hab btw, but he's also an adult.

The thought process with Montreal is as follows:

1. Habs made a splash to get Dach last year who showed very good progression last season offensively and finished the season at 2C.
2. The 5OA will garner a bluechip player and potentially a phenom (Michkov).
3. Habs are building through the draft and developing from within.
4. Reports were that PLD was looking for 9M+AAV longterm with the Habs

For those reasons, the Habs are better off evaluating what they have in Dach and what they will get at 5OA and what they have from within. Trading significant assets for PLD and then having to overpay him would cripple the Habs ability to compete. Especially if he remains a 2C at best.

PLD wanting to be a Hab shouldn't factor into things. Habs should evaluate the player, his pending contract and not his hopes, desires and birth place. Its not Hughes fault that PLD wants to be a Hab. It would have been better if PLD / his agent kept his mouth shut.

 

[kinghock]

Would assume Kupari is traded as well

Kupari will be traded traded as well with Byfield and Clarke.
Anything else Kings need to add?

 

[Guffman]

I just don't see PLD as ever being a 1C at this point. Too inconsistent. He has the talent to be but doesn't have the focus/headspace/professionalism to be. Again, just my opinion. He's a 2C right now. Shouldn't get paid what Horvat got.

If PLD turns into a 1C, then my opionin of him was wrong.

He’s a low-end 1C/high-end 2C with grit. I don’t see him deviating from that area.

He can be a monster in the playoffs or he can disappear. Like I said before, he had a terrific first half last season, helping the Jets to first overall in the conference, then went bad in the second half. Apparently, he had a hip injury.

He’s established his floor, has some upside on ceiling. I think he gets the Horvat contract. You may call it overpaid but the market is the market, and we will find out soon.

 

[Hodge]

Literally 35 year old Kopitar outscored him last year.
PLD has never gotten above 28 goals and 63 points. That isn't a number 1 center. You can keep trying to convince everyone he is but nothing PLD has done in the NHL has shown that. Sure he shows glimpses of it but he isn't consistent and again he is lazy.
I don't care how big he is McDavid and Draisaitil will go around him.
Centers don't change teams much what is your point?

LA did need to make a trade but you got the wrong player from Winnipeg. You have traded for Hellerybuck.

Oh well if McDavid and Draisaitl are better than him he must be a bum.

My point is exactly that first line centers almost never change teams, making this an extremely rare and valuable opportunity for teams looking to take the next step who lack a long term solution at 1C.

Dubois is still young and improving and at least next season will be one of three really good centers on the Kings which means he doesn't have to be McDavid or Draisaitl to drastically improve that team. How different is Kopitar-Dubois-Danault from Eichel-Stephenson-Karlsson? Kings have comparable talent to Vegas on the wings and defense as well.

 

[lomiller1]

Glass houses…they’ll probably be back before the Jets. I imagine some pretty dark years in Winnipeg are coming.

If a player who just turned 25 a couple days ago "doesn't fit your timeline" that's an outright admission the team is going to be bad for a looong time to come.

The Jets will certnainly need to sort some things out this summer but they still have lots of talent on their roster even before the return for players like PLD, Scheifele and Hellebuyck get figured in.

 

[Thechozen1]

I am going to laugh at every Hand fans that said “We DoN’t NeEd To TrAdE fOr HiM. We CaN gEt HiM fOr FrEe NeXt SuMmEr”

When all those Dubois photos popping up all over Montreal with Caulfield and Savard and how they used those to convince themselves that it was going to happen because “where there’s smoke, there’s fire”.

 

[Guffman]

BTW, according to JFresh, Suzuki's contract is horrible!

Hockey cards with an overall number is just a lazy analysis to start with. Hockey analytics are still crude.

 

[Heldig]

I think Stanley could be a throw in here on the Jets side. I'd want futures over Moore though

The Habs 2nd round pick LA acquired for Durzi.

 

[William H Bonney]

Honestly playing around Kopitar and Danault will probably help. Regardless of how poorly he played defensively here he was never as bad as Scheifele. The new measuring sticks alone could do the trick.

I don't really want the Kings to acquire PLD but it's really about the return + extension. If those are reasonable it's worth the risk. But there are too many folks here (not saying you're one of them) pretending like PLD is a #1 center (he's not as of now) or that he's the type of guy that's going to change the Kings fortunes. He certainly could as he's only 25 so it's definitely possible that he finally realizes another tier to his game. But he's a big center who doesn't play a big game, is terrible defensively, and doesn't score at a high enough clip to justify only being useful on half the ice.

I think this is more about the Kings not being sold on Byfield and Turcotte (and I share that opinion), at least as centers, and wanting to add a young-ish center that can hopefully find another level in his game. I get the idea of it, I just hope Blake doesn't overpay on the return or contract. I'm sure he will though.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

The thought process with Montreal is as follows:

1. Habs made a splash to get Dach last year who showed very good progression last season offensively and finished the season at 2C.
2. The 5OA will garner a bluechip player and potentially a phenom (Michkov).
3. Habs are building through the draft and developing from within.
4. Reports were that PLD was looking for 9M+AAV longterm with the Habs

For those reasons, the Habs are better off evaluating what they have in Dach and what they will get at 5OA and what they have from within. Trading significant assets for PLD and then having to overpay him would cripple the Habs ability to compete. Especially if he remains a 2C at best.

PLD wanting to be a Hab shouldn't factor into things. Habs should evaluate the player, his pending contract and not his hopes, desires and birth place. Its not Hughes fault that PLD wants to be a Hab. It would have been better if PLD / his agent kept his mouth shut.

As wise an approach to this situation as any posted here.

 

[sting101]

Vilardi and Iafallo are "high end valuable assets" now? Vilardi was a waiver wire candidate not even 9 months ago and the Kings would be hard pressed to dump Iafallo's contract for more than a 3rd round pick.

Vilardi only because of his injuries and development path was even ever a consideration for such a move. Tage Thompson took a long time so did SheaTheodore , Chandler Stephenson was a spare part in Washington.

Vilardi is a big time player now whether you want to try and diminish that with what you or others considered at the time means jack.

Iafallo i agree is a cap dump that the Jets would look at as a trade deadline flip stop gap for a year if they are taking him back at that salary

 

[Hodge]

Where did I say they were or would be?

PLD also isn't a #1 center but you're clearly a big fan.

Which bonafide no doubt #1 center are you acquiring for Gabe freaking Vilardi and Alex Iafallo?

Fact is Dubois produced like a low end 1C last season and is still young enough that he could conceivably take another step into the top ~20 center range. Centers better than that almost never become available. This is such an easy decision for the Kings.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

And Dach who is the current C (and most likely would have been the piece WPG requested) is two years younger than Suzuki. Habs are rebuilding.

I would trade Dach straight up for PLD, but it would probably take an add from MTL that would make it not worth it IMO.

Dach's contract is great, 3 more years at 3.3 million, and he's still an RFA afterwards. I think Montreal would get a better package back than what they traded for him last summer, which was 13th overall (or Romanov) and some change.

If we're trading Dach I'd rather package him with #5 to move up for Fantilli/Carlsson, or see if there's a real 1C available.

 

[Junohockeyfan]

He’s a low-end 1C/high-end 2C with grit. I don’t see him deviating from that area.

He can be a monster in the playoffs or he can disappear. Like I said before, he had a terrific first half last season, helping the Jets to first overall in the conference, then went bad in the second half. Apparently, he had a hip injury.

He’s established his floor, has some upside on ceiling. I think he gets the Horvat contract. You may call it overpaid but the market is the market, and we will find out soon.

I don't disagree with the above. But you don't give up significant assets and then pay him as if he is a UFA. Especially a rebuilding team like the Habs. If the Habs were to sign PLD as a UFA, then i can see the 8.5M contract. But trading assets and then paying him UFA contract value? That's not good management for a rebuilding team.

Habs have made a commitment to Dach and Dach has shown progression. Dach also signed a team friendly contract. As such, you stay the course. And you have the potential opportunity to draft a bluechip C at 5OA.

 

[Ollie Weeks]

Dubois is a good enough player but I dont think LA should be making this deal unless the extension is really reasonable (say, $7.5m tops). I dunno, Dubois just has too many red flags for me to really get excited about him as a core piece.

I wondered if the following scenario was even allowed: via his agent’s discussions with Wpg/LA brass, Dubois agrees to sign his qualifying offer, helping LA with this year’s cap. A trade with various pieces goes down. Dubois then immediately signs an 8x8 or whatever extension on july1.

 

[Pebble live]

Feel bad for anyone going the other way to Winnipeg. Leaving LA to play in the frozen hell hole that is the peg in the winter, holy f***. I'd ask for a trade out the moment I got there.

I had to spend 2 months there one winter for work. Never again. No idea how people live in that city long term.

 

[Hodge]

Vilardi only because of his injuries and development path was even ever a consideration for such a move. Tage Thompson took a long time so did SheaTheodore , Chandler Stephenson was a spare part in Washington.

Vilardi is a big time player now whether you want to try and diminish that with what you or others considered at the time means jack.

Iafallo i agree is a cap dump that the Jets would look at as a trade deadline flip stop gap for a year if they are taking him back at that salary

Sure, Vilardi could be Tage Thompson 2.0. Or the Kings could be trading him at absolute peak value coming off a flukey 19% shooting season and he never crests 50 points in his career.

I know which side of that bet I'm taking.

 

[William H Bonney]

Which bonafide no doubt #1 center are you acquiring for Gabe freaking Vilardi and Alex Iafallo?

Fact is Dubois produced like a low end 1C last season and is still young enough that he could conceivably take another step into the top ~20 center range. Centers better than that almost never become available. This is such an easy decision for the Kings.

Where did I say Vilardi and Iafallo are enough assets to acquire a #1 center?

Continually fabricating positions on behalf of others says everything about your argument and nothing about mine.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

If a player who just turned 25 a couple days ago "doesn't fit your timeline" that's an outright admission the team is going to be bad for a looong time to come.

The Jets will certnainly need to sort some things out this summer but they still have lots of talent on their roster even before the return for players like PLD, Scheifele and Hellebuyck get figured in.

It's more the 9M than the age.

 

[BatVader]

Feel bad for anyone going the other way to Winnipeg. Leaving LA to play in the frozen hell hole that is the peg in the winter, holy f***. I'd ask for a trade out the moment I got there.

I had to spend 2 months there one winter for work. Never again. No idea how people live in that city long term.

In my opinion.. any hockey player who doesn’t like winter in Canada shouldn’t be a hockey player

 

[JeffreyLFC]

I would trade Dach straight up for PLD, but it would probably take an add from MTL that would make it not worth it IMO.

Dach's contract is great, 3 more years at 3.3 million, and he's still an RFA afterwards. I think Montreal would get a better package back than what they traded for him last summer, which was 13th overall (or Romanov) and some change.

If we're trading Dach I'd rather package him with #5 to move up for Fantilli/Carlsson, or see if there's a real 1C available.

I would not for the same example you provided.
Dach has obvious talent and he has improved significantly last year.