The Revival of Powerforward Pierre-Luc Dubois, and how the LA Kings Failed Terribly

[Danarqhy]

Pierre-Luc Dubois is playing well this season, he has 39 points in 49 games and is showing good effort. He was acquired by the LA kings for Gabriel Vilardi (who is having a monster season), Kupari and Iafallo. After paying a king's ransom for PLD's services, LA jettisoned him barely 1 year later for an aging goalie (was seen as basically being given away for free at the time).

Now to be fair, the LA Kings are a good team but that is in spite of making not one, but two disastrous PLD trades. How much better would they be if they still had Vilardi and co, or if they had this version of PLD playing for them? Probably cup contenders.

Discuss.

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[BaileyFan]

Trading Vilardi+ for Dubois was a disaster and everyone but Luc and Blake knew it from the moment the trade dropped.

Trading away Dubois and getting out from his contract was and is the best move Blake has ever made and ever will make as an NHL GM.

 

[AnInjuredJasonZucker]

Isn't the "aging goalie" that the King's got in return one of the main reasons for their solid season thus far?

And if there is anything we know about Dubois, it's his ability to sustain interest for long periods of time.

 

[Dumais]

Hope he does well.
And he does better when things aren't going well.

Good luck

 

[Bounces R Way]

That contract goes all the way to 2031. Good for him for getting his head on straight enough for a half season of non rancid play but I'm still guessing it ends poorly.

 

[poobags]

I wish the title of this thread had a head so I could punch it in the face. What an inflammatory turd.

 

[kevsh]

I believe the theory was that PLD would take over as the 1C as Kopitar got further into his 30s. The problem was what to do with him until then?

They already had Kopitar and Danault at 1C/2C so how do you push Danault (and his $6.75M) down the lineup to accommodate PLD? Or bring in PLD as a 3C? Either way, that's a huge cap hit for a depth center. They also had Byfield, Turcotte and Valiardi all capable of playing center.

It was a head-scratcher deal even just from a positional standpoint (they had other more pressing needs than center which was the one area they had ample depth). The only rationale I can think of is that Blake was trying to be the genius that buys low on huge-potential player and have him turn it around in LA and become Kopitar 2.0, with the Cup ring(s) too.

Problem was he didn't "buy low" at all as the Jets got a very nice haul for him and the immediate extension Blake offered Dubious suggests he thought PLD was already Kopitar 2.0, or was trying to create it somehow by just giving him a very lucrative "we believe in you" deal on day one?

And of course as most Kings fans will tell you, the deal was labeled as a guaranteed disaster the moment it was announced. The Jets absolutely fleeced the Kings and the only thing Blake should get any small credit for was his ability to swallow his pride and admit the deal was a disaster by moving on from Dubois last summer.

 

[Tasteless Beaver]

The issue with PLD isn't his contribution when the team is doing well. The issue is when the team isn't doing well - he's not part of the solution to dig the team out. He's a secondary piece being paid to be a leader, which he is not. I'm not surprised that he's finally putting up some points again, but the tide is going to turn hard when things slump.

 

[Mattb124]

LA failed terribly by trading for him in the first place. This thread is silly.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Does he still ask to be called PL Dubois?

 

[Faterson]

As an LA Kings fan, I would sooner call my grandmother a "power-forward" than I would PLD.

 

[Osprey]

The funny thing is that LA had Kopitar's future replacement in Vilardi and traded him. All that they had to do is be patient.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

The miserable failure was trading a haul for a player that didn’t really fit in with their lineup in the first place. Don’t blame them for moving on especially since Kuemper has worked out so far.

 

[Herregud]

The issue with PLD isn't his contribution when the team is doing well. The issue is when the team isn't doing well - he's not part of the solution to dig the team out. He's a secondary piece being paid to be a leader, which he is not. I'm not surprised that he's finally putting up some points again, but the tide is going to turn hard when things slump.

He's largely the reason the team is doing well, and while the points are nice, the majority of his contribution has nothing to do with them. None of this post holds any real water. The team is absolutely slumping at the moment (still pulling out wins, though) and he's really been the only consistent guy the entire season (not named Logan Thompson).

 

[895]

The issue with PLD isn't his contribution when the team is doing well. The issue is when the team isn't doing well - he's not part of the solution to dig the team out. He's a secondary piece being paid to be a leader, which he is not. I'm not surprised that he's finally putting up some points again, but the tide is going to turn hard when things slump.

Sorry but you're wrong here.
Caps have been playing like shit lately. PLD and Protas are the only two forwards contributing.

 

[The Pale King]

Calling Dubois a "powerforward" is a bit like calling Kiss a technical death metal band.

Or maybe it's more like calling Reo Speedwagon a tech death band.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

I don't miss him. Took too many stupid penalties and cost us playoffs in 2021-22.

 

[McShogun99]

As an Oiler fan, I wish he was still a King.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Pierre-Luc Dubois is playing well this season, he has 39 points in 49 games and is showing good effort. He was acquired by the LA kings for Gabriel Vilardi (who is having a monster season), Kupari and Iafallo. After paying a king's ransom for PLD's services, LA jettisoned him barely 1 year later for an aging goalie (was seen as basically being given away for free at the time).

Now to be fair, the LA Kings are a good team but that is in spite of making not one, but two disastrous PLD trades. How much better would they be if they still had Vilardi and co, or if they had this version of PLD playing for them? Probably cup contenders.

Discuss.

It’s on the player to put in effort and you really shouldn’t refer to yourself in the 3rd person, Pierre.

 

[Hank Chinaski]

The issue with PLD isn't his contribution when the team is doing well. The issue is when the team isn't doing well - he's not part of the solution to dig the team out. He's a secondary piece being paid to be a leader, which he is not. I'm not surprised that he's finally putting up some points again, but the tide is going to turn hard when things slump.

Nailed it.

Starting a victory lap of a thread about a player that wore out his welcome with three different franchises in the span of three years? Okay then.

 

[redcard]

As an LA Kings fan, I would sooner call my grandmother a "power-forward" than I would PLD.

To be fair your grandmother hits like a truck.

 

[Faterson]

To be fair your grandmother hits like a truck.

She's been dead for decades, but OK.

 

[redcard]

She's been dead for decades, but OK.

All the more impressive

 

[Brookbank]

The Kings sold low on PLD. And Washington was the only one with the sense to buy at the right time

 

[TheBeard]

It's wild he's already tied last season's point total in 32 less games

That contract goes all the way to 2031. Good for him for getting his head on straight enough for a half season of non rancid play but I'm still guessing it ends poorly.

He's still only 26 though. It seems playing in LA for a season was the anomaly.