The news this week that Pierre-Luc Dubois has requested a trade wasn’t really news, at least not to the people inside the Winnipeg Jets’ front office.
But did he really request a trade, or have his agent Pat Brisson utter those few simple words? I doubt it. But it really is semantics. The fact is, he doesn’t want to be a member of this hockey team after June 30, 2024.
Pierre-Luc Dubois, who is under contract control of the Jets for one more season, is not willing to sign a long-term deal with this team. And he is willing to sign a long-term deal, just not with the Jets.
So, at the present moment, Dubois is an asset for this team. Not a player, just an asset.
The problem is, as time goes on, he becomes a diminishing asset — just like Johnny Gaudreau became a diminishing asset in Calgary. As well as Gaudreau played, the Flames lost control of the process after the season ended. That’s why Matthew Tkachuk was moved when he was: the Flames needed to protect the asset.
But that is the reality. Under the NHL/NHLPA collective bargaining agreement, Dubois has earned the right to decide where he can play, and he has told the powers that be that once he becomes an unrestricted free agent, he will be playing elsewhere.
And just as Dubois is protecting his own interests, the Jets have the right to protect their interests. So for the rest of 2023 and half of 2024, Dubois can be a Winnipeg Jet and help the team get back to the Stanley Cup playoffs. Or the team has the right to move him now, or at the draft, or before camp, or at the deadline.
But quite frankly, the sooner the better.
The question now is what kind of asset is PLD? This is now the second team in his young career (he’s only 24) that he has wanted to move on from. That’s not something that will endear him to some clubs. We have all seen his potential, but we’ve also his inconsistency.
At six feet four inches and almost 220 pounds, some teams are salivating at his potential.
In the end — and it was decided by Dubois that there would be an end — the Jets need to manage the asset, and quickly. After all, it’s important to have players who want to be in Winnipeg playing for Winnipeg.