48 Hours Later: Reviewing the Pierre-Luc Dubois for Patrik Laine Trade
In a flat-cap, Covid-19 world, making any trade in the NHL is hard. Making a trade where franchise players are being exchanged? Even more challenging. But that is exactly what the Columbus Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets did on Saturday afternoon.
The Columbus Blue Jackets traded centerman Pierre-Luc Dubois and a third-round pick in 2022 for winger Patrik Laine and centerman Jack Roslovic. Additionally, Winnipeg is retaining 26% of Laine’s salary, per the team.
Dubois made it clear this offseason that he wanted a trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets. The 22-year-old centerman came out and stated that while he was a member of the Blue Jackets, he would work his hardest and make sure that he would not be a distraction.
In a similar fashion, 22-year-old winger Patrik Laine had been looking for a way out of Winnipeg dating as far back as June 2019. The superstar winger is a pure sniper, scoring 30 or more goals in every full season of his career so far. Last season before Covid hit, Laine was on pace to have the best statistical year of his young career, having 28 goals and 35 assists at the suspension of the season.
Laine came into camp this year and was faced with questions about still wanting to be traded. Per Emily Kaplan of ESPN:
Laine, who was selected at No. 2 of the 2016 draft, had been a rumored trade candidate ever since his agent told TSN this offseason it would be "mutually beneficial" for both sides to get a fresh start.
"I'm here, aren't I," Laine told reporters ahead of the season, downplaying the request.
To make matters even worse for the Jets, 23-year-old Jack Roslovic had decided to hold out to start the season, refusing to sign a new deal with Winnipeg. He had also requested a trade according to his agent Claude Lemieux. Roslovic, the Columbus, Ohio native almost instantly signed a 2-year, $3.8 million contract with the Blue Jackets.
Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen had this to say on the recent acquisitions.
Strengthening our lineup offensively has been a priority for us and the additions of Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic accomplish just that," Kekalainen said in a statement. "Patrik is a player we know very well and in a short time has become one of our league's most proficient goal scorers. Jack is an exciting young player with great potential and we're thrilled to bring him home to Columbus as a Blue Jacket.
According to Canada's quarantine rules, Dubois will have to stay in isolation for 14 days and miss a minimum of seven games.
So who is the real winner in this deal? It’s obviously still very early, but right now it’s the Columbus Blue Jackets. They pick up the pure sniper that they’ve lacked since Rick Nash and they add a potential top-6 piece in Roslovic. Sure, it comes at the cost of their #1 center in Dubois. But letting this situation drag on with him not wanting to be in Columbus would have only made things worse. In his last game before the trade, the 6’3” Dubois showed zero effort in a puck battle with Tyler Johnson of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who stands at only 5’9”.
As you could imagine, this did not sit well with Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella. Dubois played only 3:55 before being benched for the remainder of the game. Tortorella had this to say about Dubois’ effort:
We live and die on our team concept,” Tortorella said. “We live and die playing as a team, and if I don’t think someone is doing that and it continues… Last night he doesn’t get benched for one shift of last night. This has eroded and it just kept eroding in the first five games.