George Richards, FHN Publisher
Columbus center Pierre-Luc Dubois has made it clear he wants out of central Ohio. The Florida Panthers would have obvious interest in bringing him to Sunrise.
The cost would be pretty big, sure, but the return could be huge.
Editor: This story originally ran Jan. 14 and has been updated.
Dubois, just 22, has emerged as one of the better two-way centers in the NHL since the Blue Jackets surprisingly took him with the third overall pick in 2016.
In three seasons with the Jackets, he has scored 20 goals twice — and was close last year before things were called to a halt.
Bringing him to Florida would give the Panthers a 1-2 punch at center most teams in the NHL would be envious of.
Before the 2017-18 season, Columbus signed Alexander Wennberg to a six-year deal worth $5 million per season to lock him in as the team’s No. 1 center.
Dubois came into camp that year getting lower-six minutes on the wings, but soon enough, he worked his way up the lineup and had replaced Wennberg by December.
Columbus bought out the final two years of Wennberg’s deal in October and he signed a one-year deal with the Panthers the next day.
Wennberg is one of three former Blue Jackets on the Panthers’ roster along with goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and defenseman Markus Nutivaara.
In his three seasons with the Blue Jackets, Dubois has scored 20 goals in two of them and was on pace to eclipse the 20-goal mark last year with 18 in 70 games before things were shut down.
But, there are cracks in the relationship with the Jackets and Dubois.
A restricted free agent, he and the team did not work out a contract (two years, $5 million per) until a few days before training camp opened and he has not come off his request to be traded.
These aren’t just rumors, either.
According to coach John Tortorella — who has publicly clashed with his talented center in the past — Dubois has not only had conversations with the front office on wanting to be traded, but has talked to his teammates about it as well.
“Yeah, he wants out,” Tortorella told Columbus sports radio 97.1-FM.
“He spoke to the team, as we do here. … This is a 22-year-old kid. It doesn’t happen that often, so he has been honest with the group. I wish he was a little bit more honest as far as reasons why. I still haven’t really gotten to that, but I think he needs to speak on that. I won’t.”
Things seemed to come to a head Thursday night after a lackluster shift by Dubois in the first period.
Tortorella benched Dubois for the rest of the game, one the Blue Jackets lost to Tampa Bay in overtime.
Dubois declined a request to speak afterward and Tortorella didn’t want to talk about his reasoning or his relationship with Dubois although he eventually relented a bit.
“As I’ve (said) many times, I really don’t make decisions, as far as minutes,” Tortorella said per the Columbus Dispatch’s Brian Hedger.
“It’s up to the player to show me, and if there’s one thing I’m pretty easy to read on, it’s the minutes. You’re going to get out there if you play, if you play the proper way, and you’re gonna get back out there. So, the onus is on the player, all players, not just the player we’re talking about here that sat.”
So where does this leave the Panthers?
The obvious ties come from the front office as Florida GM Bill Zito was the assistant to Columbus’ Jarmo Kekäläinen for seven years and was part of the crew that drafted Dubois in the first place.
Zito is a big fan of Dubois, make no doubt.
If the Panthers were able to pull this off (we’ll get to that in a moment), Dubois would give Florida one of the top 1-2 center combos in the league with Dubois likely supplanting Wennberg (again) on Florida’s second line and Sasha Barkov leading the top line.
Florida already drafted Anton Lundell with the 12th overall pick in October with the plan being he would would be the team’s No. 2 center in the future.
If the Panthers were to get Dubois, and keep him long-term, Florida would have some serious center depth with those three plus Noel Acciari signed for the next two seasons.
Now, what would it take?
If a trade like this were made two years ago, Henrik Borgstrom would have been a centerpiece to a deal. Now, it appears he would be a throw in.
From the Files of the Columbus Dispatch: Rookie Pierre-Luc Dubois earns trust of coach
Borgstrom’s stock has gone down, but plenty of teams are interested in him.
Columbus would most certainly ask for him, while downplaying his value, meaning there has to be a lot more.
Columbus isn’t the kind of team that goes into rebuild mode under Kekalainen, so a package of prospects (Spencer Knight? Lundell?) and draft picks probably will not get it done either.
Florida would love to wheel off Keith Yandle, but he isn’t waiving his no-trade clause to go to Columbus.
MacKenzie Weegar would be the defenseman Columbus wants. Riley Stillman, who continues to improve, could be part of a bigger package.
To get a player like Dubois will be costly to whichever team can work a deal with Columbus, either now or down the road. There are plenty of teams who want him, the Panthers included.
Our Jimmy Murphy has identified the Panthers as one of the teams with the most interest in Dubois.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, it is not necessarily that Dubois is unhappy in Columbus — he just wants to play on a higher-profile team. If that’s the case, would he even be happy playing in Florida?
The thought here is he would love to go home and play for the Canadiens — or be reunited with former linemate Artemi Panarin with the New York Rangers.
“For whatever reason,” Friedman told 960-AM in Calgary, “I think he he wants a bigger stage and that’s kind of what we’re looking at here.”
Kekäläinen has his top center signed for the next two years and he has never been in a rush to move players who wanted out.
Dubois, because of his age and experience, is under Columbus control for the next four years. That’s huge. If the Jackets think the waters can be calmed, they don’t have to do anything.
Remember, Bobrovsky and Panarin made it clear they were not going to re-sign with the Jackets and ended up staying until their contracts expired.
Kekäläinen is not going to be forced into making a deal.
A player wanting out of Columbus may be a little confounding, but it has happened before and the team has rolled right along.
Unless Dubois becomes a serious distraction, I see Columbus waiting for the perfect deal before doing anything. If it does anything.
Thursday may have forced the Jackets into rethinking things.
“I’m going to be the best player, the best person, the best teammate I can be,” Dubois told the Columbus media when camp opened on Jan. 3.
“I don’t want it to be a distraction. I think if I go out there and work hard in practices, work hard in games and play well, it won’t be a distraction. If I don’t do those things, it could be. But I know the attitude I will have.’’
Tortorella said he is keeping an eye on his young center’s attitude.
“He has had a good camp, but it’s a short leash with me as far as this is concerned,” Tortorella continued on 97.1.
“He needs to continue to do the things to help this team win and be the best teammate he can be, or I’m not sure where it goes. It’s a situation, and we’ll go to it day by day.”