A new development in the ongoing Pierre-Luc Dubois saga just dropped and it may put the Montreal Canadiens in more of a difficult situation.
On the latest episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast, hosts Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman discussed where the Winnipeg Jets forward will end up after he reportedly requested a trade from the organization.
While they didn’t reveal whether the Habs, which have been strongly linked to Dubois for the better part of the last year, are any closer to landing him, Friedman reported the interest of another team.
The NHL insider says there is a chance that the 24-year-old centre gets acquired by the Los Angeles Kings via a trade.
“There are some teams here who really think that LA is going to take a run at him (…) [Anze] Kopitar’s got one year left on his contract and I don’t know what the future is there,” Friedman said. “I had some guys tell me that they think LA is going to take a big run at this guy.”
Friedman also confirmed Dubois’ projected salary figures, first reported by Arpon Basu, editor-in-chief of The Athletic Montreal, last week.
“The contract, a lot of people are assuming eight [years] times $9 million,” said Friedman. “It’s going to be somewhere in that range.”
It’s been reported that the Canadiens and Jets have exchanged trade offers involving Dubois in the past year. Apparently, one rejected proposal (submitted by Winnipeg) even involved Habs captain Nick Suzuki.
While it’s become clear that Montreal does not want to give up a lot to acquire the Quebec-born player, other teams entering the bidding war will likely raise the price.
Over 434 games in the NHL, Dubois has put up a total of 129 goals and 302 points.