What a difference a day can make. Following Pierre-Luc DuboisAs he sat down against Tampa Bay on Thursday, experiencing a career-low 3:55 ice time, it looked like trade talks around the Columbus Center were starting to pick up. Now it appears that he may soon be granted his trade request. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that the Blue Jackets are closing a Dubois deal, and teams are being notified that they are no longer being considered. He adds Winnipeg as one of the teams still in the mix.
For that, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic adds (via Twitter) that Columbus plans to give Dubois a healthy scratch for the rematch against the Lightning on Saturday when he’s still on the roster.
At this stage, the situation is known. Although the two parties were able to reach an agreement for two years, $ 10 million, just before training camp, Dubois’ request not to deal with it was revoked. Although he claims he will continue to play hard while waiting for a resolution, this has not yet happened, which has led to a very public approach.
The Jets have some players who apparently also want to be in the wings Patrik Laine and RFA Jack Roslovic; Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic suggest (Twitter link) that both players could make sense to be involved in the deal if they are ultimately the ultimate destination. A return in which the players are involved will certainly enable Columbus to deliver a substantial return, although it will create a significant hole in the middle, a position where they are already weak. Meanwhile, Winnipeg will lose some firepower on the wing, but get a controllable second center to put behind Mark Scheifele for the foreseeable future.
In a follow-up tweetLeBrun adds that the Ducks are also interested in Dubois. They have been showing interest since this whole process started and will definitely give them a much needed boost in the middle. They currently have a little over $ 6 million in the LTIR room, per CapFriendly, but that amount is reduced once by $ 800,000 Brendan Guhle return. This still leaves enough room to absorb Dubois just barely. That said, they do not fit very well into the immediate value of a trade, but their prospect pool has a number of high quality prospects, including center Trevor Zegras a defender Jamie Drysdale.
In his report, Dreger notes that it is a complicated process that can mean different things. Depending on who is involved, there may be elements of salaries, although Laine and Dubois are an agreement that both teams can afford. However, if a center does not come to their side, it is possible that another step must be agreed upon to give it one. And of course, there are quarantine issues that you need to deal with and plan for, as there are different rules in different jurisdictions. Dreger suggests that it could be resolved as quickly as Saturday, so that Dubois’ poor performance last night could be the driving force that ultimately completes a trade.