Montreal Canadiens
Canadiens & Hughes Taking Right Approach In Dubois Trade Talks
The Pierre-Luc Dubois situation has been somewhat frustrating, particularly if you’re a fan of the Montreal Canadiens or Winnipeg Jets.
And while it seemed like the saga was finally coming to a merciful end on Sunday, with the Jets and Los Angeles Kings involved in intense trade talks regarding Dubois’ future, there’s still a chance the Canadiens will end up landing the talented forward according to Arpon Basu.
Further to Pierre's reporting here that Dubois is leaning to the Kings, I'm told the Canadiens are still open to finding a way to make this work should those talks go off the rails. A source close to Dubois said it's too soon to rule them out, as unlikely as it seems right now. https://t.co/ucQ8bUL8Po
— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) June 26, 2023
The main takeaway from the trade talks regarding the Jets and the Canadiens is that despite the Habs showing interest in Dubois, Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton are not ready to pay a premium for his services.
They’re being very greedy.
And that’s exactly how the Canadiens’ should be approaching the situation.
Of course, it would be exciting to add a player of Dubois’ ilk to the roster, especially considering the Canadiens desperately lack forwards with shooting talent, such as Dubois, but there’s absolutely no reason, be it rebuild or asset-related, that should lead to Hughes improving his offer.
At least not now.
That doesn’t mean the Canadiens are necessarily out of the running, but rather, they’re confident with taking a cautious approach.
“My understanding of how the Habs have left things with the Jets is “we’re here, when you’re ready to dig in a bit more, call us,” said Pierre LeBrun.
“The Habs are not overplaying this, for a couple of reasons. It’s not like the Habs feel like they’re a player away from being a contender. And number two, technically, he’s a UFA in a year. Despite the fact that the Habs would like to bring a French Canadian star to their lineup, a physical force to have big guys around Caufield, etc.
“But they’re not going to overextend themselves. They want him but at a certain price.”
It may seem like a counterintuitive way to get a deal done, but we also must remember this is far from the first time that a French Canadian hockey player has been linked to the Canadiens while also trying to increase his value around the league.
That being said, we do know Dubois isn’t simply using the Canadiens to generate interest around the league because his desire to play in Montreal is legitimate.
But as long as Hughes continues to hold the line in his trade offers to the Jets, there is no leverage to be created in Montreal.
And that’s the ideal approach to a complicated situation such as this one.
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I can’t be one way and not the other…
You can’t say you are “not ready to compete now”, so why give up assets for this guy now? Why sign him to a long-term deal for big $ when you are “not ready to compete now”?
Isn’t this what we did with Nikki and CC these past two seasons? We were “not ready to compete yet”, so why did we sign these two to long-term deals for plenty of $?
So let me understand this: Nikki and CC will just languish for the next 3 or 4 seasons, until we are “ready to compete now”. In Nikki’s case, will half of that contract be over with by the time we “are ready to compete now”?
PLD was available NOW. He stated more than once he wanted to be a Hab. This could have been the beginning of a turnaround, making the playoffs, and then going up from there – a year or two earlier than expected. I don’t care that the return for PLD was more than what we thought it would be. Good on Winny for not listening to all the nonsense. This is a high end centre who would have solidified that position for 6 years minimum. Dach could have been moved to either 3rd line centre (imagine that centre depth!) or a top 6 winger. Either way, that would have been awesome AND worth it.
But its all gone now. Yet another move to obtain/create pennies for a rainy day. Yet another FA who the Habs won’t be landing. Let’s just throw in the towel for the indefinite future and wait for, say, the 2027-28 season…we should be “ready to compete by then”, yes???
If the Canadiens improve their offer, the Jets use it as leverage with the Kings. Thus, the Canadiens drive up the cost of the asset they’re interested in.
It’s the right approach. Despite their interest, the Canadiens don’t need Dubois, at least not now.
OK, then what was all this talk over the past many weeks about how Winny had no leverage in this situation…that they were screwed, that they weren’t going to get much in return for him? Seems like they are getting a haul for him from LA, yes?
He’s worth the haul to me. A top 6 centre, who hasn’t even reached his peak yet, 25 yrs old.
This is QUITE frustrating, as the article states. Yet another FA on the target is lost, AND it gives the impression that Hughes, et. al. don’t care about the next season or two.
Well I do…and I do want to win. There has to be a balance. There can’t just be accumulate as many “draft assets” as possible, at all costs – including who cares if the team is any good or not.
ive been saying that all along.. dubois is a good player.. so why waste his talent in a team not ready to compete yet? and people just keep crying for a trade for him. We have tons of talent thats coming up and we can look for that centre in the draft.
Dach was rumoured to be part of the package the Jets want. Just part of it. We would have lost Dach and more. I would really like to add Dubois too, but if we give up a boatload to get him it just becomes a lateral move vs really moving us forward. I’m definitely nervous we’re going to miss our shot at him if he signs long term in L.A. Ideally, Dubois gets traded somewhere but doesn’t sign there long term. It’s a risk for sure.
i for once agree with you on this
And who did you envision the Habs trading to get Dubois? If Dach was to be included … No thanks. And Winnipeg is not interested in Montreal’s lower tier players so here we are.
Exactly. I don’t think we have a trade that makes both sides happy. That’s why I hope he gets traded somewhere (where Winnipeg and their fans get something great back), but Dubois doesn’t sign long term wherever he lands. It’s unrealistic it’s all unfolds that way, and that’s why I’m disappointed we’re going to miss out on this player.
Keep your 2nd line winger they are not hard to find.
What part of “not now:” and “long term” don’t you get? Those two terms fit together very nicely.\ Dubois would probably be a good fit for us with his size and skill set, but he might wind up as a winger rather than a center, so we’re not unloading the vault for him. He has some stink on him from the Columbus departure so we’re not giving him a no trade clause. We could fit him but he will stretch the CAP and limit us a bit going forward, so we need to think carefully about it. I think Hughes knows what he is doing. Ter are questions about how the Kings would fit him into their CAP structure and the question of whether he will actually sign a deal to facilitate a trade to them or if it’s just his agent trying to bumrush Hughes to a deal. Playing it cool is absolutely right. If we don’t get him then he never really wanted to come all that bad. If Dach can get better at the dot, we have a pretty good 2C already.
Montreal doesn’t Dubois this year as they have Monahan for 1/3 to 1/4 the price. Are they supposed to buy out Dvorak and Evans, also Beck may be knocking on the door as well, and this is all before the draft.
Whoa, that list is QUITE impressive! That’s some serious centre play there with those guys! There’s a reason why Monahan is about 0.3 the price…because he will play about 0.3 of this season.
Dvorak will be traded and Evans will have to compete for a job with Beck eventually but Evans can play the wing as well, just as Dach and Dubois can. Can’t have too many centers! Remember when we didn’t have enough? Lol! What are we worried about?
PLD is a better fit on an emerging contender like LA. He’s 25 years old. Montreal is 3-4 years behind Los Angeles in terms of developed talent. His prime years will be wasted. Dubois is simply not in the right place at the right time. And have I mentioned how he would mess up Montreal’s salary structure? I get the interest by both fans and the media but Hughes and Gorton have to keep their eyes on the prize.
I don’t believe those $9M rumours. They’re either to drum up business to see if a sucker will pay it or drive away pretenders that aren’t serious. If he comes to Montreal, I bet he signs the same deal Caufield got.
Hi Tyrone, I enjoy reading your opinions. You might be right about the money. My main point though is PLD’s age. He’s an excellent player with 4-5 premium years left in the tank. Montreal’s timeline of true contention begins around the time that Dubois will likely start to decline. Signing a player like him is like buying a Ferrari when you have no driveway to park it in. Montreal has a lot of promise but the timing is not right.
I get that. He’s only 2 years older than Suzuki though, so if Dubois is on the decline when we’re contending, we won’t have much of a window to win then. I think if we had Dubois, our window opens sooner, thereby still taking advantage of many quality years with him. I don’t want to trade any assets for the guy because I’d rather use those assets to fill other holes once he’s here. Also, depending on the assets Wpg is insisting on, we’d likely just be making a lateral move acquiring him now. That doesn’t help us much. If Dach is the supposed dealbreaker, then I definitely don’t make that trade. He’s younger (therefore longer contention window), cheaper and bigger. I’m kinda resigned to the fact that we’re not going to get him now, which is disappointing, but considering the vitriol being thrown his way online right now, he might not even want to come anymore. It demonstrates yet again, why most players don’t even consider Montreal as a possible destination.
It all begins and ends with your perfect comment:
He’s only 2 years older than Suzuki though
It goes both ways. Whoever thinks PLD is a waste because we won’t be contenders for another 3-4 seasons, then the same holds true for Nikki. Nikki will be half way into his mega contract before the Habs are contenders. You can’t waste one without the other. There is no double standard here.
PLD would make the Habs better, immediately, so maybe that path to compete gets shortened by a year or two. What’s wrong with that???
The assumption being that Dubois will only be good until he turns 30 and then his play will fall off a cliff. I disagree with that sentiment. He’s 25 now. We sign him for 7 x $7.85M and he’ll still be great during that entire 7yr window imo. After that, I can see a decline in play for sure. Especially since we’d have to battle our way through the Atlantic division and Eastern conference to get to the top of the mountain. Those would be 7 hard years.
Good points but I personally do not see Suzuki as the player who takes us to the promised land. I’m tired of Montreal teams that are “competitive” and do some damage here and there in the playoffs. I want a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. I want a team that other franchises dread playing against. Suzuki will be a good piece. So would Dubois. Adding a PLD though, puts the breaks on Montreal’s necessary rebuild. I’m willing to suffer a few more years if it means 7-10 years of true contention. We’ve seen 30 years of “good” Habs teams. I want to see great ones for a change. Dubois will not move the needle in the right direction.
I want to see great teams too. If we are able to sign Dubois as a free agent next year without giving up any assets, I think it definitely moves the needle. Unless we get Bedard, no one move will catapult us forward. It’ll have to be a piece here, a piece there, and I think Dubois is just another one of those pieces.
Like Vegas did…
He will be signed for his potential as a big, skilled power forward #1 center with an eye on the cap increasing significantly over the next few years not as an undersized winger with a great shot. He may have had less points than Suzuki last season but scored at an 0.85 ppg pace compared to Suzuki at 0.8 ppg.
But we know that Suzuki and Caufield represent the internal cap. That’s why I think he’d get signed for the same money. It sends the message that we think you are as important as our 2 best players, but also keeps the team competitive moving forward and not handcuffing us under the salary cap. That’s how we can afford to build a championship caliber team that can be kept together for years. He may get more money elsewhere, but that’s because those teams are paying a premium to have him agree to sign with them long term vs the Canadiens.
Exactly correct.
Exactly, this is all Brisson maneuvering for a best deal for him. I don’t see how L.A. fits him, I doubt he will sign a deal that takes him to L.A., and I don’t think there’s a chance that Hughes offers much of anything for him or that we will give him more than Caufield got on an 8 year deal. That’s how it should be! I want him but it has to be a deal.
I can see him being a good fit in L.A. just because of the anonymity he could exist in. I’m sure Danault has told him how great it is to not be skewered nightly in the press if he farts the wrong way one night and the team doesn’t win 100% of its games. I’m sure the weather is a big sell as well. I would think his significant other is probably pulling for it too. As for fitting in the lineup or salary cap, that’s workable too. Kopitar is off the books in a year, so Dubois is a perfect transition plan. Moving another body out of town can make the money work. Dubois could play wing while Kopitar is there and then move back to centre next season. Or, LA can go 3 deep down the middle for a hell of a C core.
Only thing is that Danault was not all that with the Habs – even now with LA. Max 54 pts in any season of his career…that’s a C+/B- 2nd line center in today’s league. PLD is better and younger and is French and wants to be here. He isn’t dumb, he knows what the MTL fanbase and media is all about. So who gives a fart if Danault “talks”…
He apparently doesn’t care about “anonymity” if he wants to be a Hab.
I’m not saying he doesn’t want to be a Hab, I’m just saying there definitely are positives to playing in LA.
Only the weather and Doja Cat…that’s all I can think of…
LA is NOT going anywhere fast.
And it is MORE expensive to live in Cali than in Quebec.
At least they’re on par with the wildfires nowadays.
Maybe the salary is the hold up. Maybe PLD wants more money to go to LA. Maybe the GMs are both on planes heading to Nashville and will finalize the deal there. Maybe Bergevin and Brisson are already on the golf course drinking cognac and smoking cigars. Who knows? 😁
Oh, wouldn’t MB love this chance to stick it to the Habs…
I wonder if Dubois has been seen on any boats with Kings players this summer? 😉
If he does end up going to L.A. I can just see the trade being announced right before Montreal picks at #5. It’ll probably be Shane Wright running on stage and taking the microphone out of Bettman’s hands too. And, he’ll remind us that the Kings also took Danault. Mic drop. Jump off the stage and high 5 Bergevin on the way by the L. A. draft table before sitting back down at the Kraken table and flipping double birds at HuGo. At least it would be entertaining. 😁
I hate to say this, but that arrangement seems fitting at this point.
It continues to be a mess in MTL in trying to get high-end FAs to come here. Always the bridesmaid – never the bride…
I wonder about another deal like the Dach one. We trade our late first and a prospect to somebody for an earlier pick tat we flip to the Jets as part of our deal, along with Dvorak and a prospect. It allows the Jets to get another 1st round pick that they like and can brag about without the guy having an actual NHL record to stack up against what they’re losing. Something along those lines. Maybe they get Kovacevic back! Lol
Wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world, but it sounds like Winnipeg isn’t looking for prospects and picks as much as actual players that can play right now. Apparently they aren’t looking to rebuild. I’m not sure how that’s possible if they lose all of Dubois, Scheifele, Hellebuyck and Wheeler this summer, but thankfully that’s not our concern. Man, I feel bad for those fans in Winnipeg. They deserve so much better than everybody wanting to bail out on them. Cheveldayoff and Co. may not want to rebuild, but at least they’d have longer term control over the picks and kids they’d get in return.
PS I’d hate to lose Kovacevic. 😁
OK, then by that logic Anderson would be an outstanding starting piece, yes???
I would imagine he’s one of the players Winnipeg would consider. He’s still got plenty of term on a decent contract. Being one of the rare players that really wants to be in Montreal would make it difficult to trade him though. I just don’t see a trade working that both teams come away happy and moving their franchises forward. Winnipeg isn’t interested in Armia, Hoffman or probably even Dvorak that we’d love to part with. If a trade could be worked out with draft picks and prospects not named Hutson, then maybe, but it sounds like Winnipeg isn’t interested in that type of deal from what I’ve read, but who knows.
All PLD has to do is NOT sign a long term deal with LA, and then a deal (perhaps ANY deal) with the Habs looks mighty appealing.
It really has almost nothing to do with what MTL is offering vs what Winny wants…PLD controls this situation 100%
I wouldn’t say 100%, but he certainly is in the driver’s seat. Winnipeg still has the power to trade him anywhere they want to the highest bidder. If PLD won’t sign long term somewhere the Jets can send him to whoever wants to pay the most for a 1yr rental. They could even send him off to Arizona to play in that tire fire if Arizona thinks they can flip him at the deadline for even more than they paid by retaining 50% and moving him elsewhere.
I disagree. Any deal with the Habs now would be better than what Winny would get from any other team on a 1-yr rental term.
Not necessarily. Montreal is under no obligation to beat those other 1yr deals. In fact, it would be in their best interest to not. Let him go somewhere else for a year and then we get him for free in 2024. The only reason we could/should trade for him now is to keep him from signing for long term somewhere else.
I think most hab fans agree he would be nice to have. He’s young, big, physical and a scorer. But I also think most hab fans think:
$7.5 million per year max.
Don’t give up key assets to get him
But we can also see the Jets POV in maximizing the return they get.
So here we are with him likely going to LA with Montreal maybe a distant plan B.
And 90% of hab fans are ok with that.
more like 50-50 I think.
I agree with the money you stated, but that’s where it ends. He’s worth it. YOU said it: He’s young, big, physical and a scorer.
And he WANTS to be here.
Our 31st pick, Anderson, Dvorak, Engstrom, plus a 2nd rd pick is a very legit deal, and does nothing to impede our progress forward.
Chevy wants that bag of old, unused pucks in the corner too, lol.
Laugh all you want, but this just came across the wires:
https://www.habsfanatics.com/Major-Kent-Hughes-reportedly-submitted-a-last-minute-trade-offer-for-Pierre-Luc-Dubois-250114
PLD has NOT yet signed an extension with LA…what’s taking so long? So, wheels are turning, its not over yet!
The Canadiens re-engaged with the Jets on trade talks as the Los Angeles Kings emerged as a landing spot for Dubois over the weekend. Dreger notes that the Kings have NHL-ready players to deal and it appears Dubois prefers to go the Los Angeles.
I appreciate your enthusiasm for Dubois, but to pay that price would actually set us back vs move us forward, especially if there was still a chance to get him for nothing next summer.
Our 31st pick, Anderson, Dvorak, Engstrom, plus a 2nd rd or 3rd rd pick is a very legit deal, and does nothing to impede our progress forward.
I’d rather pay that now, then wait until next year and something happens to nix it for the Habs. This deal makes the Habs better now.
This just in:
https://www.habsfanatics.com/Major-Kent-Hughes-reportedly-submitted-a-last-minute-trade-offer-for-Pierre-Luc-Dubois-250114.
And why hasn’t PLD signed an extension with LA yet…what’s taking so long?
Honestly he ALONE can determine exactly what happens. If he now knows the Habs are serious about getting him now, then he alone can nix this deal for LA by refusing to sign that extension. Then Winny loses that deal and has no choice but to deal with the Habs…and at a lower price tag.
Even if they don’t get him in the end, they are indeed trying, and that’s all I care about! But IF this happens (still a BIG if), holy cow what a baller Hughes is!!!
If Kirby Dach turns out to be top notch player scoring 70 or more point per season then they will have to pay him eight million dollars per season, so if they acquire Dubois they may soon have 4 forwards making 8 million per season.
That will be a steal in 2 yrs when the cap begins to skyrocket. If we can lock up 4 young core stars for that kind of money, it’ll increase the odds of keeping the team together for multiple runs at the Cup over many years. In fact, the sooner we lock up those players while the cap is low, the better it is for us. We won’t get them at that price when the cap is $90M+.
I wouldn’t worry about that now…Dach is signed to 3 more seasons at a low cap hit. By year 4, IF they resign him and IF you are correct with that $8M per thing, then that’s fine. Having your top players still making about $8M or just under, at a time when the cap should be at about $90M is not an issue at all.
we don’t need another Jonathan Drouin. I Hope Montréal does NOTacquire Pierre Luc Dubois. I find him lazy just like Drouin.
hoffman for dubois lol jk jk