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Pierre-Luc Dubois

Evening Notes: Swayman, Dubois, Flames

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The Boston Bruins could opt for a short-term, bridge deal with starting goaltender Jeremy Swayman, as contract talks drag into Labor Day weekend, shares Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe. Dupont mentioned that the $7.74MM cap hit on Juuse Saros’ recent eight-year extension could be a guiding light for the Bruins and Swayman, though there’s no definitive way to know what’s inspiring negotiations. A short-term deal would certainly be easier to price out, and give Boston the comfort of not committing much to a goaltender who hasn’t yet played a 50-game season.

But Swayman has commanded a lot of respect through just three full NHL seasons. He’s posted a .919 save percentage in 132 career games and has already won the William Jennings Trophy and earned top-10 Vezina Trophy consideration – all before his 26th birthday in November. That impressive precedent, Linus Ullmark’s move to Ottawa, and some well-timed studying of the CBA has Swayman inevitably positioned for a hefty contract. Boston could cut into the total salary with a short-term deal, but they’d run the risk of walking the still-young Swayman into long-term negotiations after the likes of Igor Shesterkin and Jake Oettinger set the bar for elite-goalie salaries. The Bruins currently have $8.64MM in available cap space, with no remaining free agents besides Swayman.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Washington Capitals are preparing for summer acquisition Pierre-Luc Dubois to play alongside hard-nosed winger Tom Wilson, head coach Spencer Carbery shared with NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti. Carbery added, “I think those two guys playing together – big bodies, guys that can hold onto the puck – could be a good duo.”  That assignment likely means that Dubois is headed for Washington’s top line, one season after his top-line opportunity with the Los Angeles Kings turned into muddling third-line minutes and broken relationships. Dubois scored just 40 points last season, 20 fewer than his totals in the two prior years. Playing with Wilson should give Dubois the space to rediscover that scoring this season, though Washington will have to be careful with their usage – as the two players have combined for 562 penalty minutes over the last three seasons (Dubois – 253; Wilson –  309).
  • The Calgary Flames are still open for business on the trade market, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period shared during an appearance on NHL Tonight. Pagnotta went on to mention a string of players that may be on the trade block, including lineup pillars Nazem Kadri and Rasmus Andersson, indicating that the Flames could be heading for a more true-to-form rebuild, as they look to build around top youngsters like Dustin Wolf, Zayne Parekh, and Samuel Honzek.

Capitals Acquire Andrew Mangiapane

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After adding Pierre-Luc Dubois to shore up their center depth, the Capitals have struck a deal to add an upgrade on the wing.  The team announced that they’ve acquired Andrew Mangiapane from the Flames in exchange for Colorado’s 2025 second-round pick (previously acquired).

The 28-year-old had a breakout year in 2021-22, scoring 35 goals after putting up 35 in the previous two seasons combined.  Hoping that this was a sign of things to come, Calgary inked Mangiapane to a three-year, $17.4MM contract, buying out his final RFA year plus two more years of club control.

However, Mangiapane hasn’t quite been able to replicate his output from that season.  In 2022-23, his output dipped to 17 goals and 26 assists while this season, it went down a bit more as he noted 14 goals and 26 helpers although it’s worth noting that he missed seven games due to injury.

With Calgary committing to a rebuild after being sellers during the season along with moving starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom to New Jersey earlier this month, it makes sense that they were looking to move Mangiapane.  They now have two first-round picks and two second-round selections in the 2025 draft while they now sit with just under $29MM in cap room, per CapFriendly.  That positions them to be aggressive in free agency or on the trade front if they so desire as only four teams have more space to work with.

Meanwhile, Washington, who is picking up his full salary, was one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league this season and only had three players put up more points than Mangiapane did with the Flames, center Dylan Strome, winger Alex Ovechkin, and defenseman John Carlson.  Clearly, GM Brian MacLellan correctly identified that if the Capitals are going to take a step forward and try to push for a top-three spot in the Metropolitan Division, improvements offensively are going to be needed.  An expected late second-round pick is a reasonably low enough cost to pay for a short-term upgrade.

With taking on additional salary in the Dubois trade and now adding nearly $6MM with Mangiapane, the Capitals are now technically over next season’s salary cap with just over $90MM in commitments, per CapFriendly.  However, with Nicklas Backstrom and his $9.2MM AAV expected to remain on LTIR next season, Washington still has some flexibility to work with although some of that will be needed to re-sign RFA forwards Connor McMichael and Beck Malenstyn at a minimum.  T.J. Oshie’s availability for next season is also in some question and if it’s determined that he won’t be able to play, Washington would be able to add another $5.75MM to its LTIR pool.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

List Of Players Getting Trade Protection On July 1st

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In the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and NHLPA, the league players can procure three types of No-Move Clauses in their contracts. The only stipulations to these clauses are that the player in question must be 27 years of age or older and must have accrued seven years of service time at the NHL level. The three types of No-Move Clauses are as follows: No Movement Clause (NMC), No Trade Clause (NTC), and Modified NMC or NTC.

Per the current CBA, an NMC means that a player cannot be waived, assigned to minors, or traded without their consent, and they also must be protected in the event of an Expansion Draft. An NTC is straightforward — giving the player protection from being traded without their approval. Lastly, a modified NMC or NTC sets an arbitrary number of teams and a time frame when a player can use this protection. In just over a week, an assortment of players will receive trade protection on their current contracts, and CapFriendly has broken it down.

 

No Movement Clauses
D Charlie McAvoy (Boston)
F Sebastian Aho (Carolina)
D Devon Toews (Colorado)
F Roope Hintz (Dallas)
D Gustav Forsling (Florida)
F Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota)
F Joel Eriksson Ek (Minnesota)
F Jesper Bratt (New Jersey)
F Timo Meier (New Jersey)
G Ilya Sorokin (NY Islanders)
F Pierre-Luc Dubois (Washington)

No Trade Clauses
F Ross Colton (Colorado)
D Nick Seeler (Philadelphia)
D Vince Dunn (Seattle)
F Clayton Keller (Utah)
D Erik Cernak (Tampa Bay)
D Mikhail Sergachev (Tampa Bay)

Modified No Trade Clauses
F Jordan Greenway (Buffalo) – eight-team no-trade list
F Tage Thompson (Buffal0) – five-team no-trade list
D Rasmus Andersson (Calgary) – six-team no-trade list
D Samuel Girard (Colorado) – nine-team no-trade list
F Miles Wood (Colorado) – six-team no-trade list
F Alex DeBrincat (Detroit) – 16-team no-trade list
F Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles) – 10-team no-trade list
F Nico Hischier (New Jersey) – 10-team no-trade list
D John Marino (New Jersey) – eight-team no-trade list
D Jonas Siegenthaler (New Jersey) – 10-team no-trade list
F Mathew Barzal (NY Islanders) – 22-team no-trade list
D Thomas Chabot (Ottawa) – 10-team no-trade list
F Tanner Jeannot (Tampa Bay) – 16-team no-trade list
F Kyle Connor (Winnipeg) – 10-team no-trade list

Capitals And Kings Swap Pierre-Luc Dubois, Darcy Kuemper

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TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the Washington Capitals and Los Angeles Kings are working on a one-for-one swap to see Pierre-Luc Dubois head to Washington and goaltender Darcy Kuemper head to the Kings. LeBrun also mentions that no salary will be retained in the deal. The Kings organization has confirmed the deal.

Although there were no major rumblings that Dubois would be moved this offseason, it makes sense on paper given his no-move clause will start in only a few weeks. The Capitals will now be on the hook for the remaining seven years and $59.5MM remaining on Dubois’ extension.

Washington will now mark the fourth team of Dubois’ career after being involved in two separate trades prior. During the 2020-21 NHL season, Dubois was sent to the Winnipeg Jets in a deal that landed Patrik Laine with the Columbus Blue Jackets. With an apparent distaste for the Jets organization, Dubois was traded to the Kings organization last summer in a deal that saw Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, and Rasmus Kupari head to Manitoba.

After posting back-to-back 60-point seasons in Winnipeg, Los Angeles originally thought Dubois would make a perfect addition as the team’s second-line center for many years to come, and even replace Anze Kopitar as the team’s top centerman when he eventually hangs up his skates. However, Dubois failed to deliver on expectations that come with an $8.5MM salary with the Kings, scoring only 16 goals and 40 points this past season.

Dubois’ offensive production was not the only thing to slip in his first season in California, as both his defensive and possession metrics also saw a decline. Nevertheless, although inconsistency has plagued him for much of his career, Dubois is still only 25 years old giving him plenty of time to become a dependable player on any team.

Dubois should have access to a much larger role in Washington given that the team has seen two top-centerman leave the organization in recent years. Nicklas Backstrom has more than likely played his last game in the NHL after failing to fully recover from hip-resurfacing surgery while Evgeny Kuznetsov was shipped off to the Carolina Hurricanes at last year’s deadline after struggling to put up points.

The Capitals will likely start Dubois as the team’s second-line center with Dylan Strome creating solid chemistry with franchise legend Alex Ovechkin, but Dubois gives the team a lot of flexibility at the top of their forward core. Although he is not a very physical player, Dubois carries a big frame which could allow more ice to open up for Ovechkin.

On the other side of the deal, Kuemper’s inclusion in the deal gives Los Angeles some much-needed certainty in the crease while opening up another $3.25MM in cap space. Likewise, this means that the Capitals have firmly committed to Charlie Lindgren as the team’s top goaltender heading into the 2024-25 NHL season. After the swap, the Kings now have $23.45MM in cap space but do have a couple of restricted free agents to bring back into the fold.

It will be interesting to see if Kuemper can rediscover his game in California, as he had not been very consistent throughout his time with the Capitals. In 2021-22, then the starting goaltender for the Colorado Avalanche, Kuemper backstopped his team to a Stanley Cup Championship which would later earn him a five-year, $26.25MM deal with Washington on the open market.

Throughout his time in the United States capital, Kuemper started in 86 games for the Capitals in two seasons earning a 35-40-10 record while carrying a .902 save percentage and 3.03 goals against average. In any case, Kuemper should benefit from a much stronger defensive core in Los Angeles as the team only allowed 2296 shots against this past season which was good for fourth in the NHL.

PHR’s Brennan McClain contributed significantly to this article. 

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report Dubois had been traded to Washington. 

TSN’s Pierre LeBrun was the first to report that Kuemper was included in the trade. 

LeBrun was the first to break the full trade details. 

Kings Notes: Blake, Dubois, Hiller

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Rob Blake will reportedly remain as the general manager of the Los Angeles Kings (according to Mayors Manor). Blake has been the Kings general manager since April 2017 and has steered the club through a lengthy rebuild that has resulted in three straight playoff appearances.

While making the postseason out of rebuild is a good first step for a team, the Kings have lost in the first round to the Edmonton Oilers in all three playoff showings and have yet to take the next step to get into the upper echelon of Western Conference contenders. While Blake has built a talented core around older veterans Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar, the team has seen their point total drop from 104 points a year ago to just 99 points this season.

Blake has several big decisions to make this summer, including what to do with failed trade acquisition Pierre-Luc Dubois who had a disastrous first season in Los Angeles. Blake told the media today that the team will not buyout Dubois, putting to rest a rumor that has been talked about widely in the media.

In other Los Angeles Kings notes:

  • Speaking of Dubois, the 25-year-old will reportedly suit up for Team Canada at the World Championships (according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman). The Ste-Agathe-Des-Monts, Quebec native flopped in his first season with the Kings after being acquired from the Winnipeg Jets last summer and promptly signed an 8-year, $68-million contract. Dubois posted just 16 goals and 24 assists in 82 regular season games and then tallied a single goal in five playoff games as he struggled with discipline and posted 20 PIMs. Dubois blamed himself for his poor play this season and said he will do whatever it takes to have a better season in 2024-25. The World’s will give Dubois a chance to end his season on a strong note as he looks to improve over the summer and get back to the 60-point pace he displayed in the two seasons before the trade to Los Angeles.
  • The Kings are also reportedly discussing what they will do with the head coaching position for next season and a decision is expected in the next few weeks (via Mayors Manor). Jim Hiller took over as interim head coach on February 2nd and led the Kings to playoffs once again, however, his 1-3-1 system was scrutinized heavily by people surrounding the team and moving away from that type of system is being discussed by the management group. Hiller served as a Kings assistant coach for two seasons before taking over behind the bench and finished the year with a 21-12-1 record.

Kings Notes: Dubois, Kaliyev, Moverare

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Kings offseason addition Pierre-Luc Dubois hasn’t missed any of the team’s 15 games this season, a trend that will continue tonight against the Blues. Head coach Todd McLellan told reporters earlier today that Dubois will stay in the lineup tonight after the Québec-born center took an awkward fall into the post during the team’s last game and did not participate in practice Friday.

The Kings are largely on a roll with a 9-3-3 record that puts them third in the Pacific Division and fourth in the Western Conference. However, Dubois hasn’t lived up to expectations yet in Hollywood, especially considering the assets they gave up to acquire him in a sign-and-trade deal from the Jets over the summer. Owed $9MM in actual money this year in the first season of an eight-year, $68MM contract, Dubois is averaging a respectable 16:37 per game but has just four goals and eight points, an underwhelming offensive clip of 0.53 points per game. He’d averaged 0.80 points per game over the last two seasons with Winnipeg, including a career-high 36 assists and 63 points in 73 games last year. His defensive game has been lacking, too, barely staying above a 50% Corsi share at even strength on a team that’s dominated the stat.

Other notes on the Kings today:

  • Los Angeles will lose the ability to send winger Arthur Kaliyev to the minors without needing waivers after tonight’s game, CapFriendly notes. It’s hard to imagine a universe where the Kings would want to send the 22-year-old sniper down to AHL Ontario, however. After being on pace for 41 points over an 82-game season last year, Kaliyev is again producing at a respectable clip this year with seven points in 13 games. The Kings did assign him to the minors earlier this season, but that was a paper move to stay cap-compliant while Kaliyev was serving a four-game suspension assessed during preseason play. Kaliyev was the 33rd overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.
  • On another transaction-related note, the Kings have again recalled defenseman Jacob Moverare to serve as a healthy scratch for tonight’s contest, per a team announcement. This is Moverare’s second recall in the past three days, and he was returned to AHL Ontario briefly yesterday. The 25-year-old does not currently require waivers after clearing them during the preseason, but he will if he remains on the NHL roster for 30 total days and plays more than 10 NHL games. He’s yet to make an appearance for the Kings this season, but he does have four assists and a +1 rating in 13 contests for Ontario.

Snapshots: Dubois, Fabbri, Greaves

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In an article by Carter Brooks of The Hockey News, it was reported that the current head coach of the Winnipeg Jets, Rick Bowness, spent some time trying to convince Pierre-Luc Dubois to stay with the Jets long-term, but ultimately fell short of that goal. In the end, as he was publicly vocal about his desire to leave Winnipeg, the Jets would trade him to the Los Angeles Kings for a trio of forwards this past summer, and Dubois would sign an eight-year, $68MM extension in Los Angeles.

Included in the article was a quote from Bowness about the situation last year, saying, “I had no problem with ’Dubie. I talked to him an awful lot, spent a lot of time with him. I was trying to convince him to stay, but that wasn’t going to happen no matter what. I have no problem with Dubie at all. We had a very good rapport“. During the entirety of the Dubois saga in Winnipeg, it appeared on the outside as if there were internal struggles surrounding the team given Dubois’ attitude towards the organization, but the head coach seems to disagree with that narrative entirely.

Nevertheless, the Jets are making good on their end of the trade, as the forwards acquired, Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, and Rasmus Kupari have all scored a combined one goal and two assists in the team’s first two games of the season, while Dubois has yet to find the scoreboard for the winless Kings. Tonight, Dubois will make his first return to Winnipeg since the trade, in front of what is likely to be an extremely vocal crowd.

Other snapshots:

  • Seemingly losing game time to injury every season, Robby Fabbri of the Detroit Red Wings has already missed two games with an undisclosed injury early on this season. According to Ansan Khan of MLive, Fabbri shouldn’t be out too much longer, as the team is looking to have him back in the lineup this weekend as they take on the Ottawa Senators and Calgary Flames. In the same report, Khan also noted that defenseman Jeff Petry is also expected to be back in the lineup tomorrow night against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but would not elaborate on what defenseman would sit in his place.
  • After being recalled to the Columbus Blue Jackets on an emergency basis yesterday morning, the team has announced they have returned goaltender Jet Greaves back to their AHL, the Cleveland Monsters. Greaves served as the backup option behind Spencer Martin last night against Detroit, giving regular starting netminder, Elvis Merzļikins, a bit more time to recover from a bout of the flu.

Los Angeles Kings To Acquire, Extend Pierre-Luc Dubois

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Perhaps the first true blockbuster deal of the offseason has finally materialized. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports the Los Angeles Kings are acquiring center Pierre-Luc Dubois from the Winnipeg Jets, who receive a significant return in Alex Iafallo, Gabriel Vilardi, Rasmus Kupari, and a second-round draft pick in 2024, originally belonging to the Montreal Canadiens. Per NorthStar Bets’ Chris Johnston, Dubois is signing an eight-year extension (technically with Winnipeg before the trade) worth $8.5MM per season.

Dubois arrived in Winnipeg over two years ago in a star-for-star trade that saw Patrik Laine head to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The two players were selected third and second overall, respectively, in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. It looked like a rather disappointing trade for both sides at the time – Dubois had just 20 points in 41 games down the stretch with the Jets in 2020-21 and played a decidedly middle-six role, barely averaging over 15 minutes per game.

Things took a dramatic turn for the better over the following two seasons, though. Fresh off back-to-back 60-point seasons for the first time in his career, Dubois is now entering his prime and much closer to the player everyone thought he could be. He won’t impress anyone defensively, but he’s a very high-end play driver and is a good weapon on the power play.

It’s a fresh start for Dubois on the West Coast. He’s long been posturing to get himself traded to a larger market, although most had assumed until recent weeks that it would be the Montreal Canadiens. With Winnipeg looking to retool on the fly, though, the Kings’ package of NHL-ready talent was a much more appealing return.

That being said, this is a lot to give up (and an awfully rich extension) for Dubois, who’s a good top-six center but not a bonafide first-line pivot. Vilardi, the 11th overall pick in 2017, finally broke out this season in a big way after multiple serious injuries derailed his development. The 23-year-old notched 41 points in 63 games, played a great possession game, and could very well replace Dubois’ role in the Jets lineup on his own. With the addition of Iafallo, who’s a very strong middle-six two-way winger, it seems those two on their own might have been enough value to land Dubois. He had 36 points in 59 games last year, on pace for a career-high of 50 in a full season.

Add in Kupari, who doesn’t have a terribly high ceiling but is an established NHLer who appeared in 66 regular-season games and six playoff games this year, and Winnipeg’s got three fresh pieces to help kickstart a significant retool. The 2024 second-round pick is also a very nice addition for the Jets – it finds its way to them via the Canadiens and Coyotes, switching hands in the Christian Dvorak and Sean Durzi trades.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

The Athletic’s Murat Ates was first to report the package was in place.

Latest On Pierre-Luc Dubois

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The pendulum for Pierre-Luc Dubois’ next team has continuously swung back and forth between the Los Angeles Kings and Montreal Canadiens over the past several weeks. Today, it’s swung back toward the Kings’ side.

TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that the Winnipeg Jets prefer the proposed trade package coming from the Kings, wanting more NHL-ready talent instead of the futures Montreal can offer. Additionally, it appears Dubois personally would prefer a long-term commitment with the Kings, something not many expected after years of publically speculated posturing to end up in a Canadiens jersey.

Reported elements of a return have included forwards Alex Iafallo and Gabriel Vilardi, both of whom could immediately step into top-six roles on the Jets. It’s clear the team is trying to opt for more of a retool than a full-scale rebuild, an ambitious task given the impending departures of Blake Wheeler, Connor Hellebuyck, and potentially number-one center Mark Scheifele.

This doesn’t mean the Canadiens will be silent on the trade market, though. Dreger suggests the team is still looking to add a younger forward to their group and will leverage draft picks and defense prospects to do so.

If he does end up in LA, it’s fair to wonder if Dubois will actually be a center. Anze Kopitar, Phillip Danault, and Quinton Byfield currently occupy the top three spots down the middle, and none of them would appear to be included in the swap with Winnipeg when the trade goes through. Could Dubois shift to wing alongside Danault, giving him some more freedom offensively alongside a world-class shutdown center?

Snapshots: Dubois, Lucic, Galchenyuk

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The Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets appeared close to a Pierre-Luc Dubois trade over the weekend, but things haven’t progressed as quickly as expected. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that there is “still work to be done” and that the Jets haven’t even given Los Angeles permission to discuss an extension with the center.

Arpon Basu of The Athletic, meanwhile, tweets that the Montreal Canadiens are still open to finding a way to make it work, if the Kings aren’t able to close the deal. Darren Dreger of TSN adds that the Canadiens have re-engaged, making it unclear where Dubois will actually end up.

  • One landing spot has been ruled out for Milan Lucic, as Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV reports that the Vancouver Canucks are no longer in the mix. The Canucks had reportedly expressed interest in the pending free agent forward, who will be leaving the Calgary Flames after three seasons. Now 35, there is no longer much offensive upside in the veteran forward, but he can still be an imposing physical presence on the ice.
  • Alex Galchenyuk, the player acquired by the Nashville Predators in yesterday’s Ryan Johansen deal, will not be re-signed by the team according to LeBrun. His inclusion was simply to clear a contract slot off the books for the Colorado Avalanche. The 29-year-old Galchenyuk played just 11 games in the NHL this season, failing to record a single point.

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