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Pierre-Luc Dubois

Morning Notes: Team Canada, Crosby, Bokk

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The Canadian contingent for the IIHF World Championship has named their leadership group, with Ottawa Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot given the captaincy. The team will go with a group of alternates including Josh Anderson, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Adam Lowry, and Damon Severson for the event, likely rotating each game.

The tournament, which starts tomorrow, is a nice way for Chabot to get some more on-ice reps after missing a huge chunk of this season, though with the amount he plays it has already been a long year. In 59 games this season, the Senators’ defenseman scored 38 points and averaged more than 26 minutes a night for the third season in a row.

  • There’s no update yet on Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby, as head coach Mike Sullivan only confirmed that his captain is dealing with an upper-body injury and will be evaluated further on their return home. Crosby took a hit from Jacob Trouba in last night’s game that kept him out, and obviously has a long history with head injuries. The Penguins stayed in New York after last night’s loss and will fly to Pittsburgh today to prepare for tomorrow’s game six.
  • After spending half of this season playing back home in Germany, Dominik Bokk is coming back to North America. His club team announced today that Bokk will re-join the Carolina Hurricanes organization for the 2022-23 season, a previously agreed upon decision. After playing 32 games in the AHL this year, Bokk was loaned to Eisbaren Berlin in the DEL for the stretch run, where he scored 11 points in 14 games and another three in 12 playoff contests. The first-round pick originally selected by St. Louis in 2018 has one year left on his entry-level deal.

Hockey Canada Announces 2022 IIHF World Championship Roster

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The roster is set, with just a few days to go before things kick off for Hockey Canada at the 2022 IIHF World Championship. The defending gold medalists will be icing a rather youthful roster this season, highlighted by some of the league’s up-and-coming stars, along with some established top-end youngsters.

The full roster will be:

G Chris Driedger
G Logan Thompson
G Matt Tomkins

D Thomas Chabot
D Ryan Graves
D Nick Holden
D Dysin Mayo
D Travis Sanheim
D Damon Severson
D Zach Whitecloud

F Josh Anderson
F Mathew Barzal
F Drake Batherson
F Max Comtois
F Dylan Cozens
F Pierre-Luc Dubois
F Morgan Geekie
F Noah Gregor
F Kent Johnson
F Adam Lowry
F Dawson Mercer
F Eric O’Dell
F Nicolas Roy
F Cole Sillinger

For a player like Mayo, this selection truly solidifies the hard work he has put in over years of grinding in the minor leagues. The fifth-round pick spent parts of seven seasons in the AHL before arriving this year with the Arizona Coyotes and becoming one of the team’s most reliable options. Now 25, he’ll be suiting up for his country for the first time at a major international tournament.

Meanwhile, someone like Cozens is taking the next step in representing his country, after last captaining Team Canada at the 2021 World Juniors (where he scored an incredible 16 points in seven games). The Buffalo Sabres forward had 38 points in his first full-length NHL season and has huge upside as a potential franchise cornerstone. The same could be said for players like Johnson and Sillinger, two names that will likely drive the offense for years to come in Columbus.

Perhaps the most interesting name in the group is Dubois, given the Winnipeg Jets center doesn’t have a contract for next season. Pending restricted free agents, especially ones as important as Dubois, usually skip the tournament because of insurance issues and the risk of injury. Instead, he’ll head overseas to play in a tournament he’s already attended twice previously, despite still just being 23 years old.

West Notes: Getzlaf, Dubois, Coronato, Wild

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Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf plans to discuss his future with the team soon, notes Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register.  At this point, no decision has been made as to whether or not the 36-year-old intends to return for an 18th NHL season with GM Pat Verbeek recently indicating that Getzlaf will “remain a Duck for whenever he decides not to play anymore”.  After scoring just five goals last season, Getzlaf only has three this year but he sits second to only Trevor Zegras on the team in assists.  He has a base salary of $3MM this season with another $1.5MM in incentives and his next contract – should he choose to sign one – should check in a bit lower in terms of total cost.

More from out West:

  • Jets center Pierre-Luc Dubois will wait until the offseason to begin negotiations on his next contract, notes NHL.com’s Tim Campbell. The 23-year-old has had a nice bounce-back year in his first full season in Winnipeg, notching 50 points in 65 games, giving him a shot at surpassing his career high of 61 set in his sophomore year.  Dubois is owed a $6MM qualifying offer with arbitration rights and is two years away from UFA eligibility which makes it likely that Winnipeg will seek a long-term deal this summer.
  • Although Flames prospect Matthew Coronato had a strong freshman year with Harvard, Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson mentions that the 19-year-old is expected to return for his sophomore campaign. The winger is eligible to play in the AHL if Calgary wanted while he would also still have eligibility for major junior but after leading the Crimson in scoring this season with 36 points in 34 games, staying at the college level certainly isn’t a bad idea for the 13th pick in 2021.
  • Wild prospect center Nikita Nesterenko and defenseman Marshall Warren are likely to remain in college next season, reports Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). Nesterenko had 24 points in 37 games in his sophomore year at Boston College while Warren had 21 points in 37 contests in his junior year with the Eagles.  Meanwhile, Russo adds that Minnesota will likely try to sign forward Sam Hentges to an entry-level deal beginning next season and an ATO pact for this year for him to play with AHL Iowa.  Hentges had 22 points in 20 games in his final season at St. Cloud State while scoring once in two games at the Olympics last month.

Pionk, Dubois, Poganski Enter COVID Protocol

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The Winnipeg Jets need a big second half to climb their way back into playoff contention, but things aren’t off to a great start. As they return from the All-Star break, three players have ended up in the COVID protocol. Neal Pionk, Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Austin Poganski are all unavailable to the team as they prepare to take on the Minnesota Wild tomorrow night. The Jets have recalled Declan Chisholm, Ville Heinola, Johnathan Kovacevic, and Kristian Reichel from the Manitoba Moose.

That trio includes two of the team’s most important players in Pionk and Dubois, not a great way to start things up after a week off. The former plays more than 22 minutes a night, just a few seconds shy of Josh Morrissey for the team lead, and the latter is the team’s second-leading scorer with 33 points in 42 games. Given the fact that Nikolaj Ehlers, Logan Stanley, and others are already out with injuries, losing players like these will really test the depth of the Jets for the next few games.

It’s a group of young players that will try to replace them, though that’s quite the task given how inconsistent the rest of the roster has been this season. The Jets are 18-17-7 for the year and have lost eight of their last ten games. For some teams that could even mean raising the white flag and starting to sell off expiring assets, but Winnipeg was expected to not only compete for the playoffs but the Stanley Cup this season. It’s hard to abandon that goal after just 42 games, even though it might have to end up being the eventual decision.

North Notes: Hyman, Podkolzin, Dubois

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Maple Leafs winger Zach Hyman is in the midst of a career season offensively although he has now been slowed with a lower-body injury that will keep him out for a couple of weeks at least.  Given his improvement in that end, his stock is on the rise as he gets set to enter the UFA market for the first time this summer.  On the latest TSN Insider Trading segment, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic noted that a poll of several executives around the league pegged Hyman’s likely next contract anywhere between $4.5MM and $5.5MM, a significant raise on his current $2.25MM AAV.  With Toronto already having nearly $70MM in commitments to just 15 players for next season, per CapFriendly, they may need to get creative to find a way to keep the 28-year-old in the fold and still be able to fill out the roster with what’s expected to be a flat $81.5MM salary cap once again.

Elsewhere in the North Division:

  • At the beginning of the season, it was expected that the Canucks would bring top prospect Vasili Podkolzin over to North America at the end of his KHL season and have him burn the first year of his entry-level deal for the stretch run. However, his agent Sergey Isakov told Sport 24’s Maxim Samartsev that Podkolzin will instead stay in Russia and focus on earning a spot with their entry into next month’s World Championships.  It’s a logical decision as by the time that Podkolzin secures a work visa and gets through quarantine, Vancouver’s season would be close to over if not finished already.  The 20-year-old had 11 points in 35 games with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL this season.
  • While Patrik Laine has struggled considerably with Columbus, Pierre-Luc Dubois hasn’t fit in all that well with the Jets either; his 20 points in 35 games are certainly below the expectations they had for him. Along the way, he has changed position a few times.  However, head coach Paul Maurice told reporters, including Ted Wyman of the Winnipeg Sun, that Dubois is being moved back to center for at least the next couple of weeks as they look to get their lines set for the playoffs.  Dubois had been on the wing with Blake Wheeler out of the lineup and also started there but with the price that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff paid for him, it’s clear that they envision him as a middleman for the long-term future.

Snapshots: Blue Jackets, Islanders, Stastny, Yamamoto

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The Columbus Blue Jackets were forced to trade away center Pierre-Luc Dubois, who demanded a trade. Their return was very good in Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic, however, neither player fulfilled the team’s biggest hole — the one that Dubois left — the No. 1 center. And now, the Blue Jackets are looking for a way to fill that hole, which could be challenging, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (subscription required).

The team has a history of looking for a No. 1 center in the past as they struggled to find a top center to put next to Rick Nash. Not much has changed as the team has looked like they found their answer in Ryan Johansen and eventually Dubois. However, with Dubois gone and Max Domi playing on the wing at the moment, there again is quite a hole in the top of their lineup. However, Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said he’s looking outside the organization for help.

“We’ll keep searching and doing our job and building a team. We have some very good potential center ice men growing into that role within our team. But we’re also going to look for ways to strengthen that position from the outside.”

  • The New York Islanders are looking for some help for their third line, according to The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta. The team is looking for a left wing they can pair with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and rookie Oliver Wahlstrom. However, the problem for New York and general manager Lou Lamoriello is that New York has little to no cap space to work with. So, in order to acquire that forward, the team will have to move out equal salary which will be challenging. Up until now, there has been no interest in Leo Komarov. According to Pagnotta, there had been some discussion of swapping Komarov for Brett Connolly, but talks stalled since Florida wasn’t willing to retain some of Connolly’s salary to make the money fit.
  • When asked in his most recent mailbag whether the Winnipeg Jets should consider trading Paul Stastny at the trade deadline, Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe was quick to answer ’no.’ Stastny, who has moved to the wing and suddenly finds himself next to Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler, has played quite well in that role. With his quiet leadership and stability on the team, Wiebe believes the team will attempt to sign Stastny to a one-year extension to bring him back next year at a cheaper cost rather than trade him away.
  • Edmonton Oilers forward Kailer Yamamoto has been fined $3,854 by the Department of Player Safety for tripping Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson. The fine is the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement. The incident (video here) occurred at 14:12 of the first period when Yamamoto pulled the legs out from underneath Andersson in front of the Flames net. He was assessed a two-minute minor for tripping.

Winnipeg Jets Activate Pierre-Luc Dubois, Move Him To Wing

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The Winnipeg Jets announced they have activated center Pierre-Luc Dubois off of injured reserve and he’s expected to play Sunday against the Vancouver Canucks. The 22-year-old has missed four games with a lower-body injury. However, Dubois isn’t expected to center a line. Instead, it looks like head coach Paul Maurice has moved him to the wing to play next to Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler.

Dubois, acquired from Columbus along with a 2022 third-round pick for Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic in January, only appeared in two games before going down with what Dubois referred to as a “muscle injury.” Maurice said that he believes that moving Dubois to the wing should prevent Dubois from overworking himself as well as pick up good habits from his linemates.

“There is a bunch of things there,” said Maurice (via Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe). “The first is wear and tear and minutes in his first game back. He’s had a big chunk of time off the ice. The centreman covers a lot more ice and there is a lot more grind to that. He did a great job with his shift length in his first game, we expect him to do the same. He’s still a young man, he’s got a version of Mark’s game in him – that ability to slow the game down, find holes and make plays. He also has the ability to have Blake’s game – a hard-driving, heavy in the corners type of player. I think that over time, the players I’ve played with Mark and Blake have developed that in their game. It was good for Nik Ehlers. It was good for Kyle Connor. The other option is going to be Paul Stastny and he flipping. I may do that over the course of the game.”

The current lines stand with Dubois, Scheifele and Wheeler on the first line with Stastny, Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers on the second line. loading up their top two lines. Adam Lowry would center the team’s third line.

Injury Notes: Dubois, Lindholm, Sandin

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The Winnipeg Jets have officially moved Pierre-Luc Dubois to injured reserve, a disappointing outcome for a player that is having a season full of them. The young forward has played just two games since his trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets and just seven on the season thanks to a long quarantine. He was injured last week, though it’s still not exactly clear what happened or how long he’ll be out.

Dubois failed to record a shot in either of his games with the Jets and now has just one point on the season. When he does get back on the active roster, he’ll have to really push to get back to the top-line center he appeared to be in recent years.

  • Chicago Blackhawks prospect Anton Lindholm will be out for four to six weeks with a broken thumb, his AHL team announced today. Lindholm sustained the injury last Friday, meaning his season will be truncated by at least a month. The 26-year-old defenseman was part of the trade that saw Brandon Saad go to the Colorado Avalanche in the offseason but had yet to get into the NHL lineup with the Blackhawks. In 66 career games, he has five points.
  • Another minor-league defenseman, this time Rasmus Sandin, will also be out a while. The young defenseman suffered a foot injury and will be out for several weeks, according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet. Sandin, one of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ top prospects, played in one NHL game earlier this season and recorded a point. The 20-year-old is still waiting for his chance to crack the roster full-time and was supposed to get his game back up to speed in the minor leagues. Now, unfortunately, he’ll be sidelined instead.

Injury Updates: Makar, Dubois, Thornton, Backlund

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While Colorado is back in action today for the first time in 12 days, they’re doing so without the services of their top offensive threat from the back end as Cale Makar is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.  Head coach Jared Bednar told reporters, including Mike Chambers of the Denver Post, that he’s not quite sure how the injury happened.  Makar participated in three practices with the Avalanche this week as they worked their way up to today’s game but Bednar allowed for the possibility that the injury occurred away from the rink as well.  Makar is averaging just over a point per game this season and was on a five-game point streak before their schedule was paused and he will have to wait a little while longer to try to extend it.

More injury news from around the league:

  • The Jets aren’t expected to have center Pierre-Luc Dubois in the lineup on Monday against Edmonton, reports Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe (Twitter link). He missed Saturday’s contest versus Ottawa due to a lower-body injury and it appears it will cost him a second game as well.  Head coach Paul Maurice indicated that Dubois will travel with the team which suggests they expect him back at some point on this four-game road trip.
  • The Maple Leafs are expected to welcome back Joe Thornton for their opener against Ottawa on Monday, relays Postmedia’s Lance Hornby. The 41-year-old suffered a fractured rib in Toronto’s fifth game of the season and was immediately placed on LTIR.  Assuming he is able to play tomorrow, he’ll wind up missing just the minimum amount of time.  Thornton has a goal and an assist so far this season which has mostly been spent on the left wing of their top line after playing down the middle for the last two decades.
  • While Flames center Mikael Backlund left Saturday’s game against Vancouver early with a lower-body injury, it doesn’t appear as if he’ll be out for long. Head coach Geoff Ward told reporters, including Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg (Twitter link), that Backlund is already feeling better today and will be re-evaluated on Monday.  Calgary is back in action for the fourth and final game of this stint versus Vancouver on Monday night.

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/06/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. Here is the CPRA list for Saturday:

Buffalo – Taylor Hall, Rasmus Ristolainen, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Jake McCabe, Dylan Cozens*, Curtis Lazar*
Chicago – Adam Boqvist, Ryan Carpenter, Lucas Wallmark
Colorado – Tyson Jost, Gabriel Landeskog
Dallas – Andrej Sekera
Los Angeles – Andreas Athanasiou, Blake Lizotte
Minnesota – Marcus Foligno, Nick Bjugstad, Nick Bonino, Joel Eriksson Ek, Marcus Johansson, Jared Spurgeon, Nico Sturm, Ian Cole*
New Jersey – Kyle Palmieri, Sami Vatanen, Travis Zajac, Andreas Johnsson, Janne Kuokkanen, Michael McLeod, Pavel Zacha, Jack Hughes, Damon Severson, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Jesper Bratt, Nathan Bastian, Nikita Gusev, Yegor Sharangovich, Dmitry Kulikov
Vegas – Alex Pietrangelo
Washington – Evgeny Kuznetsov, Ilya Samsonov, Jakub Vrana*

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: Connor Carrick, New Jersey Devils; Pierre-Luc Dubois, Winnipeg Jets

It should come as little surprise that the Buffalo Sabres and Minnesota Wild, two teams that have had games postponed due to COVID outbreaks, have new additions to the CPRA list. The Sabres are up to seven players, as well as head coach Ralph Krueger, in the protocol. Minnesota has eight players on the list now, including Cole who was added late last night, presumably following a positive test.

The surprise addition to list is Vrana for the Capitals. Washington has had the one incidence of COVID Protocol violation, one that cost them $100K and landed four players on the list, but otherwise had been unaffected. Yet, Vrana is now out of action with no word yet on the cause.

If there is any good news in regards to the Coronavirus in the NHL today, it is that all Vegas Golden Knights coaches were finally back at practice today after the entire staff had previously landed in the protocol. The New Jersey Devils also add one more player to their thin active list as Carrick, who had merely left the team for the birth of his child, has timed out of the protocol.

*denotes new addition

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