“You’ll know when I bench somebody” was the retort from John Tortorella earlier this week when Pierre-Luc Dubois missed some shifts late in a Columbus Blue Jackets game. Well, he wasn’t lying. Dubois was stapled to the Columbus bench for the second, third, and overtime periods last night, leading to a career-low in ice time of just 3:55. He received just five shifts total and now isn’t sure whether he will be in the lineup for tomorrow’s Blue Jackets game.
You can imagine, when the rest of the league saw what was happening, it may have piqued their interest in the young forward. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, who has been all over Dubois’ discontent since the beginning, tweets that the list of teams he believes have expressed interest include the Anaheim Ducks, Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames, Ottawa Senators, New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings, Washington Capitals and Arizona Coyotes. He explains that the list is not exhaustive but believes that the Blue Jackets would not do a “futures-only” deal for the disgruntled forward and that they want it to be a “hockey deal.”
It’s easy to blame Tortorella, who has had very public clashes with players in the past, but Dubois was certainly not playing up to his capabilities in the early part of the game either. In fact, the young forward told reporters including Jacob Myers of the Columbus Dispatch that he knows he could have been better through the first part of the season. It’s not hard to see how that reduced effort may scare some teams off, though the overall upside of a top-line center like Dubois will be difficult to overlook.
The simple fact is that something has turned rotten between player and organization, leading to a midseason trade seeming like an inevitability at this point. The 22-year-old forward has just one point through his first five games and carries a $5MM cap hit through 2021-22, after which he will still be a restricted free agent.
They have to make a move sooner rather than later. Benching a guy can be motivation if they want to be there and play, but PMD knows he will be moved at some point and not get treated this way where he is called out in press.
Jarmo better make a move soon on this before things unravel further
I think Tortz is being “sookey” is we say here in Newfoundland, Meaning a sook or childish. But it seams that hes doing it because LUC doesnt have the Jam to talk with Tortz about his issues
Strome, DeAngelo, and Kravtsov. Make it happen Gorton.
That’s a solid deal they should do that.
Not enough.
Yes, we need another LW to go with Panarin, Lafreniere, and Kreider. And that’s a deal I’d pass on. Overpay, no one to play center on the second line, Kravstov plays RW, which is desperately needed on the team, and DeAngelo is too talented to move at this point, even if they move him to 3rd D pairing. Need that depth.
Lol hard hang up on that one!
I would like the habs to get him.the basic deal would be something like.
Kotkenemi, Byron, Mete and a 1st
I really think he goes to the jets tho as they have 2 players that want to be traded aswell in Liane and Roslovic. As a side note Liane would look good on the havs to.
Anybody else have thought on potential deals with the habs or others
Malkin+ for Dubois
Torts is well known for his style and approach to his players & teams. Nothing knew with Torts perceivable from this vantage point. The player is a very young and perhaps immature adult at 22. He is highly talented as a hockey player with no doubt. It is unfortunate that in these days of no privacy and everything out in the public domain, that what should be internal team affairs has to be exposed to the unqualified to judge. There is a perceivable difference in Dubois‘a play and focus on the ice. I would hesitate to put any blame on Torts for his reactions, as he is trying to get his team to keep focus and have buy in. For the Franchise’s & the Team’s sake this situation is begging to be finally resolved and put to bed…by trade or by other means it must be put in the rear view mirror for all parties to move forward! My take on this unfortunate matter. Trade him or work it out in resolution!
gonna use my “one time” here… DEVILS ONE TIME !!
Put guys in who want to play. I will not be sad to see him go. Just hope he hasn’t tainted his trade value too much.
Boldy,1st Rd and Dumba from MN
PLD seems damn determined to make this a lose-lose for both sides. With each passing day, it seems like he wants to go into sabotage mode to force Jarmo’s hand. He is, in fact, de-valuing himself, but also adding to the negative image that CBJ has (from some players’ perspectives). @Bazi has shown us CBJ is burdened by the “Jeff Carter effect”, Torts, the lack of glitz and glamour of the CBJ market, and the cap structure imposed by ownership. As has been reported by several highly-respected media folks, CBJ ownership will use the RFA hammer with regularity and has no interest in seeing their cap setup become like other teams who are regularly in Cap Hell. The right player for CBJ is much harder to find, as a growing number become disenchanted with the whole nine yards, which stains the organizations reputation, sometimes unjustly. The cap is stuck where it is and may not move much for 3-5 years and you can’t just have regular player mutinies when a coach rubs guys the wrong way. It’s one thing if the bench boss is abusive, but the players are supposed to play, not try to coach themselves.
It’s not surprising that Torts eventually wears out his welcome. He’s great for getting a team prepared and ready, just as he has done many times in the past, but his personality isn’t for everyone. His shelf life is 3 years. Time to find a replacement if I’m Columbus and keep your key players.
Kostin, bozak(for salary cap purposes) and jake walman?
Very few players enjoy playing for head case tortorella. Hope Dubois gets away from him soon. Why Columbus is choosing him over losing all the players who won’t play for him is beyond me.
Bertuzzi,Seider and 2021 all 3 2nd rd picks for PLD and Savard…
Here you are! Its time to take a pill so you dont hurt anybody! Come on!