For a season that wasn’t supposed to have a lot of notable trade activity, there was certainly a big trade made on Saturday with the Jets acquiring center Pierre-Luc Dubois and a 2022 third-round pick from the Blue Jackets in exchange for wingers Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic with the latter soon agreeing to a two-year, $3.8MM bridge deal.
It’s a swap of two star players that were looking for a change of scenery. The deal allows both teams to acquire a top talent in return but given their disenchantment where they were, it’s also fair to wonder if this will be the ideal fit for everyone involved. Both Laine and Dubois have a new home but are they in a more preferable spot than they were before?
For Winnipeg, adding Dubois should put to an end to GM Kevin Cheveldayoff’s attempts to add another impact center, a process that started with the acquisition of Paul Stastny in 2018, was continued a year later with Kevin Hayes before ultimately re-acquiring Stastny this offseason. With Bryan Little’s playing future in serious jeopardy and Stastny’s contract up, they needed a longer-term solution. Dubois can be that player although he’ll move from a top-line role down to the second line with Mark Scheifele ahead of him on the depth chart.
Meanwhile, Columbus gets one of the top goal-scorers in the league in Laine and a young roster player in Roslovic, one who was drafted as a center and will presumably get an opportunity to play down the middle. However, they lose a year of team control moving from Dubois to Laine, who is owed a $7.5MM qualifying offer this summer while being eligible for salary arbitration. While Winnipeg retained on his salary in the deal to get his price tag nearly identical to Dubois, that certainly won’t be the case for long.
How do you feel both teams made out in this blockbuster? Vote in the polls below to award your grades.
(Poll links for the Jets and Blue Jackets for app users.)
Bluejackets win this trade. Jets should of gotten one of there young dman instead of a
3rd draft pick
Have. Their. D-men.
Shit, Stu.
Boomer
Depends on how much Winnipeg can get for Paul Stastny.
Copp & Lowry as your 3&4.
Whenever you deal a disgruntled superstar, it’s almost always for a bunch of futures. I think, since both players obviously wanted out, that both teams did much better than they could have reasonably expected in this scenario.
Excellent.
Laine had been on the trade block longer.
Laine is one dimensional. Dubois is a solid 2-way Center
Good wingers already in Winnipeg with Wheeler, Ehlers, Connor. Needed a Center.
Columbus didn’t need a winger either and especially not losing a Center.
Winnipeg wins. Hands down.
Columbus won because Winnipeg retained 26% of Laine’s salary. All they had to do was finally move Dubinsky to LTIR to accommodate the deal. Now they can play Mikko Koivu as well. If the 3rd rounder pans out for the Jets then I’ll reevaluate the deal
It’s a win -win, but not without risk. Winnipeg gets an outstanding two way center but he sometimes has extended lapses in his play. Last season DuBois had consecutive game streaks without a goal of 11, 6, 7,and 11 games. That totals 35 games and Columbus only played 70, so DuBois certainly goes through extended times where he simply disappears. DuBois will have to grow up fast. Another “get me outta here” stunt will give him a bad reputation. Columbus also takes risk. Can Laine play for Tortorella? Can the addition of Laine bring Cam Atkinson back to his 41 goal form of just a couple of years ago? Atkinson has looked lost since Panarin left. Finally there was a reason Roslovic was taken in the first round. Will a homecoming help him to realize potential that to this point has been largely unfulfilled?
It’s a good hockey trade. The winner will be the team that can re-sign the star player they acquired to their next contract.
The winner will be which player fits best into the present team “culture”.
On paper, it feels like an overpay for Winnipeg, but this trade makes the Jets a better team, & a team deep at centre with Scheifele, Dubois, Stastny, Lowry, Perfetti, etc. Laine’s next contract is going to be huge, & way too much for a team that already has Connor, Wheeler, & Ehlers on the wings. I think this trade works out well for both sides.