Pierre-Luc Dubois Traded to Jets; Blue Jackets Land Patrik Laine, Jack Roslovic
The Columbus Blue Jackets completed a blockbuster trade Saturday to send Pierre-Luc Dubois and a third-round draft pick to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic.
TSN's Darren Dreger and Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic first reported details of the agreement.
Dubois signed a two-year, $10 million contract extension with the Jackets in late December, just days before the start of training camp, but he didn't back away from a trade request, and that led to tension with head coach John Tortorella.
"Yeah, he wants out," Tortorella said on 97.1 The Fan last week (via TSN). "... This is a 22-year-old kid. It doesn't happen that often, so he has been honest with the group. I wish he was a little bit more honest as far as reasons why. I still haven't really gotten to that, but I think he needs to speak on that. I won't."
The situation reached a boiling point during Thursday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning when Dubois was benched after a first-period sequence in which he made little effort to fight for the puck:
He scored one goal in five games before the trade. He was previously one of Columbus' top offensive weapons, tallying 158 points (65 goals and 93 assists) in 234 games across his first three seasons.
The Jackets were able to get a solid return despite the drama.
Laine, 22, is one of the league's most lethal snipers with 140 goals in 306 appearances, including a career-high 44 tallies during the 2017-18 season. He's a defensive liability, however, and he's sidelined by an upper-body injury.
Roslovic, 23, is still trying to establish himself in the NHL after being selected in the first round of the 2015 draft. He's a restricted free agent who hadn't signed a contract with Winnipeg, so he's yet to appear in a game this season after scoring 29 points in 71 games during the 2019-20 campaign.
The center is a Columbus native.
It's unclear when the players will debut with their new teams. The NHL created a Canada-only division for the 2020-21 season because of the country's COVID-19 guidelines, which could lead to a longer transition period for Dubois.
Meanwhile, Laine must finish his injury recovery, and Roslovic needs to sign a new deal.
