DUBOIS IN FOCUS AS FLAMES, KINGS JOIN PURSUIT

TORONTO, ON -- The NHL’s regular-season got underway Wednesday and the battle for the 2021 Stanley Cup has officially started. There will be plenty of excitement in this 56-game extravaganza with divisional matchups eating up the schedule until Round 3 of the playoffs. As this unique campaign takes shape, trade chatter will undoubtedly increase as the season progresses.

Even before the first puck dropped in Philadelphia yesterday, two players grabbed centre stage in trade discussions.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have received significant interest in centre Pierre-Luc Dubois and those conversations have picked up steam since it was publicly revealed that he requested a trade. According to a source close to the organization, at least 20 teams have expressed interest in Dubois, who is in the first year of a two-year, $10 million contract.

Last week, TFP reported the Anaheim Ducks and New York Rangers were among the clubs serious about Dubois. It has also been widely speculated the Winnipeg Jets and Montreal Canadiens, along with others, have also touched base.

Multiple sources confirmed both the Calgary Flames and Los Angeles Kings are also seriously interested in Dubois, though the timing of a potential trade is up in the air.

It is unclear what the asking price is for Dubois, but the right package would certainly entice Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen into pulling the trigger on a trade this season – it’s entirely possible the Jackets wait until the off-season before making a move if they don’t receive what they deem to be an acceptable offer.

But it’s clear Dubois wants a change of scenery, as head coach John Tortorella emphasised Wednesday during an interview on 97.1 The Fan’s Rothman and Ice in Columbus.

“He wants out,” Tortorella said. “He spoke to the team. As we do here. He has been honest with the group – I wish he was a little bit more honest, as far as reasons why. I think he needs to speak on that, I won’t.

“It’s hard for me. I’m not sure where it goes with me as the season gets going here, I’ll be quite honest with you. I want to spend my time developing the people that want to be here, but I still have to coach the hockey team to be the best it can be.”

There is familiarity in trade discussions between the Flames and Blue Jackets, as the two clubs discussed a deal involving sniper Josh Anderson in the off-season before Columbus traded him to Montreal for centre Max Domi.

Could the Flames be prepared to part with Johnny Gaudreau or Sean Monahan in a deal for Dubois? Gaudreau has one-year left on his contract after this season, while Monahan has two years remaining once the 2020-21 season concludes. Gaudreau does not own any no-trade protection this season, while Monahan has a 10-team no-trade list.

Off-season trade speculation included the possibility of moving Gaudreau. Given the term on his contract, I’m not sure he’d be a key piece in a deal for Columbus.

Flames centre Elias Lindholm, drafted fifth-overall in 2013, enters this season coming off back-to-back 25+ goal seasons and the two most productive offensive seasons of his young career; he is also locked up for three seasons after this year and could be an option in a package for Dubois.

The Kings have a plethora of young talent in their prospects pool and could piece together an attractive package, if the Blue Jackets opt primarily for youth. Los Angeles has also expressed interest in Winnipeg Jets sniper Patrik Laine, the other protagonist in this season’s trade market, and Kings President Luc Robitaille recently admitted the team could be in a position to make a move for a big ticket if the right deal falls into place.

“If we have the opportunity to get a player in the right age bracket to fit in the direction we are going, we would look at it,” he told Kings of the Podcast in late-December.

If the Jets require a centre as part of a deal for Dubois, the Kings have a number of them in their system – Gabe Vilardi, Rasmus Kupari, Turcotte and Quinton Byfield, all first-round picks – and might be willing to include one of them in a package for Dubois, though I wouldn’t bet on the Kings moving Byfield.

Some across the league question whether we’ll see much trade activity given the overabundance of travel and quarantine questions related to this ongoing pandemic, but some in Columbus believe it might be in the club’s best interest to make a move well in advance of the April 12 trade deadline instead of letting this matter prolong into the summer.

If getting this season going wasn’t exciting enough, this year’s trade watch might keep you on your toes for the next three months.