Pierre-Luc Dubois “never stops being a baby”, says Jeremy Roenick

After months of speculation, the saga surrounding Pierre-Luc Dubois finally came to a conclusion this week, as the forward was traded to the Los Angeles Kings with an eight-year contract (and $8.5 million annual salary) in hand.

And in the end, it was he who chose to go to Los Angeles. His preference was really to go with the Kings, whom he saw as “the team that wanted him the most”.

Clearly, even though they paid dearly (both in hopes and money), the Kings made a nice catch. Dubois is a big power forward who is likely to excel on the top-6 there and should be a big piece of the offensive core.

Is he worth $8.5 million a year? I don’t know, but the Kings are a better club with him than they were without him.

However, Dubois isn’t the unanimous choice. Yesterday, Jeremy Roenick gave his thoughts on the matter, and even if he thinks Dubois can bring a lot to the Kings, he still finds that PLD “hasn’t stopped doing his baby” since his arrival in the NHL:

He’s done nothing but f*cking cry since he’s been in the NHL. – Jeremy Roenick, on Pierre-Luc Dubois

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Roenick revisits the player’s two trade requests, motivated respectively by the fact that he no longer wanted to play for John Tortorella and that he no longer liked himself in a market like Winnipeg. And to “imitate” Dubois, he uses some rather unsympathetic baby crying.

The former NHL player acknowledges that Dubois is capable of making the difference in a game, but that the Quebecer needs to stop spending his time “crying” and concentrate on playing field hockey. If he does, he has the potential to play up to his contract and be an important piece in Los Angeles for the next eight years.

Roenick’s comments seem a little exaggerated, but his point remains interesting: now that he’s been able to choose his destination and has committed to playing there for eight years, he needs to play up to his potential and stop being a distraction to his club.

And if he does, the Kings will be very happy to have acquired him.

In bursts

– My impression is that he would have been the type to take a chance on Matvei Michkov. I could be wrong, though.

I meet Marc Bergevin at the Nashville airport.

After the usual greetings, I can’t help but ask him:

“And you, would you have drafted Reinbacher?”

And he replies, smiling, before disappearing into the crowd: “I don’t talk…”😏

– Anthony Martineau (@Antho_Martineau) June 29, 2023

– Scott Wheeler thinks the CH will regret drafting David Reinbacher. And that’s not a dig at the kid, it’s only because Matvei Michkov was available.

Scott Wheeler on the Habs 2023 draft class.

(FYI: “Losers” are teams he believes will regret taking the player(s) they chose.)

👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/sPMNmqWcxR

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) June 29, 2023

– I agree. I just would have preferred a better offense, personally.

– A big name will test the market on Saturday.

– To be continued.