Could the Boston Bruins be interested in trading for Columbus Blue Jackets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois?
With training camp opening tomorrow for the Boston Bruins, general manager Don Sweeney is on the trade front with other NHL teams. Over the last month, the Bruins have been linked to defenseman Noah Hanifin of the Calgary Flames and Ben Hutton of the Los Angeles Kings. Now, could there be a third player on Sweeney’s radar?
According to Jimmy Murphy of Boston Hockey Now, Sweeney has done his due diligence and reached out to the Columbus Blue Jackets on the availability of left wing Pierre-Luc Dubois. This would be a nice get for Sweeney if he’s able to work something out for the 22-year-old rising star.
The third overall pick of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft burst onto the scene his rookie season in 2017-18. He had 20 goals and 28 assists in all 82 games, before scoring a career-high 27 goals with 34 assists the following season. Last season, he was one pace to record his third straight 20-goal season when the season was paused on March 12 with18 goals. He was also on pace to break his previous high in assists of 34 with 31 and still 12 games remaining on the Blue Jackets schedule.
Pierre-Luc Dubois signed a two-year, $10 million bridge deal with Columbus on Wednesday, but it appears he wanted the short-term deal as opposed to a long-term deal so the Blue Jackets can look to work out a trade with another team at some point.
And there’s the bridge deal. Really made the most sense for both sides to go this route. Whether or not this leads to a trade over the next year, we shall see. https://t.co/CvKI8VGfob
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) December 31, 2020
In the playoffs over the summer at the Toronto bubble, he had four goals and six assists in 10 games. The 6-foot-3, 218-pound forward can play both left wing and center as he played both spots for coach John Tortorella in the postseason.
There is no question that Pierre-Luc Dubois is a rising star in the league and will be sought by many teams if Columbus does make him available. If Sweeney is able to acquire him, it would be instant secondary scoring, something that Sweeney struggled to find over the last couple of years in the trade market.
What would it take to get him Columbus? That’s the question. Certainly, defensive prospect Urho Vaakanainen could be at the top of the list of names that Columbus would be interested in, but it also might take a player off the current roster and/or draft picks. Roster moves would have to be made to fit him under the cap, but what a get he would be.
Sweeney would like to add to the defense in a trade if he could, but being able to get a talent of Pierre-Luc Dubois’ would do wonders for secondary scoring on a team that is in win-now mode with their aging core of veterans.