PIERRE-LUC DUBOIS - Center - 21 - $.894MM Cap Hit - RFA in 2020-2021
LAST UPDATED 7/28/19
While fans were puzzled by GM Jarmo Kekalainen's choice to select Pierre-Luc Dubois over the higher-ranked Jesse Puljujarvi with the third overall pick, nobody is puzzled anymore. Pierre-Luc Dubois has consistently improved over the course of his two NHL seasons and he looks to potentially be the first true 1C in Columbus Blue Jackets franchise history. Dubois is a very hard player to contain. He's a good skater, but more importantly, he's big and strong, and very difficult to knock off of pucks. His ability to maintain possession of the puck through contact is how he creates time and space as a playmaker, and the departure of Artemi Panarin will be the true test of whether or not Dubois can drive offensive play for his line like true 1C's can. Dubois is also strong defensively, and while he won't play a Bergeron-esque role and kill penalties as well as shut down top opposing forwards, he can manage himself in his own end and can effectively utilize his size and strength to win battles for pucks. Dubois is also an elite power play forward and isolated impact metrics measure Dubois to be among the game's best play drivers on the power play. That all being said, Dubois' game is not without some question marks. Dubois isn't the fastest skater, and with the league getting incresingly faster Dubois could find himself falling behind, but with his incredible puck possession skills I see that as only a minor issue. More troubling is that although Dubois is an incredible shooting talent his shooting percentage is simply unsustainable. Dubois will struggle to convert 15.5% of his shots into goals as he did this past season, and his production could suffer as a result. But still, Dubois' current game even given those issues is a great base to work off of, and if he can make those adjustments, continue to grow, and improve his poor faceoff skills, he could become the true 1C Jackets fans have been waiting for forever.
While fans were puzzled by GM Jarmo Kekalainen's choice to select Pierre-Luc Dubois over the higher-ranked Jesse Puljujarvi with the third overall pick, nobody is puzzled anymore. Pierre-Luc Dubois has consistently improved over the course of his two NHL seasons and he looks to potentially be the first true 1C in Columbus Blue Jackets franchise history. Dubois is a very hard player to contain. He's a good skater, but more importantly, he's big and strong, and very difficult to knock off of pucks. His ability to maintain possession of the puck through contact is how he creates time and space as a playmaker, and the departure of Artemi Panarin will be the true test of whether or not Dubois can drive offensive play for his line like true 1C's can. Dubois is also strong defensively, and while he won't play a Bergeron-esque role and kill penalties as well as shut down top opposing forwards, he can manage himself in his own end and can effectively utilize his size and strength to win battles for pucks. Dubois is also an elite power play forward and isolated impact metrics measure Dubois to be among the game's best play drivers on the power play. That all being said, Dubois' game is not without some question marks. Dubois isn't the fastest skater, and with the league getting incresingly faster Dubois could find himself falling behind, but with his incredible puck possession skills I see that as only a minor issue. More troubling is that although Dubois is an incredible shooting talent his shooting percentage is simply unsustainable. Dubois will struggle to convert 15.5% of his shots into goals as he did this past season, and his production could suffer as a result. But still, Dubois' current game even given those issues is a great base to work off of, and if he can make those adjustments, continue to grow, and improve his poor faceoff skills, he could become the true 1C Jackets fans have been waiting for forever.
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