Name: LeBrun: 7 ideal suitors for Pierre-Luc Dubois
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LeBrun: 7 ideal suitors for Pierre-Luc Dubois

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Jan 8, 2021What’s rather fascinating in the aftermath of trade request becoming public is how teams around the league react to it.Some teams want to check in on something like that right away to figure out what’s going on, others wait a few weeks to let the dust settle and give Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen time to digest what’s happening.But regardless of which approach teams take, believe me when I say about 20-25 teams will have checked with Kekalainen by season’s end.How can you not? How often do 22-year-old No. 1 centres with his combination of skill and size become available?Most people I’ve talked to this week around the league believe Kekalainen will take his time and some predicted a summer trade around the draft.But as always, all it takes is one terrific offer to make him blink and it could happen anytime this season.It’s very early in the process and I think two-thirds of the league will check in with Columbus at some point or another, but here are some teams that I personally believe would make sense as potential suitors:: They’ve got young assets throughout the organization, more than most teams, and Dubois’ age fits perfectly with where Anaheim is headed. Not to mention he’s like a young . No question in my mind that when the time is right, the Ducks will inquire. All things being equal, as others have pointed out to me, the Jackets probably would prefer having Dubois moved out of the conference.: It was a busy offseason for the Flames. The team improved, especially with the addition of goalie . What didn’t happen, despite all the speculation, was Calgary doing something bigger as far as dealing either or Johhny Gaudreau. This could be an appealing trade partner for Columbus if a Dubois deal is more about getting players back who can help the Jackets now. Is there something here around Dubois and Monahan? Again, this is just me spit-balling. But I’d be surprised if the Flames didn’t check in.New York Rangers: Eventually, I’m guessing next summer, the Rangers are going to get around to finding another top-6 centre for their talented lineup. Can you imagine if that’s Dubois? A 1-2 punch at centre of and Dubois and all that talent on the wings… Yikes. There’s absolutely no question in my mind the Rangers will be among the many teams who check in with Columbus. The fly in the ointment is that Columbus ideally would rather avoid trading within their own (normal) division. So there’s that. But as far as a need and fit, this is a good one.: So you can take this two different ways. On the one hand, centre is the last position the Kings even need to look at given the prospects they have at that position in , , , and . But the other argument to make here is if Columbus will want a young centre back in a package then the Kings are better suited to build that package than many other teams. On the surface, this seems like a deal better avoided for the rebuilding Kings. But Dubois is only 22 and a known commodity. At the very least, it’s a conversation I believe the Kings have had internally. Probably if Dubois was a 22-year-old, left-handed blueliner, it would be more of a no-brainer.: He’s the kind of young, core piece that would fit the vision of what’s going on now in Chicago so I would expect the Blackhawks to at least inquire. But if I’m the Jackets, the conversation must start with and that might be tough for Chicago to contemplate given his place in the Hawks’ rebuilding plans. Still, Kekalainen and Hawks GM Stan Bowman have made a few big trades before.: As back on Monday, the Dubois for idea is a fun one, one team’s problem for another. Until they become your problem. You’d have to know if you’re Columbus that Laine would want to sign there long-term and ditto for Dubois in Winnipeg. But hockey-wise, especially with a pending UFA and not ready probably for a few years, having and Dubois down the middle in Winnipeg sure is alluring.: Oh come on, you didn’t think I would speculate a list of teams and not include the Habs, right? Can you imagine a French-Canadian star like Dubois rocking the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge?The funny thing is that after all the years of pointing to centre as such a position of need for the Habs, it suddenly isn’t. If and continue on their current path — and there’s obviously no guarantees of that — the Habs feel pretty damn good about those two down the middle. Throw in the two-way beast Phil Danault (UFA after the season, mind you), and it really isn’t a situation where Montreal needs to aggressively go after Dubois. However, GM Marc Bergevin has a track record of keeping tabs on situations like this. So you can bet he will do just that. And why wouldn’t you if you were him? But as far as something that he needs to do, it really isn’t. But I talked to a few people around the league this week who believe Bergevin will stay on it.And like I said at the top, it’s a shorter list of teams who won’t call Columbus, rather than those who will. You owe it to yourself as an organization to find out what’s going on there. But it will end up being a short list of teams who can satisfy what Kekalainen is looking for whenever he decides to get serious on this front.Things have been rather quiet on the Frederik Andersen front for a few months now.The last time the ’ front office and Andersen’s camp even discussed his contract situation goes back to July, a source said this week.Since then, crickets.Which is fine with both sides at this point. Andersen isn’t the only pending UFA on the Leafs, and there’s no rule against letting your goalie play out his contract before deciding what to do with him, if that’s indeed what GM Kyle Dubas decides to go.’s track record as a player agent is generally not to negotiate contracts for his pending UFAs once the season has begun. He finds that distracting for his clients. There are exceptions, of course, and if the Leafs came during the season with the kind of offer that made too much sense not to look at, who knows.But for now, I think both Lemieux and Dubas are comfortable letting things play out and see what happens.captain is entering the final season of a seven-year, $39-million contract which frankly has treated both sides pretty well at a $5.57-million cap hit.Now it’s about finding the next deal that fits in with all the other contract decisions the contending Avs will have to make over the coming year or two ( pending UFA, pending UFA, coming out of his entry-level deal after this season, and superstar is eligible to sign an extension as of the summer of ’22).“Gabe is looking forward to staying his whole career with the Avs,’’ his agent Peter Wallen said. “Joe Sakic’s intention is the very same … we are looking forward to signing long term when we all know where COVID-19 is taking us.’’There have been talks already, of course. But the last comment is telling. I’ve heard the same from both teams and player agents around the league. They’re curious to see how the gets through this unique season and specifically how the economic landscape starts to look past this year. Of course, we know there’s a flat cap, but is there a rebound kicking in at some point this year? Or more economic malaise?You get the sense some people, not all, but some want to wait on big contract decisions until having a better sense of that.(Photo: Mark Blinch / NHLI via Getty Images)

Jan 8, 2021What’s rather fascinating in the aftermath of trade request becoming public is how teams around the league react to it.Some teams want to check in on something like that right away to figure out what’s going on, others wait a few weeks to let the dust settle and give Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen time to digest what’s happening.But regardless of which approach teams take, believe me when I say about 20-25 teams will have checked with Kekalainen by season’s end.How can you not? How often do 22-year-old No. 1 centres with his combination of skill and size become available?Most...

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Pierre LeBrun

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LeBrun: 7 ideal suitors for Pierre-Luc Dubois

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