Loose puck | Pierre-Luc Dubois: what if the CH had been in the Kings’ position?

Let’s remember when Pierre-Luc Dubois was traded to the Los Angeles Kings last summer. We were looking for comparable elements to determine the price the Canadian would have had to pay for the Winnipeg Jets center.

Gabriel Vilardi, then 23, the 11th overall pick in 2017, was coming off a 41-point season, including 23 goals, in 63 games; 53 points, including 30 goals, prorated over a full year.

Alex Iaffalo, 29, represented a mid-formation winger. He had 36 points, including 14 goals, in 59 games, and likely would have broken his personal best of 43 points in a season had he not been injured.

Rasmus Kupari, a first-round pick, 20th overall, in 2018, was struggling to establish himself in the NHL at 23 years old. He had just 15 points in 66 games in 2022-23.

Nick Suzuki was drafted three spots after Vilardi in 2017. He had 66 points, including 26 goals, in 82 games two years ago, but benefited from significantly more favorable conditions than Vilardi on a rebuilding club.

If we had wanted to be more precise, we would have opted for Kirby Dach, repeatedly injured like Vilardi at the start of his career, a year and a half younger, but production similar to that of Vilardi in 2022-2023: 38 points, including 14 goals, in 58 matches.

Christian Dvorak could undoubtedly have constituted this mid-training striker, offensive production similar to that of Iaffalo, although a very different role. Fallen hope is difficult to recreate, let’s imagine a Nikita Scherbak who has been moved forward in time. We would also have had to give up a second round choice in 2024.

Vilardi quickly became part of an offensive trio in Winnipeg. He was now free of chronic back pain, but suffered a knee injury early in the season, then suffered an enlarged spleen after the holidays. In 47 games, he nevertheless obtained 36 points, including 22 goals, a return of 63 points, including 38 goals, over a full season, significantly higher than Dubois’ production in Los Angeles.

Iaffalo found himself in a supporting role, with 27 points, and Kupari settled for a measly point in 28 games and many nights in the press box or in the infirmary.

We will never know to what extent Dach would have progressed at the center of CH’s second line if he had not been injured in the second game of the season. But after a tremendous training camp, he had two assists in the opening game, in which he played 21:22, at the center of a line completed by Juraj Slafkovsky and Alex Newhook. Only Suzuki played more offensively, 21:47.

However, it is difficult to imagine the Montreal media being lenient towards Kent Hughes today as the Los Angeles colleagues were towards GM Rob Blake.

He made his mea culpa, at a press briefing on Wednesday, after the exchange of Dubois to Washington for 34-year-old goalkeeper Darcy Kuemper. We praised his transparency and stressed that he had the courage to repair the mistake he made a year earlier.

Dubois, 25, had just 40 points last year. He has seven years left on his contract at an annual salary of 8.5 million, now entirely covered by Washington.

Kuemper, relegated to the role of second goalie for the Capitals behind Charlie Lindgren, has a contract valid for three more years at 5.2 million per season. He had a 13-14-3 record, 3.31 GAA and .890 save percentage last year. However, he had his best career moments during a brief stint in Los Angeles under Kings goaltending manager Bill Ranford in 2017. Seven years have passed since then.

Bad decisions are starting to pile up in LA. Kevin Fiala, almost 28 years old, is a good offensive winger with 70+ points. But the attacker who makes you win? He had two points in five playoff games against the Oilers, playing left wing on the third line, with an expected goals rate of just 0.8, according to Moneypuck, a sign he wasn’t getting shots from quality.

Fiala cost a 2022 first-round pick, Liam Öhgren, 19th overall, and 21-year-old right-handed defenseman Brock Faber, a finalist for Rookie of the Year alongside Connor Bedard after a 47-point, one-time season usage of 24:58 on average per game.

Another good young defender, 25-year-old Sean Durzi, switched camps last summer, this time to lighten the payroll. He was dealt to the Coyotes for a second-round pick in 2024. Durzi became the number one defenseman in Arizona, 41 points in 76 games, average ice time 22:43.

Blake acquired a goalie, Kuemper, because Cal Petersen didn’t get the job done after signing a three-year, $15 million contract in September 2021. He had only 53 games of NHL experience when the GM of the Kings gave him this gift. Blake had to give up defenseman Sean Walker, a 2024 second-round pick and 2020 second-round prospect Helge Grans to the Flyers to get rid of Petersen last summer.

Philadelphia received a 2025 first-round pick for Walker at the trade deadline a few months ago, nonetheless also agreeing to receive Ryan Johansen and his contract.

Blake was well into the reset in 2018. The Kings lost in the first round the last three years and missed the playoffs in the three seasons before that. Their number one center, Anze Kopitar, turns 37 in August, their top defenseman, Drew Doughty, turns 35 in December, and here they are with a 34-year-old goaltender.

The Kings haven’t drafted in the first round since 2021, their 2017 and 2018 first-round picks have already been traded, their 2019 first-round pick, fifth overall, Alex Turcotte, doesn’t bode well, and the second first-round pick that year, Tobias Bjornfot (22nd overall), was lost that winter on waivers.

So the Devils got a quality goaltender, 34-year-old Jacob Markstrom, from the Calgary Flames, for a 23-year-old defensive-minded defenseman and a first-round pick in 2025. New Jersey GM Tom Fitzgerald hopes that his team will climb the rankings enough for this choice to end up at the end of the round.

Fitzgerald is now reportedly looking for a talented and experienced left-handed defenseman. He still has his 10th overall pick in June. Will he knock on the Canadiens’ door?

Trading Mike Matheson will obviously set the Canadiens back in the short term. But Matheson, who had 62 points last season, is under contract for two years before he reaches full autonomy. He will be in a position to demand a deal that Montreal probably can’t afford. The Canadiens won’t be a Cup contender in the next two years. Might as well get a top asset for the organization’s longevity. But would the Devils bite?