Dubois loves to make the headlines with some drama, and this times instead of just trying to force a move, he is making it happen to a certain team. Yesterday, Pierre-Luc Dubois did not file for arbitration, which means teams are allowed to sign him to an offer sheet. In that situation, his current team, the Winnipeg Jets, get the final say. They can either match the offer that Dubois receives from a different team, which keeps him as a player of the Jets, or they can not match the offer sheet, which lets Dubois leave. The Jets would receive compensation for the player if they do not match the offer sheet, the compensation value being based off of the contract that is signed.
This table from CapFriendly shows the compensation per each AAV value:
| ANNUAL AVERAGE (AAV) VALUE | COMPENSATION |
|---|---|
| $1 – $1,386,490 | No Compensation |
| $1,386,491 – $2,100,742 | 1 Third Round Pick |
| $2,100,743 – $4,201,488 | 1 Second Round Pick |
| $4,201,489 – $6,302,230 | 1 First Round Pick, 1 Third Round Pick |
| $6,302,231 – $8,402,975 | 1 First Round Pick, 1 Second Round Pick, 1 Third Round Pick |
| $8,402,976 – $10,503,720 | 2 First Round Picks, 1 Second Round Pick, 1 Third Round Pick |
| $10,503,721 – ∞ | 4 First Round Picks |
Dubois has himself a good year, The 24 year old winger played 81 games in the 2021-2022 regular season, scoring 28 goals and picking up 32 assists for a total of 60 points. His value is certainly high, he’s young, and he’s talented. This creates a very complicated situation. He will likely be valued at a contract around $7-$8M.
Dubois want’s to leave, but the Jets have no intention of losing him if they don’t get a fair value trade. If a team tries to offer sheet Dubois, the Jets are likely to match anything that is 3 years or higher, just because they are not a rebuilding team, compensation picks is certainly not what the Jets want. If a team offers 2 years, Dubois would head to free agency as a UFA in 2024 anyways, so it might not be in the best interest for the Jets to match that, but who knows, they could still sign and trade if they think they would get more value that way.
The Jets can still TRADE Dubois, essentially it is trading his signing rights. The team that everyone is linking Dubois is the Montreal Canadiens. Dubois has been reportedly trying to force a trade to the Canadiens for months. According to insiders Arpon Basu and Murat Ates, Dubois even attended the NHL Draft, thinking that a trade would be established and announced that night, it must have been quite a shock when he heard the Canadiens made TWO trades, neither for him.
According to Arpon Basu, Dubois is set on going to Montreal, and is seemingly not interested in landing elsewhere. This is the second time that Dubois is forcing a team to move him in his career, you can read the story here.
This situation may seem complicated, but it is still all in control of the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets can match any offer if they want to, they can take Dubois to arbitration, meaning he can’t receive an offer sheet and HAS to sign at least a one year deal, but no matter what he would be a UFA in 2024.The Jets can 100% keep Dubois in the organization for this season if they so please. The Jets still likely prefer to find a trade with the Canadiens, they probably aren’t thrilled to keep a player that doesn’t want to be there, but at the end of the day its a business, and they have to do what they feel is best for the organization. Dubois’s efforts to force a move are certainly creating noise, and the Jets are trying to move swiftly without Dubois’s value dropping from his antics.
The Jets could even get him on a 1 year deal, then trade him near the deadline to a contender if they are struggling , and if the Jets look to make a playoff push, they can keep him as a quality player who will still want to perform on the Ice. Dubois wants to hold his value high or else he could make less $ with his next deal, meaning if he is a Jets player this season, he is going to want to put in good performances, regardless of if he wants to play there or not.
