Winnipeg Jets head coach says he tried his best to retain Kings forward Pierre-Luc Dubois.

The Winnipeg Jets will face off against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night. And the biggest storyline will be that of Pierre-Luc Dubois making his return to Winnipeg following the mid-summer sign-and-trade that sent him to California in exchange for forwards Gabe Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari, alongside a 2024 second round pick.

Dubois, who made his intentions known that he was not interested in pursuing a career in Winnipeg, was dealt to Los Angeles for quite literally a King's - or should we say, Kings' - ransom. 

All of Vilardi, Iafallo and Kupari have provided statistical outputs within their first three games in Winnipeg, and seem to be fits within the forward corps. 

Dubois, on the other hand, has yet to find a point, while picking up one minor penalty in the Kings' two losses on the season. 

"It will be special, I'm sure," the 25-year-old said in an interview with NHL.com in advance of Tuesday night's showdown. "I'm sure some fans will see it a little differently, but for me personally it will be special. I spent three great years in Winnipeg. My parents are going to be at the game. To play against some teammates and friends that I have from Winnipeg, it'll be a special game.

Although anticipating some boos from the crowd, Dubois says he does hope to hear some cheers as well.

"If they're cheering my departure, I think I'd question a little bit more my time there," he added in that conversation. But it is what it is."

On the other side of the coin is Jets head coach Rick Bowness, who made it clear he enjoyed coaching the big centreman.

"I had no problem with 'Dubie,' Bowness shared. "I talked to him an awful lot, spent a lot of time with him. I was trying to convince him to stay, but that wasn’t going to happen no matter what. I have no problem with Dubie at all. We had a very good rapport.”

Bowness, who joined the club during the summer of 2022, quickly realized that Dubois wouldn't be a part of his team past the 2022-23 season. And as a veteran coach, he made peace with that early on.

"He made it no secret that he wasn't going to sign a long-term deal here," Bowness added. "When he comes out and says that, he just didn't want to be here. He was going to move on when he could, so that's his choice, didn't want to be here. It worked out well for him and it's worked out really well for us, so we're happy."

The three players that have stepped in and filled the big size 12s left by Dubois have done a fantastic job, according to their coach.

“There’s three plus the second-round pick,” Bowness said of his general manager's return. “All three of these players are really good players. And they all fit in very, very well. So there’s only upside for all of those three guys. And when we get that second-round pick in a year. It was a great trade by Chevy.”

Although coach Bowness says he anticipates the former Jets forward to have himself a good game, he doesn't want his team losing sight of the focus - winning its second game of the year following Saturday afternoon's victory in Winnipeg's home-opener against Florida. 

The Jets and Kings will face off at 7:00 PM central time from Canada Life Centre and are expected to lace an identical lineup to that of games No. 1 and 2 thus far. Tuesday's contest can be viewed live on TSN.