The Los Angeles Kings traded center Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Washington Capitals in exchange for goaltender Darcy Kuemper. While Darcy Kuemper has no ties to the QMJHL, as he served his time in the WHL, Dubois was a force to be reckoned with in the "Q".
Selected 5th overall by the then Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, Dubois didn't skip a beat, potting 10 goals and 35 assists for 45 points over 54 games in his first season.
Though, Dubois wasn't a name to watch until his monumental draft year when scoring 42 goals and 57 assists for 99 points through 62 games, for most points on his team surpassing 2015 19th overall pick Evgeny Svechnikov and 2014 4th rounder Clark Bishop. To top it off, PLD would win the Paul Dumont Trophy for personality of the year, the Mike Bossy Trophy for best professional prospect and would even nab a nod to the Second QMJHL All-Star Team.
Despite the breakout season, it came as a surprise to some when the Columbus Blue Jackets announced him as their third overall selection in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, as Dubois was ranked by most pundits outside the top-3.
He would play one last season in the QMJHL split between Cape Breton and Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, leaving the league with 194 points over 164 games, for 6th highest in his QMJHL draft cohort despite only playing three seasons.
In the NHL, Dubois quickly quieted naysayers with his 20-goal rookie year, and 61-point sophomore season, but issues with coaching had led to him getting dealt to Winnipeg, Los Angeles and now Washington.
Dubois, who will be 25 by the start of the 24-25 season, is coming off a 16-goal and 40-point season across a full 82 games. This isn't a bad NHL season for most NHLers, but for Dubois, this is his worst season production-wise since 2019-20 which saw Columbus trade him to Winnipeg.
The hope is that the change of scenery for the two-way centerman will lead to a return to his 60-point, 25-goal form.
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