Last season, hockey was fun again for the Washington Capitals’ Pierre-Luc Dubois. The much-maligned third-overall pick by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft finally found a team, a room, and a coach that fit.
In June 2024, when Capitals fans heard their team was trading goaltender Darcy Kuemper to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Dubois, there was room for concern. Since cracking the NHL in 2017, Dubois had played for three different teams (the Blue Jackets, Winnipeg Jets, and Los Angeles Kings), while garnering a reputation for being difficult.
Capitals scouts and team management believed they had a winner, despite Dubois’ reputation in the league. They saw what scouts saw before he was drafted to the NHL: a big, strong center with elite skills and hockey sense who is very hard to take off the puck.
Conflict in Columbus
Dubois impressed in his rookie and sophomore seasons with the Blue Jackets, scoring 20 or more goals and putting up 48 and 61 points, respectively. Things were seemingly going great for him in Columbus, finding chemistry with linemates Artemi Panarin and Josh Anderson. In December 2020, he signed a two-year $10 million contract, but then promptly requested a trade two weeks later. A month later, in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, head coach John Tortorella benched Dubois after a straight-legged half-effort shift that went viral in the hockey world.
Related: Capitals’ Pierre-Luc Dubois: From Top Draft Pick to NHL Nomad
His last days in Columbus were not pleasant. Benchings, verbal jousting on the bench, and criticism from the media and fans combined to create an unpleasant environment. Fans assumed he wanted to be traded because he didn’t like the small market city of Columbus, but all that Dubois offered were vague responses about needing to “stay true to himself.”
Turbulence in Winnipeg
On Jan. 23, 2021, Dubois was traded to the Jets in exchange for Patrick Laine and Jack Roslovic. Dubois’ fourth year in the NHL, 2020-21, was altered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 46 games, Dubois put up 21 points in a disappointing, albeit unusual season. In 2021-22, he recovered his old form, scoring 28 goals and 32 assists in 81 games. He was looked at favorably by Jets’ fans and the Winnipeg media, and it seemed that he had gotten back to the success of his early days in Columbus. Abruptly, at the end of the 2021-22 season, Dubois informed the Jets that he would not be seeking a long-term contract with the club, but instead wanted to explore free agency.
After what looked like a failed attempt by Quebec-born Dubois and his agent Pat Brisson to force a trade to the Montreal Canadiens, he signed only a one-year contract with the Jets. In 2022-23, he again produced offensively, scoring 27 goals and 36 assists in 73 games. But, as The Hockey Writers Declan Schroeder observed, Dubois had gone from “future captain candidate to potential cancer in need of removal with the Jets.” At the end of that season, Dubois was again traded, this time to the Kings, where he signed an eight-year, $68 million contract.
A Bad Fit in Los Angeles
In 2023-24, Dubois had his worst season since the pandemic-befuddled 2020-21 campaign, scoring only 16 goals and 24 assists in 82 games with the Kings, where he was relegated to the fourth line. The Kings couldn’t find a fit for Dubois or make him adapt to their system, and it was rumored that general manager Rob Blake went on the ice himself in full equipment to show Dubois what he needed to work on.
In the end, Blake took responsibility for Dubois’ struggles in Los Angeles. “I don’t think I did a good enough job integrating him in the right roles on the team here this year,” he said after trading Dubois. “I think it wasn’t a great fit in that aspect for us, and we’ll take responsibility for that” (from ‘By trading Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Capitals, the Kings admit their error and address another problem’ – The Athletic, 6/28/2024). After only one season with the Kings, Dubois was traded to the Capitals.
The Capitals had been interested in Dubois for some time and had even tried trading for him in 2023 when he was sent to Los Angeles. Capitals’ scouts were sold on Dubois and believed he could find his former success in the Capitals’ system.
“He was playing behind two good centers in L.A.,” Capitals GM Chris Patrick told ESPN. “It seemed like he wasn’t getting the opportunities he needed to get. There was still a good player there, but he was too buried in the lineup.”
Redemption in Washington
The key would be Capitals’ head coach Spencer Carbery. The 2024-25 Jack Adams Award winner for Coach of the Year is the model for the new generation of modern-day NHL coaches. He possesses excellent communication and interpersonal skills and works with players as individuals while building a strong team ethos. The fact that the Capitals have had one of the most tight-knit and positive dressing rooms in the NHL for the last several years also helps.
Carbery began Dubois’ reclamation project by putting him in a position to succeed – at the second-line center role. He also gave him a significant responsibility – shutting down their opponents’ top line every night. Dubois responded with a career-high 66 points and a plus-27 rating, while establishing himself as one of the best two-way centers in the league. Carbery’s secret, one known to the Capitals’ scouts for several seasons, seemed to be allowing Dubois to play his game, instead of forcing him to conform to a particular system or style of play.
“Sometimes, I think we try to really break down everything and deep dive into what, but sometimes it’s just very simple,” Dubois told The Athletic. “The coaching staff here made that clear. And then the players here. That’s what has been fun. I don’t think they expected more or less. I think they just wanted me to come here and just have fun. Just play. Have fun. If I’m open, pass it. If I’m not open, make your play. If you feel like you should shoot (the puck), shoot. There hasn’t been any expectations — it’s just been be yourself.” (from ‘Pierre-Luc Dubois on struggles with Kings, rebirth with Capitals and a win-win trade: ‘That’s on me’,’ The Athletic, 6/13/2025).
The Dubois Enigma
Trying to understand what makes Dubois tick and why he has had such a hard time on previous teams is daunting. He never provided reasonable answers to why he wanted to leave Columbus or Winnipeg, so rumors flourished. It was theorized that he wanted to play for a large-market team, wanted a bigger role, didn’t like the coaches, or couldn’t mesh with his teammates in the dressing room.
Ask ten former teammates and ten former coaches, and you’ll get 20 different responses. Former Kings and current Capitals teammate Matt Roy couldn’t say enough good things about him, while Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck seemed happy to see Dubois and his inconsistent effort heading out the door. Jeremy Roenick blasted him after his trade to the Kings for being a “big baby.”
Former Kings coach Todd McLellan, who was critical of Dubois during his time with the team, later told The Hockey News, “He’s a great human being. He’s misunderstood at times by the outside world, simply because he took advantage of what he earned.”
Dubois is an enigma. Opinions vary regarding his commitment on the ice, his consistency, and his motivation to compete, but hardly anything bad is ever mentioned about him off the ice. He does charity work through his foundation and has helped to support youth hockey in rural Quebec. The No. 80 that he wears on his sweater is a tribute to his former teammate Matiss Kivlenieks, who tragically died in a fireworks accident in 2021. This summer, he took Capitals rookie Ryan Leonard into his home as he navigates the jump to the NHL.
“I think I’m misunderstood at times, but I think a lot of people don’t really know me,” Dubois told ESPN. “And that’s fine. Sometimes in this world it’s hard to get to know guys. … Now it’ll be a fun opportunity for me to just be who I am. Not show anybody, not prove to anybody, but just fully be me.”
Building on a Great Season
If his first season with the Capitals was a turning point for Dubois, a second successful season in Washington will prove to the league that he has the promise that he showed when he was drafted third overall in 2016. He can show that although he may not be cut from the typical cloth of an NHL player, with the right system, the right coach, and clear expectations, he can be successful.
Carbery’s coaching style seems to have done the trick, as well as the welcoming, positive environment provided by the Capitals’ team culture. Captain Alex Ovechkin’s infectious love for the game and his teammates’ desire to help him break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring record last season likely combined for an esprit de corps Dubois hadn’t ever previously experienced on a team.
The 27-year-old center seems to be content in Washington. “It feels like home,” Dubois told The Hockey News. “It feels like I’ve been here for a long time already, feels like I’ve been around these guys for a long time.”
Capitals fans are excited to see what Dubois can do in his second year with the club, and are hoping that he will raise his playoff performance from last year and be a major contributor this season in the postseason. There’s a lot of hope in Washington that the Dubois gamble will keep paying off.
