The first significant move of the 2023 NHL offseason has occurred, as the Winnipeg Jets have traded Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Los Angles Kings. The full trade is that the Jets will send Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Kings for forward Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari and a 2024 second-round pick. Pierre-Luc Dubois will also get an eight-year extension worth annual average of $8.5 million. That makes this trade a signal and a trade. Now this is a massive trade that will have a significant impact on both teams.
Impact on the Kings of Los Angeles
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This move indicates that the Kings are in win mode now. They are ready to fire up and try to make a deep run in the playoffs. Dubois is the perfect player to help them make that leap. Dubois statistically had the best year of his career last year. He had 27 goals and 36 assists giving him 63 points. He will rank in the top six for the Kings. It’s a draw between him and Anze Kopitar for the frontline center role, but regardless, the Kings’ top six got a lot better. The core group of him has become one of the best in hockey. When you have Dubois, Kopitar and Phillip Danault as your top three centers, it’s going to be hard to find a better group than that.
This also gives the Kings some security when it comes to their future at frontline center. Kopitar is about to turn 36 years old. Which means he’s coming to the end of his career. The hope was that Quinton Byfield, whom the Kings took second overall in the 2020 NHL draft, would locate and take over when he retired. However, things have not turned out as the Kings expected. Injuries and poor performance have hampered Byfield in his young career. There were fears that Byfield might not take the next step. However, Dubois gives them insurance in case Byfield doesn’t work out. Dubois is only 25 years old and with an eight-year extension, he should be in Los Angeles for a long time.
Impact on the Winnipeg Jets
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As I mentioned in my post about the upcoming Jets roster changes. Changing Pierre-Luc Dubois was inevitable. He had no interest in staying in Winnipeg and could give the Jets a big return. It would be foolish not to change it. The return the Jets got is definitely interesting.
The two headliners for this deal are Gabriel Vilardi and Rasmus Kupari. Both were first-round picks and have shown plenty of upside. Vilarid has battled injuries throughout his career, which is the main reason he hasn’t made much of an impact in the NHL thus far. However, last season he finally had his breakout season. He had 23 goals and 18 assists for 41 points, all of which were career highs for him. Kupari has bounced back and forth between the NHL and AHL, and hasn’t put up big numbers in either, yet he’s only 23 and still has plenty of upside.
Alex Iafallo hasn’t done anything special throughout his career. He normally accumulates between 30 and 40 points per season. He’s not terrible, but he’s not someone you want to build the franchise around. He is also one of the best defensive forwards in the league. He should fit nicely in the middle six of the Jets’ lineup, bouncing back and forth between the second and third lines. And of course, the second-round pick is a lottery ticket right now.
It looks like the Jets are going with the first option I laid out in my article on the Winnipeg Jets. Trying to reorganize the roster to be competitive next season. Vilardi is going to have a big impact in the top six for the Jets. Iafallo will remain that solid piece, and Kupari has a lot of potential in the bottom six. Put these guys in with the core that the Jets have already assembled and the Jets roster looks decent. They’re not Stanley Cup contenders by any means, but definitely a team that can compete for a playoff spot.
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