Winnipeg Jets bolster top 9 in Pierre-Luc Dubois trade

At last, after at least 365 days of speculation, Pierre-Luc Dubois’ short tenure as a Winnipeg Jet has come to an end.

Dubois was traded to the Los Angeles Kings for Alex Iafallo, Gabe Vilardi, Rasmus Kupari, and a 2nd round pick in the 2024 draft.

Ultimately, this trade is another domino that falls in the trade tree of Patrik Laine, except this time the Jets are the ones acquiring multiple assets, meaning they are trading the best player in the deal. Dubois himself was acquired for Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic back in 2021.

It signals clear intent from Jets general manager Kevin Chevyldayoff – clear intent to try and maintain competitive no matter how many deals he has to make this summer, whether forced or not. You could guess there were other trade packages with a larger emphasis on futures, but with Kyle Connor and Josh Morrissey still locked up long term, Chevyldayoff’s mindset appears to be one of retooling, not tearing it down in a rebuild.

It’s a sentiment I agree with.

Fans can be rather vocal about a need for rebuilds the moment a team stumbles and misses the playoffs. “You can’t win with that core” is a phrase bandied about, and the craving for mountain-sized dynamite to be thrown at the team’s foundation is palpable.

But rebuilds are long and hard. Trades involving stars are difficult to make. And trades for future assets are even more difficult to win.

Winnipeg still has quality players under contract. Morrissey, Connor, Nik Ehlers, Adam Lowry, Nino Niederreiter, Cole Perfetti, Brendan Dillon, and Neal Pionk can all contribute to a playoff caliber roster. Obviously, large decisions loom with Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck.

Is it a championship caliber core? No one is saying that.

But in my opinion teams are either in one of three phases: championship mode, where the majority of your work is plugging holes around an elite core, piece-by-piece mode, where you methodically need to acquire talent that fits your timeline while ideally having team control, and rebuild mode, where draft picks and under-20 prospects are your ideal targets in trade.

The Jets are in the second one.

Gabe Vilardi gives them a very interesting center piece to the deal. After a scorching start last season, he cooled considerably en route to 23 goals and 41 points in 63 games. The big 6’3 right wing/center has taken some time to find his game at the NHL level – particularly given his 11th overall pick status – but a 50 point pace floor is a nice level to establish. In 3-5 years when this deal can be evaluated more accurately, Vilardi’s progression and development will be the key component to determining how well Chevyldayoff did in this deal.

Pierre-Luc Dubois is a top-tier 2nd line center, and has shown spurts of being a top line center. If he takes another step, you could absolutely argue he’s a franchise center. None of the pieces the Jets acquired have that ceiling, so Winnipeg will need Vilardi to get as close to his ceiling as possible.

Alex Iafallo is a solid middle six winger who can contribute up and down the lineup. His career high is 43 points, however, and he’s never scored 20 goals in The Show – though he always scores in the double digits. He’ll strengthen the overall forward group for Winnipeg, but not in any dynamic way.

Rasmus Kupari is an interesting one. He’s a great skater for his 6’2 size, and at 23 years old hasn’t become more than a depth player. He was a 20th overall selection back in 2017 though, and I watched him live alot at the 2019 World Juniors in Victoria-Vancouver where he was one of Finland’s better players. He stood out to me then, but there is a staunch difference between turning heads in a junior tournament and becoming an impact player in the NHL.

I still believe in the player, and think he has a very outside chance at becoming a low end 2nd line contributor, but more likely he caps out as a player suited to a 3rd line role.

The silver lining to it all is that this copycat league will no doubt have taken notice that Vegas’ outlandish forward depth allowed them to roll 4 very competitive lines, with star power at the top. One can argue the Jets got a bit closer to a place where those top 3 lines can all be very effective.

As for Dubois, I still see game one of the playoffs against Vegas where he was an absolute horse, a dominant performer in the Jets only 2023 playoff victory, where he scored the game winner and added a primary assist.

Then he disappeared for the rest of the series.

I still see a player who burst out of the gate this season for 4 months while playing a critical role in the Jets’ perch atop the Western Conference standings in mid-January.

Then he disappeared for the rest of the season.

It’s now time for the finale of his disappearing act, one where he permanently departs to wear his number 80 in Los Angeles.

And I say good riddance.

Thanks for the trade assets.