Pierre-Luc Dubois addresses why he has never revealed why he wanted out of Columbus
It wasn't exactly the messiest of divorces between forward Pierre-Luc Dubois and the Columbus Blue Jackets last season, but it certainly wasn't a clean break either.
Despite reportedly being unhappy for quite some time in Columbus, once Dubois, who was selected by the Blue Jackets 3rd-overall back in 2016, had left the team, many pundits had assumed that the reason why Dubois wanted out would have come out in the aftermath of the trade - but it never did.
On Monday, Sportsnet's Luke Fox had the opportunity to ask Dubois why he decided to keep things quiet following his departure from an obviously tumultuous situation in Columbus. His response was actually pretty wholesome.
"You know, the organization did so many good things for me. They drafted me third overall when nobody thought I'd go third overall. They gave me a chance. So, I don't know why I'd go out there and say bad things or say things that I might regret later on.
"I didn't think anybody there deserved that — the staff, the players, the fans. I thought that maybe saying less would annoy people and make people mad, but down the line, I think that's the best way to be respectful."
Dubois appeared in 41 games for the Jets after being traded to Winnipeg last season in exchange for Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic. He managed just 8 goals and 20 points over that span.
A bounce-back year seems likely for Dubois after having some time to adjust to a new team and a new system in Winnipeg.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mikko Rantanen | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jake Debrusk | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jack Eichel | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Brock Nelson | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Valeri Nichushkin | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Clayton Keller | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jonathan Drouin | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Roman Josi | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kirill Marchenko | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kyle Palmieri | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Leon Draisaitl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matt Duchene | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Samuel Girard | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Claude Giroux | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Oliver Kylington | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 21 | 17 | 4 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 30 | |
Devils | 23 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 30 | |
Hurricanes | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 29 | |
Golden Knights | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 27 | |
Flames | 21 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 27 | |
Stars | 19 | 13 | 6 | - | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||