On the most recent edition of Insider Trading, Pierre Lebrun names some teams who he thinks might be most interested in Columbus’ Pierre-Luc Dubois, who has asked the team to be traded (Lebrun notes that more teams than not will eventually call Columbus about the young center). He notes that the Blue Jackets might wait until the draft to move Dubois.
He mentions the Anaheim Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings–two rebuilding teams with lots of young talent to trade. As Lebrun notes, the Kings have a bounty of young talent at center and that’s something the Blue Jackets might require in return.
He notes the rumor that is “out there” about the Jackets and the Winnipeg Jets exchanging Dubois for Patrik Laine, another player that has asked for a trade.
He mentions the New York Rangers, who are loaded with talent on the wings with Artemi Panarin, Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko and others, but are organizationally shallow at center. He wonders if Columbus would be hesitant to trade Dubois to a team in what was the Metropolitan Division under normal circumstances.
He finally mentions the Montreal Canadiens, who although happy with their center depth with Nick Suzuki, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Phillip Danault, are a team he imagines will keep tabs on the Dubois situation.
Darren Dreger reports that there is a sense from both sides that it would be better if the situation was resolved sooner than later.