Number:18
Age:22
Birth date:June 24, 1998
Birthplace: Ste-Agathe-Des-Monts Quebec
Height, weight:6-3, 218
Stats: 70 GP, 18-31-49, 5.0 point shares, 54.27 xGF% at 5-on-5 per Natural Stat Trick
Contract:Currently unsigned after expiration of entry-level deal; Retains RFA status
There's no question the Blue Jackets have one of the unique forwards in the NHL in Pierre-Luc Dubois.
The only question remaining is what his ceiling might be.
Columbus got a franchise player when it took the powerful yet skilled forward third overall in the 2016 draft, a bit of a shocker at the time that has turned into one of the shrewd moves in the tenure of general manager Jarmo Kekalainen.
Dubois by almost all metrics had a fantastic third full NHL season in 2019-20, leading the Blue Jackets in points at age 21. He remains a hard-to-find blend of raw power -- few players if any in the league can knock him off the puck thanks to his remarkable strength and size -- and scoring touch and appears capable of taking over games as he did at times, including his memorable hat trick in the postseason against Toronto.
There's not much doubt at this point he's the team's No. 1 center, but scouts and NHL experts have debated since before he was drafted where he'll end up on the totem pole when it comes to the league's top pivots. For example, this summer, when the NHL Network ranked the top 20 centers in the league right now, Dubois' name was missing, though a strong postseason performance might have move him up in the rankings the league is currently unveiling.
Dubois has plenty of time in his career to move up in those types of rankings and the talent to do it. But as he and the team currently discuss a contract with the expiration of his entry-level deal, Dubois will only see his importance in the team's plans continue to rise.
Entering the season: Coming off a 61-point sophomore campaign, Dubois entered his junior year in a unique spot. Just 21, he was again expected to anchor the No. 1 center spot which he'd pretty much held since he arrived in the NHL, but he was going to have to do so after the departure of 2018-19 linemate Artemi Panarin. Dubois was expected to be a key piece of the offensive attack and hopefully even add to the 27 goals he put into the net, though that was going to be an increased challenge with his talented linemate off to the Big Apple.
Season recap: It was another fantastic season for Dubois any way you slice it, as he did live up to the billing as being one of the key cogs of the CBJ offense.
His numbers were slightly down from the pace of 2018-19 -- after his 27-34-61 campaign that season, he was on pace for a 21-36-57 this season -- but that's largely just splitting hairs over the length of a full campaign. Still, he was one of the CBJ players depended upon to drive the offense and did just that in a lot of ways, ranking second on the team in game-winning goals with four, third with 18 overall tallies and second with nine multi-point games on the season.
Dubois also was an impressive driver of possession at 5-on-5, especially when it came to shot quality. Per Natural Stat Truck, the Blue Jackets had 55.7 percent of the high-danger scoring chances, 54.3 percent of expected goals and 53.6 percent of scoring chances when Dubois was on the ice.
All in all, he had an excellent year, but there was some consternation down the stretch as the Blue Jackets searched for goals and Dubois couldn't find them. After an impressive run from Dec. 14-Feb. 2 in which he had 7-17-24 in 22 games, Dubois had a 1-6-7 line in the next 17 games, the second straight season he had trouble finding his scoring touch in late February and early March.
But if there was any doubt as to his showing in important games, Dubois saved his best for one of the biggest contests of the season, as his hat trick including the overtime winner in the Game 3 victory over Toronto in a Stanley Cup Qualifier was a historic moment in franchise history. The first three-goal game for any CBJ player in the postseason included the first CBJ tally of the game midway through the contest to cut into Toronto's 3-0 lead; the game-tying goal with 9:11 left in regulation; and finally the winner 18:24 into overtime as Dubois had a breakaway and made no mistake putting the puck past Frederik Anderson.
In all, Dubois was one of the team's top performers in the playoffs, posting four goals and six assists for 10 points in 10 postseason games.
"Pierre-Luc Dubois, the way he played in the playoffs, if we see that through the whole regular season, that's another level that he was at in the playoffs," Kekalainen said.
