As per a report by Arpon Basu of The Athletic, Pierre Luc-Dubois’ agent is taking every opportunity to make it known that his client is looking to wind up playing for the Montreal Canadiens, one way or another. While Dubois is current an RFA, there is talk that he’s already made it known in private conversations that he’ll test the market when he becomes a UFA and the Canadiens are his destination of choice. All parties, with perhaps the exception of the Winnipeg Jets, are hoping to get to the end result well before his contract status changes.
Basu writes that Dubois’ agent Pat Brisson has made his client’s desires to go to Montreal as public as possible because Dubois is still technically without a current contract and that’s a legal maneuver. As long as the Jets haven’t signed Dubois, it sounds like they plan to tell everyone that will listen that Dubois wants to go to Montreal.
Basu adds that the Canadiens are interested in getting this done right away. He explains:
A source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Athletic that Dubois attended the NHL Draft in Montreal because he believed a trade would be completed on the draft floor. As first reported by Radio-Canada’s Martin Leclerc, Montreal offered three players to the Jets in hopes of securing Dubois’ rights. You’ll recall that Montreal selected Slovak right winger Juraj Slafkovsky with the No. 1 pick and then acquired Kirby Dach from Chicago.
Word is, the Canadiens deal to land Dach is not the end game for Montreal. They also want Dubois and that same source said, “It is believed that Winnipeg is holding up the deal in an effort to secure a player Montreal has no interest in moving.” Who that player is the Jets might be targeting is unclear. That said, if Winnipeg wants a center back in return if they lose Dubois, the most likely has to be Nick Suzuki.
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