Pierre-Luc Dubois wants to leave the Columbus Blue Jackets, coach John Tortorella said Wednesday.
“Yeah, he wants to go out,” Tortorella told Rothman and Ice on 97.1 The Fan in Columbus. “He talked to the team, like we do here. It’s a little different than that [Artemi Panarin] i [Sergei Bobrovsky] they were. This is a 22 year old boy. It doesn’t happen that often, so he’s been honest with the group. I wish I was a little more honest about the reasons. I haven’t gotten there yet, but I think he should talk about it. I will not. ”
The Blue Jackets open the season for the Nashville Predators on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; FS-TN, FS-O, NHL.TV).
Dubois, a center that was a restricted free agent, signed a two-year, $ 10 million contract (average annual value of $ 5 million) with Columbus on Dec. 31. Athletic reported that Dubois “could be looking for a change of scenery,” but did not confirm this when he showed up at training camp.
“[Dubois] he’s had a good camp, but it’s a short strap for me in that, “Tortorella said.” He has to keep doing things to help win this team and be the best teammate he can be, or I’m not sure where he’s going. It’s a situation and we will go there every day. ”
When the Blue Jackets opened the training camp on Jan. 3, Tortorella said Columbus would manage Dubois the same way he did when Panarin and Bobrovsky were in the final season of their respective contracts in 2018-19. Panarin signed a seven-year contract with the New York Rangers and Bobrovsky signed a seven-year contract with the Florida Panthers, each on July 1, 2019.
General manager Jarmo Kekalainen has not said whether the Blue Jackets will replace Dubois, who led Columbus with 49 points (18 goals, 31 assists) in 70 games last season. When asked by Tortorella about the relationship between coach and player, he said he did not know how Dubois felt, although he acknowledged having had some conflict with election number 3 in the 2016 NHL draft since he made his NHL debut in 2017-18. season.
“I look at conflicts differently … everyone is enthusiastic about the arguments and this and that, what happened on the bench,” Tortorella said. “I think it’s so healthy because then I think you have both individuals in the middle of it, being honest with each other. And I think that’s really good for developing a hockey player.
“Now” Luc “may not think so. Sometimes these players, especially today’s athletes, think,” You’re too hard on me, you’re picking me, “and this and that. Maybe it’s too hard for me. he. I don’t know. They haven’t given me any reason why he wants to leave. Surely he hasn’t told me “I don’t want to play for you.”
“I think if that’s why you should tell me and you should basically get ahead and get up from here. That’s how I think you should do business on these things here. sense that people are trying. to find out what’s going on. We go ahead here and take care of our business and try to be the best team we can be. ”
Dubois led the Blue Jackets with 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 10 Stanley Cup playoff games last season, which ended in a five-game loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the Stanley Cup. Eastern Conference. He has scored 158 points (65 goals, 93 assists) in 234 regular-season games and 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in 26 playoff games.
“It’s very difficult for me when a guy doesn’t want to be here at such a young age and the time we’ve given him to try to develop him and he just wants to go,” Tortorella said. “It’s hard for me. I’m not sure where he’s going with me as the season progresses, I’ll be very honest with you, because I want to dedicate my time to developing people who want to be here, but I still have to coach the hockey team to be the best it can be. ”