Pierre-Luc Dubois wants to leave the Columbus Blue Jackets, coach John Tortorella said on Wednesday.
“Yes, he wants to come out,” Tortorella told Rothman and Ice on 97.1 The Fan in Columbus. “He talked to the team, just like us here. It’s a little different from [Artemi Panarin] and [Sergei Bobrovsky] They were. This is a 22 year old child. It doesn’t happen that often, so he was honest with the group. I wish he was a little more honest about his motives. I haven’t gotten to that yet, but I think he needs to talk about it. I will not do it “.
Blue Jackets open their season at the Nashville Predators on Thursday (20:00 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 December 31. Athletic reported that Dubois “could look for a change of scenery”, but did not confirm this when referring to the training camp.
“[Dubois] had a good camp, but it’s a short strap for me in that, “Tortorella said.” He has to keep doing things to help this team win 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 to it every day. ”
When the Blue Jackets opened the training camp on January 3, Tortorella said that Columbus will deal with Dubois just as when Panarin and Bobrovsky were in the last season of their 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 by 49 points (18 goals, 31 assists) in 70 games last season. When Tortorella was asked about the relationship between coach and player, he said he did not know how Dubois felt, admitting that he had some conflicts with choice no. 3 of the 2016 NHL Draft, since making his NHL debut in the 2017-18 season.
“I look at the conflict differently … everyone is excited about the quarrels and this and that, what happened on the bench,” Tortorella said. “I think it’s so healthy, because then I think you have the two individuals in the middle of this, being honest with each other. And I think that’s a very good thing in developing a hockey player.
“Now, Luc may not believe it. Sometimes these players, especially today’s athletes, think that “You’re too tough on me, you choose me” and this and that. Maybe it’s too hard for him. I do not know. I wasn’t given a reason he wanted to leave. He certainly didn’t tell me “I don’t want to play for you.”
“I think if that’s why she should tell me and she should actually get up in front of her and get up from here. That’s just how I think you should do business in these things here. “It doesn’t feel like people are trying to figure out what’s going on. Let’s get in front of us here and take care of our business and try to be the best team we can be.”
Dubois led the Blue Jackets by 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 10 Stanley Cup games last season, which ended with a five-game loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the Eastern Conference. He scored 158 points (65 goals, 93 assists) in 234 games in the regular season 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 how much time I spent in him trying to develop him and just looking to leave,” Tortorella said. “It’s hard for me. I’m not sure where it’s going with me as the season starts, I’ll be pretty honest with you, because I want to spend my time developing people who want to be here, but I still have to coach the team. hockey to be as good as possible. ”