Dubois grateful for fresh start with Capitals
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For Washington Capitals forward Pierre-Luc Dubois, a fresh start is exactly what he needed in 2024-25.
Dubois was coming off a disappointing 2023-24 season in Los Angeles, where he managed 16 goals and 40 points in 82 games, his worst offensively since entering the league in 2017.
Just one season into his eight-year, $68 million contract he signed with the Kings in June of 2023, Dubois was dealt to Washington in exchange for goaltender Darcy Kuemper. He responded with 20 goals and a career-high 66 points in his first year with the Capitals last season.
Dubois said the entire Capitals organization made him feel comfortable right off the bat.
“I think I owe it to a lot of people,” said Dubois on TSN Radio 690 Montreal Thursday. “First of all, the players here from Day 1 welcomed me like a brother. And then the coaching staff after that from the head coach to the assistants, even the GM, president, everybody.
“The first phone calls I had really treated like they really wanted me to succeed, were going to give me a chance to succeed. And then after that, just coming here, they just said, just be yourself, you don't need to do more. You don't need to do less. Be yourself. We'll give you a chance. I think it’s a chance I didn’t necessarily get in LA.”
The 27-year-old was drafted third overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2016 and cracked the NHL roster as a 19-year-old in 2017. After three seasons in Columbus, he was dealt to the Winnipeg Jets in January of 2021 in exchange for Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic.
Dubois was traded by the Jets to the Kings in exchange for Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari and Gabriel Vilardi and a 2024 second-round draft pick in a big trade in 2023, but after the disappointing campaign, he cited a major reason why he thinks it didn’t work out in Los Angeles.
“The opportunities that I had in LA weren't the same that I got in Columbus or in Winnipeg or here in DC,” said Dubois. “I think I did at times as much as I could with what I had and everybody had the expectations that I was going to have another season like I did in Winnipeg, but it's tough to have the same results when you don’t have any of the same opportunities.
“Sometimes it's complicated. It's stuff that you can't control and it's stuff that's frustrating. But it’s a team sport and you have to do your best for the team, and even if that means being in a chair that you're not necessarily comfortable or you've never really been in. And that's kind of what I felt like happened in LA.
“But everything happens for a reason. I learned a lot that year. I met some great people, and now that I'm here in DC, I think that year helped me a lot.”
The Capitals finished first in the Eastern Conference last season and were at the centre of the hockey world in Alexander Ovechkin’s quest to break Wayne Gretzky’s career goals record, a feat he accomplished with goal No. 895 on Apr. 6 against the New York Islanders.
Washington would go on to beat the Montreal Canadiens in five games in the first round of the playoffs before they were eliminated in five games in the next round by the Carolina Hurricanes.
“I could probably write a book about last year's season,” said Dubois. “I could probably write a book about just Ovie last year, and then I could write a second book about the season, about everything.”