It appears we have reached the next chapter of the Pierre-Luc Dubois saga. 

The 22-year-old centre dressed Thursday night for the Columbus Blue Jackets, but he played just 3:55 minutes. 

After logging five shifts in the first period of Columbus' game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Dubois never saw the ice again. 

After the game, head coach John Tortorella declined to comment on Dubois, except to say he's got to call 'em as he sees 'em.

"We're fine. "The room's fine." Tortorella said, "We've been in this situation before with a couple other guys. Yeah, we are ... It's a transparent group." 

 

Dubois was requested for post-game interviews, but he declined through a club spokesman.

When asked about the situation, captain Nick Foligno said he and Dubois have had conversations behind closed doors. 

"My job is to play with who the guys are that are out there." Foligno said, "He's one of us until told otherwise."

This comes just a few days after Dubois logged a season-low 15:22 of ice time in Monday's win over the Detroit Red Wings.

Following the victory over Detroit, Tortorella denied benching Dubois for prolonged stretches.

"You guys are really dissecting this benching and sitting," Tortorella said on Monday. "I guess I benched Max [Domi] the other night, you said. Slow down, boys. You'll know when I bench someone. I have to make decisions when the game is being played, when I think someone is going at certain times. But don't try to manifest something as far as the benching. That's all part of a three-period hockey game."

Selected third overall in the 2016 Draft, Dubois requested a trade from the Blue Jackets after signing a two-year, $10 million contract in the opening days of training camp. He said on Monday that he was not in the mood to discuss the request, which Tortorella openly talked about last week.

"I have one job and it's to play hockey and help the team. I just have to go out there and try to help [the team] get two points every night. It's a short season, so every game matters even more," he said. "The only thing I can control is how I play. I can't control anything else."