On Jan. 23, 2021, the Columbus Blue Jackets sent Pierre-Luc Dubois and a third-round pick to the Winnipeg Jets for Patrick Laine and Jack Roslovic. This blockbuster saw two rising stars swap teams in a deal that shocked the NHL world. Each of the three players involved had requested trades, but the deal was still monumental. Now with Dubois on his fourth NHL team and Laine expected to be traded to his third this offseason, let’s revisit the blockbuster.
Laine’s Tenure in Columbus
While Laine had requested a trade, it was still unfathomable to understand why Winnipeg was giving up a presumed perennial 40-plus goal scorer. Once in Columbus, he struggled to adjust to the new system, scoring just 10 goals in 45 games after the trade. The following two seasons saw improvement, tallying 48 goals across 111 regular season games, a 35-goal pace over an 82-game season. However, Laine’s struggles have been just that — an inability to stay on the ice.
Related: Analyzing the Capitals & Kings Dubois-for-Kuemper Trade
Laine sustained eight significant injuries since joining Columbus, ranging from upper body to triceps to oblique. He also joined the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program in January of the 2023-24 season, resulting in him playing just 18 games all season. Regardless of the issue, he has not been a constant in the Blue Jackets’ lineup, and his absence has been felt.
Columbus has been a bottom-feeder throughout Laine’s tenure, and the only reason he has not already been traded is his $8.7 million cap hit. With many teams expected to be interested but few realistic, it will be interesting to see what Columbus will receive in a package for Laine if anything at all.
Dubois’ Tenure in Winnipeg
After scoring 66 goals and 159 points in 239 career regular season games in Columbus, Dubois was hoping to cement himself as an NHL star on Winnipeg’s first line after Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella benched Dubois in a now-notorious overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dubois was said to have a weak work ethic and be a poor fit in Tortorella’s system, so it made sense for both sides to move on. However, Dubois’ numbers did not improve as one would have expected in Winnipeg.
Dubois played in 41 games that season for the Jets, scoring just eight goals and 21 points. This was understandable given the midseason trade, but his numbers continued to disappoint. He scored just 55 goals and 123 points the following two seasons before eventually getting traded to the Los Angeles Kings after playing just 195 career games in Winnipeg.
Once Dubois left, the Jets’ team performance improved, winning 52 games and finishing fourth in the league’s standings. They also scored 19 more goals as a team and gave up 27 fewer goals. While Dubois is not to blame for all of these issues, it is clear the Jets were not a good fit for Dubois.
Dubois’ Tenure in Los Angeles
Dubois had struggled throughout his entire tenure with the Jets and as a pending restricted free agent, speculation grew rampant that he would be traded to the Montreal Canadiens. Instead of joining the Canadiens, he was traded to the Kings. In return, Winnipeg received Alex Iafallo, Gabriel Vilardi, Rasmus Kupari, and a 2024 second-round pick. Dubois then signed an eight-year contract with the Kings, averaging $8.5 million per year, with the expectation that he would address the team’s need for an elite offensive producer.
Once in Los Angeles, Dubois put up the most disappointing season of his career. Appearing in all 82 games, he scored just 16 goals and 40 points. He played under two head coaches and in countless different line combinations. He struggled to find a consistent role on the powerplay, and he did not play more than 180 total minutes in any line combination all season. Just about everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong for Dubois, and the 2023-24 season was one to forget. After just one season in Los Angeles, he was involved in another blockbuster trade, this time being sent to the Washington Capitals in exchange for goaltender Darcy Kuemper.
Roslovic’s Tenure in Columbus
A more underrated piece of the trade was Columbus bringing in Jack Roslovic. Then-24-year-old Roslovic had 12 goals and 29 points the season prior in Winnipeg and was expected to fill in on Columbus’ top six. After scoring 12 goals and 34 points in 48 games during his first season with the Blue Jackets, he plateaued, scoring just 33 goals and 89 points the following two seasons. Ultimately at the 2024 Trade Deadline, he was traded to the New York Rangers for a 2026 fourth-round pick.
Roslovic scored three goals and eight points in 19 regular season games and two goals and eight points in 16 playoff games with the Rangers. The Rangers fell in the Eastern Conference Final, and Roslovic is expected to hit the unrestricted free agent market this offseason.
Other Components of the Trades
The fourth component of the original trade, a 2022 third-round pick sent to the Jets, was used to select Danil Zhilkin, who is not expected to reach the NHL anytime soon. When healthy, Vilardi and Iaffalo were lineup regulars for the Jets this past season, helping improve the team’s depth and youth. Kupari struggled to maintain a role in the NHL lineup and the second-round pick, originally belonging to the Canadiens, sits at 37th in the 2024 Draft.
The original trade between the Jets and Blue Jackets turned out to be a lose-lose, as both teams acquired young players who struggled in their new environments. Fortunately for Winnipeg, they managed to turn things around and eventually added promising players to their roster. For Columbus, the return on Laine remains uncertain, but they are clearly dissatisfied with how the situation has unfolded. The biggest loser in all of this is Los Angeles, who turned multiple key pieces of their core into just Kuemper, a goaltender who likely had negative trade value. Although there was initial debate over which side benefited more, it is now clear that this trade will plague the Jets, Blue Jackets, and especially the Kings’ franchises for years to come.
