With the Columbus Blue Jackets season over it’s time for the Union and Blue staff to give their evaluation of each player’s year.
Pierre-Luc Dubois‘ short career for the Columbus Blue Jackets has been filled with plenty of ups and downs. From surprising 3rd overall pick, to being sent back to juniors, to an excellent rookie year, PLD has been through a lot.
The young center spent is 2016-2017 season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and had a rough start to the year before being traded. His second half was superb and it set him up nicely for the breakout season with the big squad.
Dubois started the season with a bang, scoring in his first NHL game. He would go on to add another 19 goals throughout the regular season.
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The rookie started the year out as a winger but eventually moved to center. The hope for the youngster was that he would eventually move to center, but after a season in the NHL or so. But early struggles led John Tortorella to make the move to center. PLD’s father, who had coached his son growing up, would always move him to center when he felt he needed to move his legs more. And boy did that move pay off.
Dubois moved to center and held down the top line spot for most of the season. He went on to break the Columbus Blue Jackets rookie scoring record with 48 points. His 20 goals were tied for seventh amongst all rookies. Dubois had 12 multi-point games in his first season including his first career hat trick against Calgary on March 29th.
The offensive production is of course impressive but his ability to play at a high level night in and night out at the center position is truly remarkable. In a division where he was matched up against NHL superstars such as John Tavares, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Nicolas Backstrom at the center position, he more than held his own.
Related Story: How good can PLD be in year 2?
He was defensively sound in his game and only had 17 minor penalties called on him in 82 games. Also a game misconduct in game 82 but lets just forget about that. Dubois ended the season with a 56% corsi for rating and helped Artemi Panarin break the franchise scoring record in a season.
In the playoffs Dubois, again, played well beyond his years. He racked up four points in six games against the Capitals in the first round.
The kid doesn’t turn 20 until June 24th either.
Next: Top 5 Games of 2017-2018
Although he didn’t make the top three in Calder Trophy voting, Pierre-Luc Dubois’ rookie season was nothing short of spectacular. The sky is the limit for the Columbus Blue Jackets’ new top line center.