Dubois or not Dubois

What was Caufield thinking taking a pic of Dubois during the formula 1 weekend and posting it on his instagram. Many were wondering if Caufield had inside info. Dubois has been the most recent cause celebre in the quebecois hockey minefield. Will the habs sign and trade for the most recent local enfant terrible?

PLD has himself caused some of the recent migraines for Gorton and Hughes by proclaiming his first preference is to play in his hometown. His agent Pat Brisson has added to the migraine by shrewdly stating PLD wants a long term contract at 9 million per annum.

So is PLD worth it? He has shown signs of becoming a top notch center. His offence is steadily improving though of course nowhere near the superstar stats of Mcdavid, Matthews, and MacKinnon. Speaking of Mcdavid and Matthews, PLD played a major playoff role with Columbus when they eliminated the leafs and also was important when Winnipeg eliminated the Oilers. One could say PLD played like a young Ryan O’Reilly.

However, Dr. Jekyll turns into Mr. Hyde at key times. For example, after eliminating the Oilers the jets next faced the habs. When Schiefele was suspended after game one, the path was open for PLD to take over as the number one center and lead the Jets. He failed to impact and the Jets were swept by the habs. Last year PLD dominated for half a season and fell asleep during the second half.

Also worrying for Habs management is their recent past and the Drouin fiasco. At the time, Drouin another unhappy quebecois had asked for a trade when he had felt his inconsistent play was due to his surroundings and environment. The habs desperate for a homegrown talent traded a good prospect for the third pick overall. Unfortunately for the habs, after showering  the local boy with a long term contract he did not produce and the traded prospect bloomed with his new team.

So if Hughes and Gorton are pressured to trade for or maybe are interested in PLD, what would the Jets want? A first round pick may not be far fetched especially the Florida pick or the Flames pick. As well, somebody like Justin Barron whose brother already plays for the Jets. If the Jets do not want Barron will habs give up a Hutson or Mailloux? Finally, a key regular like Anderson or less likely Dvorak may be the Jets asking price.   

The other conundrum is whether Habs management would agree to PLD’a contract demands. What will happen if PLD makes more money than the recently signed captain Suzuki and sniper Caufield. Even worse how will the habs core react if PLD does not perform to expectations.

Another scenario is what happens if PLD is traded elsewhere and he does perform and produce and makes his new team better. Will the omnipresent and omnipotent quebecois sports and social media heap relentless scorn on habs management especially if the team does not get better in the next few years. As Shakespeare put it to Dubois or not to Dubois that is the question tabernac…