Blue Jackets re-sign Pierre-Luc Dubois to 2-year, $10 million contract
Restricted free agent and rising young star Pierre-Luc Dubois and the Columbus Blue Jackets have agreed to a new contract. During the course of the entire offseason, the Blue Jackets remained adamant that they would resign Dubois before the beginning of training camp.
On Thursday, December 31st just before the new year, the Blue Jackets made that a reality.
On Thursday morning the team announced that Dubois had been re-signed to a two-year contract that allows him to be paid $10 million or $5 million a year. The salary cap will take a hit of $5 million every season for the next two seasons. However, in two years, Dubois will once again become a restricted free agent making it a classic bridge deal. Although the average salary is $5 million per season, Dubois will actually make $3.35 million in salary this season, and then $6.65 million next season.
Dubois’s contract was a major one for the Blue Jackets as he is the best forward that the team has and is shaping up to be one of the best in the league. As a key part of their future, the Blue Jackets did not want to repeat history when it comes to restricted free agent negotiations. The team’s tendencies have been consistent as negotiations for big names would often drag on until just before the season starts, and many times has resulted in an eventual trade (as it did in the cases of Ryan Johansen and Josh Anderson). Hours before the big signing, Pierre LeBrun reported that Dubois was not in Columbus and many teams speculated and questioned whether he wanted to explore his options.
In the past, it has not been rare to see big-name free agents change their minds during contract negotiations. Just a couple of months ago, Brendan Gallagher signed a massive 6 year $39 million dollar contract in Montreal after extensive negotiations.
With Dubois locked up for two more years, the Blue Jackets can breathe a sigh of relief as one of the most important jobs this offseason has been completed. This also means that the Blue Jackets can now look forward to their 2020-2021 NHL season and look to make another playoff appearance.
Coming off of his third season, Dubois scored 18-goals and 49-points in 70 games in the regular season. In the playoffs, he showed that he could take charge and illustrated a very strong playoff performance where he scored four goals and 10 total points in 10 games. Dubois has ever missed a single game in his NHL career and his playoff performance this past season is an indication that the 22-year-old is one of the best young, two-way centers in the league.
If the young star maintains his current upwards trajectory of skill and leadership then that $5 million salary-cap number is going to be a steal for the Blue Jackets in the short term. However, if he maintains this superstar path then over the next two years the Blue Jackets are going to have some major contract work on their hands. Columbus only has three other players that are signed beyond the 2021-22 season: Cam Atkinson, Gustav Nyquist, and Vladislav Garikov. The lack of longevity in these contracts means that every other player on the roster is either going to be a restricted or unrestricted free agent after this season or next season.
As of now, Columbus will enter this season with a trio of Pierre-Luc Dubois, Max Domi, and Mikko Koivu down the middle. This core along with star defensemen Seth Jones and counterpart David Savard will aid in a potential playoff run.
