Pierre-Luc Dubois
Position: Centre / Left Wing
Current Team: Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL)
Date of Birth: June 24th, 1998
Place of Birth: Ste. Agathe-de-Monts, Quebec (Canada)
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 201 lbs.
Shoots: Left
When you look up P-L Dubois, you see a lot of people using phrases like “Complete player”, “NHL vision”, and “top-end player.” In any other draft year, this powerful forward from the Q would probably be at the top of everyone’s draft boards, but because of the stunning amount of talent in the first round, he may find himself slipping into the middle of the first round.
Ranked as the #1 North American skater by NHL Central Scouting (since, of course, Auston Matthews was considered a European skater), some may be hesitant to bite on Dubois because of the historically inflated scoring in the QMJHL, but a 99 point regular season and point-per-game playoff performance suggests that he’s the real deal.
Helping to lead Team Orr over Team Cherry in this year’s CHL top prospects game with 2 goals and an assist, he also brought home the Q’s Mike Bossy trophy for the best professional prospect at the end of the regular season.
If there’s one knock, it’s that he doesn’t always have the best control when it comes to the physical side of the game, sometimes taking unnecessary penalties and putting his team in a bad position as a result.
A Good Fit In Columbus?
Dubois is an interesting prospect – if Columbus isn’t able to move up into the top three (or potentially pick up the top end Finns that he apparently has an eye on), a deal to move back to, say, 8 or 9 and picking him up has a lot of potential. With the ability to play wing or down the middle, he could potentially step up to help fill the gaps in Columbus’ depth chart, and the read from most scouts is that he’ll be ready to make the jump to the NHL within a year or two of being drafted. Perhaps not the immediate wunderkid of Matthews, but a guy who could turn into another Brandon Dubinsky type player wouldn’t be a bad thing at all. I’d keep a careful eye on Dubois – the team who gets him might be drafting something really special.
Dubois in Action