The Los Angeles Kings were coming off their second straight first round loss to the Edmonton Oilers. It was at a point where general manager Rob Blake felt the Kings needed more offense and appeared to believe that Pierre-Luc Dubois was the answer.
The trade would see the Kings sending Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, and Rasmus Kupari along with a second-round pick to the Winnipeg Jets for Pierre-Luc Dubois. At the time of the trade, the Kings would also sign Dubois, who was a restricted free agent, to an eight-year deal worth $68 million.
It seemed like almost from the start, this was going to be a bad fit as Dubois would have only seven goals and seven assists through the first 33 games of the season. As the season moved along, his role diminished more and more to the point that he was saw only 13 minutes of ice time in Game 4 of the playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers.
There was some good that came from the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade for the LA Kings
Dubois' time in Los Angeles didn't last very long as he would be traded after only one season and head to the Washington Capitals. In return, the Kings would get goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who was excellent this past season and a Vezina Trophy finalist.
The fact that the Kings not only got a player who was such a big part of their success but were able to get out of the eight-year contract as quickly as they did was a big win for the franchise.
Even with the fact that they got out of the Dubois contract, this is a trade that they will look back and regret doing. The Kings would Alex Iafallo and Gabriel Vilardi and both players have been very productive for the Jets as Vilardi just finished the season with 60 points while Iafallo added 31.
This past season, the Kings roster would have been much deeper with Iafallo and Vilardi on the team but they would have needed to find a goaltender with Cam Talbot leaving in free agency. It remains to be seen if they would have been able to trade for Kuemper and the return going to Washington would have probably been comparable to what they traded away for Pierre-Luc Dubois.
In the end, the Kings wish they never made the trade for Pierre-Luc Dubois but were able to make the best of it by bringing back Darcy Kuemper to Los Angeles last offseason.