Jets Pierre-Luc Dubois when asked about the qualifying offer and his future in Winnipeg
TSN: Winnipeg Jets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois sits down with Darren Darren talking about numerous things including accepting the Jets qualifying offer and what it means for his future with the organization. Dreger notes that the assumption is that taking a qualifying offer indicates there may not be a long-term fit with the Jets, though thinks that may not be the case.
“Yeah, no, I think when we’re in negotiations, not much is said out there, so it leaves a hole for imagination and it leaves a hole for speculation for everybody to think what is going on. Everybody does it. I do it too. I’m a fan of other teams, other sports, I do it too.
But, I just thought, I could see myself in Winnipeg in the future. I just thought this summer I didn’t have the answer and I think everybody wants an answer immediately. That’s kind of the world we’re in. Everything has to happen now and everything but it’s your life at the end of the day. It’s my life at the end of the day.
It was a decision, eight years, six, seven, eight years is a long time. Could bring me towards the end of my career. To where it’s not just me, it’s also a family I have. It was a big decision that last year I wasn’t, or this past summer, I wasn’t ready to make, and I wasn’t a 100 percent sure.
So, I’m the type of person if I’m not 100 percent sure of something, I’d rather take my time with it and make sure that I make the right call. If the right call is Winnipeg, then the right call is Winnipeg and I’ll be happy with that.
Just this past summer I wasn’t sure and it just happened that I had a contract to negotiate but we’ll see what happens in the future.”
Dreger adds that it’s not going to be a distraction for him, but would he shut down the talk that it’s a one-year contract can he may not want to answer these types of questions past Christmas or towards the end of the season.
“No, I hope not. I hope not, but for me mentally, whether I have an eight-year deal or a one-year deal, it’s not like I want to win more with an eight than with a one. Everybody’s different, and you hear you have to prove yourself more and you do this more. You know, or maybe he’s going to think about.
At the end of the day what keeps me up at night isn’t how much money I make. It isn’t, at the end of my career, what keeps me up is not winning a Stanley Cup. And that’s at the end of my career is gonna, for me, determine if it was successful or not.
So one-year deal, three-year deal, eight-year deal, the goal is the same. The priorities are the same. My head is in the same place. So for me personally that won’t be an issue.”