The Jets are liking with the Kings can offer over what the Canadiens can
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic: The Los Angeles Kings are the front-runner for Pierre-Luc Dubois as the Winnipeg Jets may prefer the immediate help they can get from the Kings than from the Montreal Canadiens who may be offering more futures.
The Jets and Kings management staff were traveling to Nashville yesterday for the draft so things were put on hold.
As of last night, the Kings hadn’t spoken with Dubois’ camp about an extension.
NHL Rumors: Blue Jackets, Predators, and the Dubois to the LA Kings speculation
Kings clearing cap space
Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet: The Los Angeles Kings trade Sean Durzi to the Arizona Coyotes on the weekend for a future second-round pick as they look to create cap space for a big-named acquisition.
They are working on a deal for Pierre-Luc Dubois that comes with a big contract extension in place.
Other Jets who could be on the move
Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet: The Winnipeg Jets appear to be moving on from Pierre-Luc Dubois and it’s not going to stop there. Blake Wheeler will likely be traded or bought out.
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, forwards Mark Scheifele and Nino Niederreiter, and defensemen Brenden Dillon and Dylan DeMelo could all be in play as well.
In a potential Dubois trade to the LA Kings, the Jets could be looking at Gabriel Vilardi or Quinton Byfield, and a roster player like Alex Iafallo (two years left at $4 million per) or Viktor Arvidsson (one-year left at $4.25 million). Could the Jets be interested in the rights to pending UFA Joonas Korpisalo if they pull off some sort of Hellebuyck trade.
Hellebuyck could be looking for a $9 to $10 million extension.
NHL Rumors: Boston Bruins, Winnipeg Jets, and the Philadelphia Flyers
Would the Boston Bruins be interested in Scheifele? Would the Detroit Red Wings be interested in Scheifele given their need, cap availability? Scheifele favorite team growing up was the Red Wings and his favorite player was Steve Yzerman.