Image credit: ClutchPoints

Kings’ Todd McLellan shares eye-opening assessment of Pierre-Luc Dubois’ struggles

Originally posted on ClutchPoints | By Colin Gallant | Last updated 1/23/24

Pierre-Luc Dubois has not at all been as advertised for the Los Angeles Kings after he was acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Winnipeg Jets and subsequently signed to an eight-year megadeal over the summer.

And Kings head coach Todd McLellan let him know it on Tuesday.

“At the end of the day, whether PL gets four minutes or gets 24 minutes, he has to be a difference-maker,” he explained following a 4-3 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks on Monday, per Hockey Royalty’s Russell Morgan. “And with or without the puck, we’ve gone through this long enough. It’s time.”

Dubois has been abysmal in his first 44 games in California, posting just nine goals and 19 points over that span. It’s a far cry from the player that scored 27 goals and 63 points in 73 games with the Winnipeg Jets last season. He’s also averaging under 16 minutes of ice time, while compiling an abysmal minus-13 rating.

The former No. 3 overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft all but forced a trade out of Manitoba, and it’s an awful look to be producing so little with his new team.

PLD’s struggles part of a bigger problem in LA

As Dubois struggles, so do the Kings. LA had a phenomenal start to the campaign, skating to a 20-7-4 record in late December. But it’s been all downhill since; the team has won just two games in 13 tries, falling to 22-13-9 and watching their top-three spot in the Pacific Division disappear.

There have been a ton of catalysts to the team’s recent poor stretch. Cam Talbot has lost the net to David Rittich after a brutal month, Anze Kopitar has been held pointless in his last five games, and nothing seems to be going right for anyone in California.

And PLD hasn’t been helping with that; he’s on pace for 35 points, which would be a career-low in a full season. He’s even been demoted to the fourth line by McLellan, who has clearly seen enough.

Set to be the highest paid player on the team next year, the Kings need so much more from this player. But despite the struggles of both Pierre-Luc Dubois and Los Angeles, GM Rob Blake made it clear he isn’t yet considering making changes.

“Our philosophy here for the past three, four years is on the structure and the system and the design and the buy-in of the players, and [McLellan has] gotten that from the players,” he explained, per The Athletic’s Eric Stephens. “I’m going to rely on the players and the leadership to get us out of that.”

If something doesn’t change very soon for the floundering Kings, Blake might have no choice.

This article first appeared on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: