LOS ANGELES — Forty points in 2023-24 simply wasn’t going to cut it for the $68-million man.
When the Los Angeles Kings traded for center Pierre-Luc Dubois in June 2023, the reigning 27-goal scorer was supposed to bring a new offensive spark to a team focused on making a deep postseason push.
But when the Kings fell to the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the playoffs for the third straight year—with highly paid Dubois only logging one point in the series—his days in black and silver instantly became numbered.
The 25-year-old was traded to the Washington Capitals in a one-for-one deal on Wednesday, illustrating Los Angeles general manager Rob Blake’s predictable regret on acquiring him in the first place. The Kings landed 34-year-old goaltender Darcy Kuemper in the trade, who suited up in 19 games for Los Angeles back in 2017-18 before an eventual trade to the Arizona Coyotes.
Los Angeles originally acquired Dubois in a sign-and-trade with the Winnipeg Jets. The Kings exchanged forwards Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari, plus a 2024 second-round pick for Dubois.
While the Jets ultimately ended up in the same position as the Kings in 2023-24, losing in the opening round, Vilardi and Iafallo combined for 63 points alone, far more than Dubois was able to string together.
Dubois’ Los Angeles tenure originally seemed promising. The Quebec native helped the Kings achieve their first two wins of the season by combining for three goals across both victories, following losing efforts in LA’s first two contests.
But Dubois’ play would soon become inconsistent at best and certainly unworthy of his hefty deal. The situation deteriorated even further through January, when Dubois—over a stretch of 13 appearances—only mustered three points total.
While Blake and company ultimately end up as the losers of the Dubois saga, acquiring Kuemper gives the Kings some upside.
First, there was zero salary retention on either side of the deal. Los Angeles will take on Kuemper’s $5.25 million-per-year contract that will span over the next three seasons while shipping off Dubois’ $8.5 million-per-season deal that will last for the next seven years.
The league recently raised the salary cap to $88 million, so the trade will give the Kings over $23 million in cap space this summer, according to CapFriendly. With LA’s core aging and its playoff window shrinking, Blake will need to act accordingly during the offseason to put the Kings back in a threatening position.
Before the deal, David Rittich was Los Angeles’ only netminder under contract since Cam Talbot and Pheonix Copley are set to become free agents. Kuemper is coming off a rough 2023-24 campaign in which he allowed 3.31 goals per game and posted a .890 save percentage in 33 appearances.
But as shown with Talbot’s All-Star year with the Kings following a down year in Ottawa, LA might be able to squeeze success out of Kuemper and utilize him regularly in their rotation.
Dubois isn’t a lousy hockey player; the Kings might have just been a bad fit for the young forward, and he’ll have a chance to redeem himself on a Washington team experiencing the dying years of winger Alex Ovechkin’s storied career.
As for Kuemper, he likely won’t be the only goalie acquired for Los Angeles this offseason, but he will have shoes to fill as the Kings navigate the post-Jonathan Quick era in the crease.
While landing Dubois will go down as a failure for Blake, he wisely cut his losses. For now, Los Angeles will look forward to an offseason to attempt to gain capital and remain as a playoff contender.