ANALYSIS: Dubois Start Is A Welcome Sign For The Jets – Winnipeg | The Canadian News

Some might call it a little more springtime in its wake.

Others see bragging, but the good guys.

No matter how you choose to describe it, you can definitely call Pierre-Luc Dubois a difference maker in the first five games of the 2021-22 NHL season.

And that surge couldn’t have come at a better time for the Winnipeg Jets, who will continue without front-line center Mark Scheifele and captain Blake Wheeler as they open a three-game road trip Tuesday night against the Anaheim Ducks.

Scheifele and Wheeler remain on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol and it is not yet clear when the forwards could return to action.

Rather than being outscored by a 0-2 start and the loss of two productive players, the Jets erupted for 16 goals over the last three games and amassed five of six points in the process.

Right in the middle of the action was the Dubois line between Kyle Connor and Evgeny Svechnikov.

Connor entered Monday’s action tied for the NHL lead in goals (six) and was named the first star of the week after racking up five goals and eight points in three games.

Connor has been drawing attention with his ability to use his impressive speed to create scoring opportunities, but also on the defensive side of the puck, which was the next step in his progression.

Meanwhile, Dubois is on a four-goal streak in a row and already has six points from five games.

But it’s not just his production that has caught the attention of his peers so far.

It is the physical commitment and your ability to use your strength to win individual battles in all three zones.

“The sky’s the limit for Pierre,” said Jets defender Nate Schmidt, who has up to six assists in five games this season.

“You play against the boy and you see what a great player he is, how shocking he can be. I think when you look at him as a gamer and see what kind of game he can bring, there are so many intangibles to what he can do. He can play big, he can play skillful, he has a lot of speed.

“And people forget, I forget, how young he is. He’s still a 23-year-old in the league who’s been around for five, six years. He is realizing that this league is something he can master with his body, without having to do it all with his skill. The more you continue to build on that, the better you will be and the better you will be for us.

“He has taken his game to another level. The best part is that now this is what we expect. This is what we expect from him now. I’ve only seen him on this side for five, six games. But that’s the exciting part of a player that you see flourish in front of your eyes. “

That Dubois is starting to flourish shouldn’t come as a surprise – it’s a big part of why he was the centerpiece of the highly successful deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets that featured Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic.

“It’s been amazing to see his confidence,” Jets defender Josh Morrissey said.

“We started to see that later this past season, but he just came back and it has been really impressive to see the transformation in his game, his fitness level and his speed.

“He’s fast out there, and when you have a guy who’s that big and can beat a guy against the wall, it’s hard to recover if you’re a defender. But he is throwing discs at the net, generating penalties and playing with great confidence ”.

It’s not about revisionist history or ignoring how challenging last season was for Dubois.

Clearly, things didn’t work out for him upon arrival, be it the 14-day quarantine he had to deal with, the injury in his second game, or the revolving door of his linemates, but instead of living in the past. , a very motivated Dubois. He went out and did something about it.

“I know he worked hard this summer,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said. “He’s looking faster now, sure. He has always been a good defensive player.

“His instincts are very strong, but he feels the pressure to increase the numbers, so what I hope is that his game is good, he feels good, his decisions, some confidence, just some of the basic plays, he is not forcing anything. out there. It’s going to get enough looks.

So I hope he’s relaxed. He’s playing hard. When you’re struggling, you have a tendency to wear it day (after) day and it can wear you out. And I think he had a difficult year last year on almost all fronts. And he used his frustration from last year to push himself this summer so he could have nights like he has now. “

Five games won’t eliminate disappointment, nor does Dubois want to completely forget what went wrong.

He is doing his part to reshape the narrative.

However, one thing you won’t do is lower your standards or get carried away by this strong start and become complacent.

“Obviously it helps to score some goals. Last year I was 20 games without scoring and I can tell you that it does not help confidence, “said Dubois.

Get some help. Hockey is about many things and I want to do many things on the ice, especially as a center. You want to support your guys on the ice, you want to support your wingers and that makes it easier for your wingers to work.

“When you do everything right, when you move your feet, when you think like a shooter, when you pass the puck, good things happen on offense.

“It’s a very long season and I don’t want to fall into the trap of feeling too good, but my confidence is definitely reaching a point where I want it to be.”

Ken Wiebe covers the Winnipeg Jets for Sportsnet.ca and is a regular contributor to CJOB.