Pierre-Luc Dubois could be a Montreal Canadien sooner than expected.

The fact that Pierre-Luc Dubois wants to play for the Montreal Canadiens might be the worst kept secret in the entire National Hockey League. The native of Ste-Agathe-des-Mont, Quebec has always wanted to play for the team that he grew up cheering for, and that leaves his current team, the Winnipeg Jets, in a very awkward position.

The Jets are also well aware of Dubois' desires and that takes any hope of signing the veteran forward to a long term deal completely off the table. This means that the Jets are effectively left watching the time tick away before Dubois inevitably leaves as a free agent, or at least that appeared to be the case.

The latest from NHL insider Elliotte Friedman indicates that the Jets may now be looking to accelerate that process, and by doing so are hoping to net some kind of return for Dubois before his inevitable departure as a free agent leaves them with nothing.

"I think the Jets have talked to the Canadiens on and off about Dubois," revealed Friedman on the 32 Thoughts Podcast.

Looking at it from the perspective of the Jets, Friedman believes that they are trying to work out a deal so that the Canadiens get Dubois earlier than they would have as a free agent, while the Jets net some form of return in the process.

"We know that Dubois is gonna end up there 95%, is there some way we make a deal so the Canadiens get him earlier and we get something that we want?" wondered Friedman.

Unfortunately for both the Jets and the Canadiens, it seems both sides have thus far been unable to make a deal make sense.

The upcoming National Hockey League Entry Draft will provide both teams with another opportunity to revisit this deal and, given the desires of all parties involved, we could see Dubois in Montreal sooner than anticipated.