Report: Habs fall out of the running for Dubois

Since the Winnipeg Jets' season ended by virtue of a first round playoff loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, there's been widespread speculation on the future of Jets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois.

The 25 year old forward is a pending restricted free agent and is reportedly seeking as much as $9 million on a new long term deal. He's reportedly playing hard ball with the Jets and will only accept a trade to either the Montreal Canadiens or the Los Angeles Kings, despite having no trade protection or no-movement clauses. The belief is that Dubois will only sign a deal with his hometown Canadiens or with the Kings, so a trade elsewhere wouldn't prove fruitful for the Jets. In essence, Dubois is setting the terms of his trade and kind of holding the Jets hostage in the meantime.

Today, however, TSN insider Darren Dreger reports that the Canadiens have seemingly dropped out of the running for Dubois and a trade to the Kings looks imminent.

More from Dreger:

Honestly... and I'll just risk the scorn of all the Jets fans out there but... why are the Jets seeking 'NHL ready players'? This is a team that looks to be in decline to me and should be considering re-stocking the cupboards with picks and prospects. Nearly every member of the team's core has been put on the trade block, so maybe it's time to start rebuilding? Because, I think this team is going to go through a rebuild within the next few years whether they want to or not, may as well get an early start on things and recoup some assets to help kickstart the rebuild.

As for Dubois, he'll be an absolute stud for the Kings should they pursue him, but at what cost? $9 million a season on a long-term deal plus players, picks and prospects to acquire him? That seems awfully steep to me for a guy who has never hit 30 goals or 70 points in a full NHL season. Sure, he's a talented player but I'm not sure he's the superstar that he personally sees himself as.