Winnipeg Jets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois is a restricted free agent this summer, but he isn't putting too much thought into contract negotiations just yet.
Asked Friday if Winnipeg is a team he could see himself signing with long term, Dubois gave a measured response.
"Yeah, it is," he said. "But at the same time, you know, I haven't really thought about that, we haven't talked about it with the team ... there's been no, really, discussion, so it's not something that I've put that much thought into.
"I've enjoyed my two years here - I like the guys, I like the group, I like the team. I've had a fun two years, so yeah, it is somewhere I could see that. But like I said, I haven't - I know it's hard to believe me - I haven't put that much thought into it. That's what these next four-to-five months are for, and we have time."
The 23-year-old is wrapping up his second season with the Jets after they acquired him in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets early last year. He's scored career-high 28 goals and added 31 assists in 79 games this season.
Dubois - who joined Winnipeg after requesting a trade from Columbus - pointed out that money and term aren't necessarily his top priorities when it comes to signing a long-term deal.
"It's not easy. It's tough. Especially now, if you think of a long-term deal; I could have a family, and I could be in the last years of my career at that point," Dubois said. "So it's not just 'what do you want now?' It's 'what do you want six years from now and five years from now and eight years from now?'"
He continued: "Everybody has different motivations ... It's not an easy decision to make; it's not just 'here's money and here's years.' If it was that, I wouldn't have taken a risk two years ago and asked for a trade out of Columbus. It's a very important and very tough decision to make, and that's why I said these next four-to-five months will be important to think about everything and all the different scenarios possible."
Dubois is coming off a two-year, $10-million deal he inked with the Blue Jackets. He's two years from unrestricted free agency.
