Winnipeg Jets center Pierre-Luc Dubois took the time to address some recent rumors a couple of days after signing his one-year, $6-million qualifying offer to remain in the prairie province.
Namely, the Quebec native thinks people overreacted to his agent Pat Brisson's comments about Dubois wanting to play for the Montreal Canadiens someday.
"To be honest, I saw the comments that he made. I think people were blowing them out of proportion. I think people took a little thing and blew it up times 20," he told the media Monday.
"It's fine, everybody can read into it what they want. ... I just thought it was overblown, the reaction. I think some people just ran with the two seconds that they liked or didn't like to hear."
Dubois will still be a restricted free agent once his new deal expires.
The 24-year-old reportedly informed the Jets that he plans to test free agency once he's eligible in 2024, but he opted to remain tightlipped about his long-term future with the Jets. Dubois said his job now was just to play hockey and deal with it once his new deal is up, but he denied that he requested a move.
"You hear so many things that I apparently said or apparently did. A lot of it is frustrating, to read (about) some things that I didn't even know I did or I didn't do, didn't say," he said.
"At this time, the one-year deal was the way we wanted to go. ... You read stuff (like), 'He wants out of Winnipeg.' If I wanted out of Winnipeg, I would've asked for a trade. I didn't ask for a trade. There was no doubt in my mind that I was gonna show up to camp."
Dubois also wanted to dispel the notion that he went to the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal expecting a trade would be completed on the draft floor.
"I went to the draft because I live 15 minutes from the arena. I'm a fan of hockey," he said. "My bank invited me, they had a box with food and dinner. It's an entertaining night ... I used to go to drafts when I was a kid.
"If I was invited to go with the Jets, I would've gone with them."
Dubois was upfront when asked about his hesitance to answer questions about his future outright.
"Look, I don't even know what I'm eating tonight for dinner. I don't know what I'm going to do in two years," he said. "I don't know what I'm going to do in six years. I don't know what I'm going to do in six months.
"I'm not somebody that has one idea and is then set on it for the next six years. ... It's just human nature to change your mind sometimes."
Dubois logged 28 goals and 32 assists in 81 games during the 2021-22 campaign. The Columbus Blue Jackets shipped him north of the border in the swap for Patrik Laine to t in January 2021.
The third overall pick in 2016 has 239 points in 361 career games.
