The Los Angeles Kings have agreed to trade disgruntled forward Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Washington Capitals.
Goaltender Darcy Kuemper will go to Los Angeles in return.
After being dealt to the Kings from Winnipeg last off-season, Dubois had one of the least productive seasons of his NHL career, finishing with only 16 goals and 24 assists in 82 games. Then in the playoffs, he recorded only one point in five games against the Oilers, a garbage-time goal in Game 1 of the series.
The 25-year-old signed an eight-year, $68 million deal after the trade landed him in Hollywood.
When there were rumours that the Kings would consider buying Dubois out of his contract, general manager Rob Blake had said, “We gotta do a better job with the coaches to incorporate him into the game.”
While he squashed any buyout rumours, he didn’t discuss any trade possibilities.
“I can’t. It’s out of my control,” Dubois said when asked if had any concerns about being bought out. “I’m a firm believer in everything happens for a reason. … I just gotta have the summer I know I can have. Anything else is out of my control. I can’t sit here and give you any more than that.”
Washington will be Dubois’ fourth stop in his career after being selected third overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2016. He was then traded to Winnipeg in 2021 as part of a deal for Patrik Laine.
Kuemper, who signed with the Capitals in the 2022 off-season, played in just 33 games with the team in 2023-24. He posted a 13-14-3 record on his way to losing the starting job in Washington. He finished with a .890 save percentage and 3.31 goals-against average.
He will be entering the third year of a five-year, $26,250,000 contract.
Los Angeles used three goalies — Cam Talbot, David Rittich and Phoenix Copley — in 2023-24, but with Talbot entering free agency, they needed some insurance in net.
