If you ask him he certainly thinks he can, even going as far to say in an
interview with NHL.com that he thinks he can be in the Calder Trophy conversation.
He said winning the Calder Trophy as the rookie of the year wouldn't surprise him.
"We'll see, but, I mean, if I'm in Columbus I might have a shot for that," the 18-year-old said. "It's a different level, but if I am in there I think I have a good shot at it. When you are in [the NHL], you don't really think about it. You just want to play and help your team win. If you win an award like that, it is an honor."
Dubois will take part in Blue Jackets training camp this month so he has a chance to make the roster. To answer the question in the title yes he can make the roster but the bigger question is should he?
Dubois is an incredibly talented player and if he were to play wing he could start in the NHL this season. However we know the Blue Jackets drafted Dubois as a centre and starting him out on the wing is not a great idea for his future. It seems like players who shift to wing have a very hard time going back to centre. Boone Jenner was drafted as a centre, shifted to wing in the NHL and in three seasons he still hasn’t made the shift back to the middle. Look too at Montreal’s Alex Galchenyuk, he was drafted as a centre and played wing in the NHL. It took him three and half seasons before he was shifted back to centre. Keep in mind too that both Boone and Galchenyuk were regular centres in junior and had played the position for years. Dubois has played HALF A SEASON at centre. If he makes the NHL as a winger there is almost no chance he returns to centre.
Dubois had a very strong showing in his time at centre, but as I mentioned in my
profile piece on Dubois, he still needs reps down the middle. Centre is a difficult position to learn and trying to do so at the NHL level while being new to the position would be incredibly difficult. That is not something I think Dubois should be exposed to.
The other thing to keep in mind here is that Dubois does not have history on his side. Looking back at previous forwards who went third overall since the 2005 lockout, only three jumped into the NHL right away; Matt Duchene, Galchenyuk, and Leon Draisaitl. Of those three only Duchene played a full 82 game season in the NHL. Galchenyuk technically was sent back due to the NHL lockout, though he did play all 48 games once the season resumed. Draisaitl played 37 games in the NHL before he was returned to the WHL. Here is the full list.
2016 – Pierre-Luc Dubois - ???
2015 – Dylan Strome – Sent back to the OHL.
2014 – Leon Draisaitl – Started the season in NHL, after 37 games was sent back to the WHL.
2013 – Jonathan Drouin – Sent back to the QMJHL.
2012 – Alex Galchenyuk – Sent back due to the lockout. Played all 48 games post lockout.
2011 – Jonathan Huberdeau – Sent back to QMJHL.
2009 – Matt Duchene – Made NHL right away.
2007 – Kyle Turris – Sent back and played NCAA.
2006 – Jonathan Toews – Sent back to NCAA.
The good news here is that every player was able to step into the NHL the next season, with the exception of Huberdeau due to the lockout, and Strome who hasn’t had the chance yet, though he is expected to make the Coyotes roster this season, and performed quite well. Sending Dubois back is not going to hurt his development at all. Jonathan Toews one of the best players in the NHL did not make the jump right away.
It’s in the best interest for Dubois and the Blue Jackets to have Dubois return to junior this season. He needs further development time playing centre and junior is a much better place to learn than the NHL. It’s not unprecedented for a player of Dubois stature to be sent back. Just about every third overall pick in recent memory has been returned to his junior team.
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