Pierre-Luc Dubois says his first season with the Capitals was ‘the most fun I’ve had playing hockey’

The last few years of Pierre-Luc Dubois’s career before being traded to the Washington Capitals were turbulent and tumultuous. The former number three overall draft pick had played for three different teams in quick succession, forcing his way out of both Columbus and Winnipeg before landing in Los Angeles.

The Kings then shipped PLD to the Washington Capitals after he played just one year of his eight-year contract with the club. Dubois quickly found a home with the Caps as one of several players the team “took a chance” on during the 2024 offseason that helped propel them to a first-place finish in the Eastern Conference.

“It’s the most fun I’ve had playing hockey,” Dubois said on Breakdown Day. “This group, the enthusiasm, the fun we have is contagious and bleeds onto the ice. I couldn’t have asked for more. I couldn’t have asked for better. This feels really like the perfect fit.”

On top of the fun, comfortable environment, Dubois was given a ton of responsibility by head coach Spencer Carbery and thrived in the tough spot. Carbery, who called Dubois “arguably our most valuable player this year,” consistently used the centerman and his line to combat the opposition’s top offensive trio.

Dubois responded by posting fantastic five-on-five results in those hard matchups, with the Capitals seeing 52.8 percent of shot attempts, 54.9 percent of expected goals, 55.8 percent of scoring chances, and 57.2 percent of high-danger chances during his minutes. Among the club’s regular forwards, Dubois recorded the best five-on-five goals for percentage (62.4 percent), on the ice for 73 goals for and only 44 against.

“The staff, the players, everybody since I got here, they laid it out pretty simple for me. Just go be yourself,” Dubois said. “Talking to Carbs from the first phone call when I got traded – it’s pretty clear what he wanted from me. I think we built that relationship of trust.

“I still think that there’s a lot I can do better, and there’s a lot that I can improve on. I think this year was just kind of like a first year here of playing with these guys, playing with this coaching staff. But as we move forward, I think it’s going to be better and better.”

Dubois set new career highs in assists (46) and points (66) during his 82-game season. He did most of his damage at five-on-five, finishing tied for the 21st most five-on-five points (46) in the NHL. He finished ahead of names like Clayton Keller (45), Brayden Point (44), William Nylander (42), Cale Makar (42), Mikko Rantanen (39), Auston Matthews (38), and Anze Kopitar (36).

Dubois’s immediate success even surprised Carbery, who admitted he knew what the forward was capable of before the season but didn’t think he’d unlock his full potential so soon.

“I was confident that he was going to be a good player for us, but you never know,” Carbery said. “I mean, you hope that, and so to see him and the way that he played for us, I was just so impressed with him, the whole package.

“The way he played, the consistency, the level that he played at consistently night to night was tremendous. Coming in and being able to play the center ice position and really stabilizing a matchup and all the different things that he provided our lineup up front was significant.”

Dubois is signed for another six seasons at an $8.5 million cap hit, and his contract, in an exponentially growing salary cap landscape, could be a real asset to a Capitals team seeking to stay competitive in a post-Ovechkin era. The long-term deal will keep him in DC through the 2030-31 campaign, and Dubois sounds very happy to have a more permanent home.

“Ever since I got here, the coaching staff, players, organization, everybody, including you guys (the media), have treated me unbelievably well,” Dubois said. “I felt like, since day one, that this was somewhere that I could fall in love with, and that’s exactly what happened this year.

“The fans, the city, everybody’s made me feel welcome, feel like a home. Disappointing ending to the season, but excited for the future with this team, with this group. I think we’re just scratching the surface of what we can do.”

Dubois turns 27 in June, and with the Capitals still prioritizing youth this offseason, will likely be an important veteran leader on the team moving forward. He already took up some of that responsibility this year, letting rookie winger Ryan Leonard stay at his house after Leonard joined the Caps straight out of college.