Dubois has grown in second year for Blue Jackets

Exactly two players from the 2016 draft have played as No. 1 centers in the NHL in the intervening three years since they were introduced on the stage in Buffalo.
Auston Matthews, the No. 1 overall pick that year, has proved to be as good as the outsized hype said he would be. The Toronto pivot has 104 goals and 192 points in 196 career games and is seen as one of the budding superstars in the National Hockey League.
Then there's Pierre-Luc Dubois. The Blue Jackets second-year center was the subject of intense debate when he was drafted third overall by Columbus but has spent much of the year in between Artemi Panarin and Cam Atkinson on the team's top line.

In 148 NHL games over the past two seasons, Dubois has impressed with 43 goals and 102 points, fifth and sixth, respectively, among all players taken in his draft year. At times, Columbus head coach John Tortorella has called Dubois the engine of one of the top-scoring lines in the NHL.
And yet when the Blue Jackets acquired center Matt Duchene from Ottawa before the trade deadline, Duchene immediately jumped between Panarin and Atkinson on the team's top line. Dubois has come back and played between his longtime linemates since the deal but has also spent time learning new wingers since the deal.
Dubois' immediate reaction?
"It's really exciting," he said in the aftermath of the deal. "He helps our team. The best part about playing hockey is winning. Everybody is happy when we win. He's an amazing player, and he's not just having a good season this year. He's proved his entire career he's a really good player, and he adds to the center depth and I think he makes us a better team."
As Dubois alluded to, Tortorella has spoken at times this year about how important the Duchene deal was to address a weakness of the Blue Jackets -- the team's depth down the middle of the ice.
While Dubois has earned his spot at the top of the team's depth chart, throwing a 20-year-old center to the wolves isn't how a team would exactly draw it up in an ideal situation. Still, the head coach has been just as impressed with Dubois' development as a center throughout his first two seasons.
"I think he's a tremendous competitor," Tortorella said when asked about Dubois' skills in his hometown of Montreal last month. "He's got a stubbornness about himself that I think is going to turn him into a great player, but he also has to understand the other side of that stubbornness when you go down the wrong road. That's going to be a process with him.
"But man, all the stuff that has been thrown at him the past couple of years ... he has a tremendous future."
That's a line echoed by team Jarmo Kekalainen. The general manager spearheaded the drive to select Dubois third overall in the '16 draft ahead of Finnish winger Jesse Puljujarvi, who many had pegged as the clear-cut choice in that spot.
Three years later, it's fair to say Columbus has no regrets about making that call to draft Dubois.
"One thing you always want and look for in players is a willingness to learn, to listen, the desire to get better every day, and I think he's one of those guys who wants to get better," Kekalainen said. "He's hungry for information, he's hungry for a way to get to the next level. He's got a lot of ability, skill and talent, physical attributes and all that, but I think that his drive to get better is one of the biggest reasons why he's been improving at such a rapid rate, if you want to call it that."
As it goes, the Duchene deal might end up being one of the best things to happen to Dubois, whose second season has built on a 20-goal rookie campaign. This year, Dubois has 23 goals and 31 assists for 54 points in 66 games, not to mention 94 hits and a CF% of 51.2.
For Dubois, there's an understanding that he's played good hockey in a tremendously important role. At the same time, he also knows he can be better given the fact a lot has been put on his shoulders as such a young age.
"I think I'm still scratching the surface," he said. "I can play against (top guys), but I can't take a night off because if I do, then I'm not helping the team win. It's hard, but it's a challenge and challenges are fun. That's why we play. We're playing to improve ourselves and playing to win.
"It's just been a great challenge to have, just trying to be consistent, every night going against top guys, trying to outplay them, trying to help your team win. It's not an easy thing to do, but it's fun."
As Dubois admitted, it's not the easiest thing to do. The mental side is the hardest for the 20-year-old; while many his age are finishing up their sophomore or junior years of college, Dubois is facing the grind of an 82-game season and the physical challenge of battling the NHL's best on a nightly basis. He also plays a power game,
going into corners and along the wall to battle for pucks
, while also showing off the skating ability and underrated skill that have already made him a pivot to be reckoned with.
Tortorella has pointed out the times where Dubois' game has had its struggles, and given his spot in the lineup for most of the year, there's been nowhere to hide. But the coach also knows that's part of the process for someone Dubois' age and in his position - and that the acquisition of Duchene gives him someone to look to who has done it before.
"I think Luc has fought it a little bit the past few weeks," Tortorella said after the trade that netted Duchene. "I think this is a good situation to maybe take a little pressure off of him. … He's a competitor. He wants to be there (with Panarin and Atkinson). I know him well enough, he wants to skate 25 minutes a game and he wants to play with those guys."
Those chances have come and gone as the Blue Jackets have looked for consistency among its forward lines since the deadline. But in the big picture, it's clear Columbus has a player to build around -- and one who sees his best hockey still ahead of him while embracing the position he's in.
"I think I still have a lot to improve on," he said. "Last year, I got pushed into my role and didn't have time to think about it. This year I have had time to think about it and see what it's like, and it's been fun.
"I try not to think about it too much. To be a 20-year-old playing hockey and having fun … it's my passion. It's my dream."