Yahoo Sports Pierre-Luc Dubois Has Finally Found His Fit, Opens Up About Why Capitals Have Worked Out So Perfectly: 'Mutual Respect... Feels Like Home'
ARLINGTON, V.A. — For the first time in a long time, Pierre-Luc Dubois feels like he fits in.
Just 41 games into his tenure with the Washington Capitals, who took a chance and acquired him following a rough year with the Los Angeles Kings, Dubois is thriving as a top center for D.C.
At the halfway mark of the 2024-25 campaign, he ranks second on the team in assists (26) and third in overall scoring (33), and he's on pace to finish the season with 66 points, a major boost from the 40 points he had in L.A.
"It feels like home," Dubois told The Hockey News. "It feels like I've been here for a long time already, feels like I've been around these guys for a long time. Guys and staff, everybody's made it super easy for me to feel welcome here and appreciated. It hasn't changed since the beginning of the season."
Quite a bit has factored into Dubois' success, as he's playing in a top-6 role and finding chemistry alongside the likes of Tom Wilson, Aliaksei Protas and Connor McMichael, while also taking on more responsibility in his own end by going up against opponents' top lines.
As he's become more comfortable and further embraced his role, the points have started to fall, as he has found the scoresheet in 10 of the last 11 outings overall.
"I think going in at the start of the year, when you're on a new team, you kind of just don't want to step on anybody's toes, you kind of want to ease into it. And maybe that's not the best thing to do, but that's just kind of my personality," Dubois said. "I felt like I wasn't getting bounces, getting much luck, like I was playing well, but it wasn't always happening. So just sticking with it and not changing anything."
For Dubois, though, what's contributed most to his strong showing so far in D.C. is simple: the team embracing him for the player that he is, rather than the player they want him to be.
"Everybody wants to feel appreciated. Like I said at the beginning of the year, I thought I was playing well and the points weren't following as much. I thought I wasn't as lucky in getting those bounces, but I never felt like the guys in here asked for more," Dubois said. "I felt like the guys in here appreciate what I did and what I do, whether it's offensively, whether it's 6-on-5, I mean anything. When you're in an environment like that... that's the environment that it's fun for everybody and everybody can just be themselves."
He went further, explaining how much of an impact having coach Spencer Carbery at the helm has helped him, and emphasized the importance of open communication when it comes to finding consistency on the ice.
"When you can have a conversation with your coach, it helps a lot," Dubois pointed out. "It helps a lot. When you can communicate and you know, you're not always going to be on that same page, but as long as that mutual respect (is there) between the two — at the end of the day, the coach is right. But as long as you can have a relationship and communicate... individually it helps a lot.
"My dad's a coach, and we talk a lot about just having guys show up with a smile on their face, asking how your day is going. In a bad tone and a good tone, (there's) a huge difference, a different question. It's the same words, but it's taken differently. So you know to have Carbs — you guys see it — just smiling all the time and in a good mood, even when he's in not as good a mood, there's still that passion behind it."
At the end of the day, Dubois feels he's finally found his niché and his landing spot, and his teammates feel the same way. All the while, he credits them for helping him get his game to where he always knew it could be.
"When you play with good players and you're surrounded with smart guys and talented guys it'll eventually turn your way," Dubois said. "I just stuck with it and playing with guys like Willy, Pro, Mike, guys like that, it makes your life easier."
