In a deal involving players not happy with their current situation, the Jets have traded Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic to Columbus for Pierre-Luc Dubois and a 2022 3rd round pick.

Things came together quickly following Dubois’ effort and benching Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“It’s never an easy decision when you come into these type of discussions. In this league, to make a trade of this magnitude, it involves trading those kind of players,” Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said about trading Laine.

“To get a top center in this environment is virtually unheard of and that’s why the bidding was fast and furious.”

Trading a 22-year old winger who already has well over 100 goals in the league is never an easy decision, and one that general managers across the league hope they’re never forced to do.

But part of being a successful general manager in this league is pulling the trigger on difficult deals like the one he made Saturday morning.

“It’s a difficult thing when a player comes into the league at 18-years old, there’s certain things that are afforded to them as a young player coming in. Everyone just thinks that there is that natural progression,” said Cheveldayoff. “Trading a player like Patty, he’s a great person, he has special abilities, it’s tough.”

Taking out the fact that Dubois did not want to be in Columbus, Laine not wanting to be in Winnipeg and Roslovic—who gets a two-year, $3.8M contract—not wanting to sign a new contract with the Jets, it’s a trade that makes sense for both sides.

The Blue Jackets get a young, proven goal scorer, something they’ve needed since the departure of Artemi Panarin. It’s an addition that could change the direction of the Blue Jackets franchise for years to come.

The Jets get a young, extremely talented center, giving them one of the game’s best one-two punches down the middle to go along with Mark Scheifele.

“Pierre-Luc Dubois is a big, hard, two-way centerman that makes other people around him better,” said Cheveldayoff. “That’s an important factor if you’re trying to win, and that’s what we’re trying to do here.”

After Auston Matthews was drafted first overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2016 NHL Entry draft, Laine was selected second by the Jets, Dubois third by the Blue Jackets.

“When you draft a player at that particular time, you’re looking to draft what you perceive is the best player that is there. I think we did that with everything that we had at our knowledge at that point in time,” said Cheveldayoff.

While it seemed obvious that Laine wanted out of Winnipeg, his play on the ice in the Jets’ season opener told you a different story.

Laine has only played one game so far this season due to an upper-body injury. But it was a game that showed for as long as he would be in Winnipeg,—which turns out to be one game— he would do things the right way. A two-goal, three point performance will be the last Jets memory for Laine in Winnipeg.

“This is obviously the tough side of the business. He’s a guy that I’ve had a really good relationship with since my second year here, since his first year,” said Nikolaj Ehlers. “We were roommates together on the first road trip. We’ve been brothers since day one. This is not very fun, but like I said, it’s part of the business. It’s the way things go."

With Dubois playing in Columbus and needing to quarantine upon arrival to Winnipeg, the Jets hope to be able to speed the quarantine process up and get Dubois on the ice sooner, rather than later.

Cheveldayoff said Saturday that the team is looking into getting a private flight for Dubois, and that a request has been made for an exemption to the 14-day quarantine process. The Jets are hoping their request is granted, allowing Dubois to follow the seven-day quarantine that players followed upon arrival for training camp.

Once Dubois does get on the ice and into game action for the Jets, captain Blake Wheeler sees a seamless transition from the talented center.

“He really is a tremendous centerman. Certainly over the last couple of years he’s developed into a very dynamic powerful player down the middle,” he said. “That’s kind of how you build your teams to have success and success in the playoffs you have to have that depth down the middle.”

With Dubois now in the fold, where head coach Paul Maurice fits him into the lineup and with whom will be interesting to see.

“We’re giving up an elite shooter that I firmly believe is going to develop into a strong, very powerful power forward,” said Maurice. “And then we’re going to get a power forward that I think is going to develop into an elite point-producer.”

With Scheifele not going anywhere anytime soon and Dubois hopefully in Winnipeg for a long time to come, it will be interesting to see how this alters the development of Cole Perfetti. A natural center, Perfetti can also play the wing and if Perfetti quickly hits his potential, is a role centering the Jets third line really ideal for his development?

Surely, it’s a good problem to have.

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