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NHL DRAFTJune 24, 2016Pierre-Luc DuboisBuffalo, New York Q. Talk about your feeling. PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: Speechless right now. I mean, I was a little surprised, but it's probably my best birthday I've ever had in my life, so I'm pretty happy right now. Q. A lot of people had Jesse up there at the third pick. Did you have any idea that you might be chosen ahead of him? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: No, Jesse is a really good player. Pretty much every guy in this draft is a really good player, but I've gained 40 pounds the past two years. I think my ceiling, my potential is still far away, so I have a lot to develop. I think over the next couple of years‑‑ that's what I tell every team ‑‑ the next couple of years, I think now everybody is talking about the two Fins and Matthews No.1, 2, 3, but in the next couple of years, I think I'd be in that discussion, too. I think I developed more later than others, but like I said, they draft you for what you're going to be in your prime and not what you are right now. Q. I think you alluded to it in French, but were you following the rumors about perhaps Edmonton looking to move to Montreal to try and pick you up? Were you paying any attention to that? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: You try not to but it's pretty impossible. Everybody talks to you about rumors and stuff like that. But I try not to pay attention too much. Whatever happened today happened today. When you get drafted to any team, you're getting drafted to an NHL team, and it's a dream come true, so I didn't pay too much attention to that. Q. Getting picked third, you said it was surprising, but was it even more surprising because of that? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: Yeah, maybe a little bit. I heard Montreal traded before, I think maybe something like that was going to happen. I started listening after the second pick, so I was pretty surprised. Q. We kept hearing that Canadian players this year were going to get shut out of the top three, top five. Was it special to get drafted high as a Canadian? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: Absolutely. Canada is a really huge hockey country. We have a lot of good players in Canada. Representing our country like this means a lot to me. Q. Obviously you met with Columbus at the combine. What kind of interaction did you have with them? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: I had a really good meeting with them at the combine. Right after that we drove to Columbus to meet the president, the team, see the rink, see the city a little bit. Every time I talked to them, I think it went really well. Q. Best birthday present you could ask for? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: Best birthday present you could ask for for sure. Q. Talk a little bit about your season with the Screaming Eagles? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: You know, when I got drafted there two years ago, there was kind of a thing where players wouldn't go, but for me, I just wanted to play hockey, whether it was 18 hours away from home or two hours. I was really grateful that they drafted me, and this year I kept going up in the rankings. My play got better and better as the season went on. I learned a new position after Christmas, which I think helped a lot for the draft, and I mean, I owe a lot to my coaches and my teammates. Q. Christmas was when the top prospects came to Vancouver. Did that kind of give you extra confidence? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: Yeah, it's one game to play your best game in front of everybody. I think that was one of my best games of the year, and I mean, that was pretty important to play well there. Q. Where do you see yourself at the next level? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: I think I can play center in the NHL. It was a new position at Christmas that I just learned, but I learned fast. I know I'm a fast learner. I know I'm a guy that can play any position anywhere on the ice, any situation. In the long run I think I have the skill set to play center. Q. Whose idea was it to‑‑ did you want to try to play center or who suggested it? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: I was playing with the two Russians before Christmas a little bit in November, and Sasha Gol was playing center, and then he went to the World Juniors, so there was a hole at center, so my coach asked me if I wanted to play, and I said sure. From there I just kept playing center, and I learned fast and I learned a lot. I like playing center. You have more responsibilities. I think I read the play well. My two‑way game is really good and I'm mature. I think the center position is a perfect position for me. Q. Just to clarify, when was the last time you had played center? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: I played like five, six games last year, and then I played I'd say five games at the QMJHL combine when I was 15. Q. When you spoke to the Jackets, was it the versatility or did they say in this workout we want you to be a center? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: You know, they asked me which position I prefer. It's always been center ever since I started playing. I'm just open to playing any position. I'm the type of guy that you can put on any line in any situation. I want to be the go‑to guy on the team, and I want to be the guy you can count on for PK, face‑offs, power play or anything. Obviously my goal is to help the team, so whether it's center, left wing, right wing, I'm willing to do anything. Q. Do you think you're ready to play this year? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: For sure I'm going back this summer. When I go back to Montreal next week, it's back to the gym to make the team next year. Today I'm going to enjoy my time with my family, tomorrow too, but when I come back to Montreal, it's back to workouts, back to training, and to make the team next year. Q. I think you were saying‑‑ how much weight did you gain? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: I got drafted at 15‑‑ two years ago when I got drafted I was 160, six foot, so I gained probably 50 pounds. Now I'm like 208. I grew a lot. Like I said earlier, I think I grew later than others, and I don't even think I'm done right now. Q. You said earlier it's not the player you are right now, it's the player you will be. What kind of player do you expect to be when it's all said and done? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: I think, like I said earlier, I want to be the guy you can count on, whether it's power play, PK, whether you're winning 1‑0 or you're losing 1‑0, I want to be the guy you can count on, and I think in a couple of years I can be that guy. I still have a lot to learn, obviously. I'm still a young guy. But I'm sure with the staff and the players in Columbus I'll learn a lot from them, and I think in a couple of years I can be that. Q. You were the highest‑rated player since Crosby out of the Q. What was it like to meet him and kind of carry on the tradition? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: Yeah, meeting him was an honor. I watched him growing up. I was in a Baie‑Comeau when he was in Ramouskin. I remember watching him play. Meeting him was pretty amazing, and at the end him telling you that he might see you next year in the NHL is pretty amazing, too. Representing the QMJHL like this is an honor, and being the last guy since Sidney Crosby to be first in North America is pretty huge. I still have a lot of work to do. I'm going to go back in the gym and work hard and keep it going. Q. This draft has been the big three for so long. How proud were you sitting in your seat to bust up that prediction? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: I was a little surprised but mainly because everybody has been talking about the big three. I think I'm a guy who developed later than others. I gained 50 pounds, 45 pounds the past two years, three inches. I think my ceiling is still really high. I still have a lot to go, a lot to learn. I can still get bigger and stronger. They draft you for what you're going to be in your prime, and I think in my prime‑‑ that's what I tell every team in the combine, in my prime I think I'm going to be in the top three, and not just the top three but maybe top four, top five. Q. Did you know you were their pick before you heard your name at the podium? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: My agent told me like a minute before, so it was pretty surprising. Q. What goes through your mind in that minute when your agent tells you that? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: Well, I told my parents for sure. My mom doesn't really follow hockey that much, so she just goes for what everybody hears, and everybody was saying the top three was the two Fins and Matthew, so when I told her, she didn't believe me at first, but I mean, her and my dad have believed in me for‑‑ ever since I started playing hockey they've always been there for me. I'm just thinking about the sacrifices they made for me. Q. Who is your agent? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: Pat Brisson and Jerry Grill. Q. Your dad is obviously a coach, coached you for a long time, but when you made the switch, is there somebody you worked with as far as‑‑ you've played the game for a long time, but the finer points of playing center, as you said, it takes a lot more responsibility. Who helped you? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: My coach helped, and I talked to my dad pretty much after every game. I did a lot of video. I'm a fast learner, and I talked a lot to my wingers, talked a lot to the defensemen. When I played center, how when I was a winger, I wanted my center to play kind of, so I communicated a lot with the wingers and the defensemen, and I think I did a good job. Q. What's the thing you have to work on the most as you go to the next step? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: I can still work on my face‑offs. I think I'm still pretty good, but I think maybe just getting used to the position more and more. I've played probably 45 games center, so it's still like getting used to the position, more experience and everything. It's going to come. Q. You had a really good start to your season but then the second half you really turned it on. What was the key to being able to finish so strong? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: I'm just the type of guy as the season goes on, I'll get better and better. I think I drew motivation from my cut from the early 20s, so when I came back, I wanted to prove to everybody that I could have made the team and everything. The prospect game was another milestone in my season, too. Gained a lot of confidence there. Q. There's a lot of people in Columbus that probably aren't familiar with your game, so what can we expect to see from you? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: I'm a big guy. I'm the type of guy that can play any position. I can block shots, I can play power play, I can play PK. I'm the type of guy that even if I play against the top line of the other team, I can still produce and find a way. I think I'm really creative offensively. I can shoot. I can pass the puck. Q. What time did you meet with Columbus? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: I met with them at the combine and then I drove to Columbus after. Q. Who is here with you besides your parents? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: We're 20, 21, I think. Sitting with me I have my best friend, my sister, my girlfriend, and my two parents. Q. Did anyone give you anything other than the No.3 draft pick for your birthday? Were there any presents earlier today? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: We did those earlier this week because we thought today was going to be a little busy. I mean, just having my entire family here, my mom is from Atlanta, so I don't get to see that part of my family a lot, so it was the first time in two years that we're all together. That was probably the best present I've had. Q. You got a sweater for your birthday? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: Yeah, except for this, and the hat, too. Q. And your coach, it's his birthday? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: Yeah, exactly. That's what they told me on the stage, yeah. Q. Switching to center, do you find you crave that role more? Does it fulfill you more? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: Yeah. I mean, I want to be‑‑ like I said, I want to be a guy that you can count on, and center is a big position. You have a lot of responsibilities playing center, whether it's face‑offs, defensively, supporting the wingers, supporting the defensemen. I think I have the skill set and the criteria to match that. I think in the long run, like I said, I love playing center, so I think it's just gaining experience right now. Q. Does that put more pressure on you jumping into that big three? People tend to look back on that for many years to come. PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: I don't see any pressure really. The only pressure I see is being the best player I can be and the best player for my team and my teammates and my coaches. I mean, of course there's always going to be people with opinions, and I mean, I went through it this year with the rankings and everything, people whether they were ranking my lower or higher. As long as I'm doing a good job with my team, with my teammates and my coaches, that's all that matters really. Q. Do the rankings become motivation? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: Not really. There's a lot of good players in this draft. Like I said, I just want to be the best player I can, and as long as I'm helping my team win, helping my teammates on the ice and helping my coaches and everything. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but at the end of the day, it's helping my team win, and that's the most important thing. Whether somebody says I should go higher or lower doesn't really matter to me. Q. Did your dad really hide your hockey stick from you in the summertime? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: Yeah, I mean, even now. When I was younger, I remember when I was younger I played summer hockey and every time I'd be done, I'd try to go back on the ice as soon as I could, but he'd tell me one, two months at least, take a break and play other sports. All my life has been about hockey. I'm passionate about hockey. Q. Is there anything you do to find that release that's not hockey? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: I probably go play‑‑ when I was younger I'd go play in the streets, street hockey with my friends. Ball hockey, but it's not on the ice. My mom being from the U.S., it's baseball, football, basketball, soccer and everything. When I was younger I played pretty much every sport. Q. You mentioned your parents. You mentioned your coaches. Is there someone else that comes to mind when you think about who helped get you here? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: Yeah, my parents, my coaches, my family, my sister. I mean, she's in Quebec City right now, and I barely got to see her this year, but she did a lot for me. Like I said, we don't get to see each other a lot, but it means a lot for her to be with me today. My grandparents, my entire family, my friends and everything, playing Cape Breton I was pretty much away from everybody, and my billets, too, they helped a lot. I'm really grateful. Q. What was your interview process like with Columbus, and did you get any sort of sense that this might be a possibility? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: Yeah, I had a really good meeting with them at the combine, and then after that we drove to Columbus, met with the entire staff, visited the city a little bit, and then‑‑ I tried not to have a sense with anybody really because you never know what's going to happen. But I definitely had good meetings with Columbus. Q. What was your level of surprise? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: I was pretty surprised I want to say, but mainly because everybody was talking about the two Fins being 2 and 3, and Matthew was one. I mean, what I told every team at the combine was I think with my development, I developed later than others. My ceiling is really high, and I still have a lot to learn, a lot to go, and I can still get stronger and faster and everything. They draft you for the player you're going to be in your prime, and I think that player would be in the top three today. I mean, it just happened. Q. When were you 160? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: When I got drafted, so 2014. Q. Did other guys go with you to Columbus? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: Yeah, we were I think four or five guys. We went to Columbus together. Q. Who was that? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: Tkachuk, Puljujarvi, Keller and Brown. Q. Did you get to talk to any of the Blue Jackets? Are you familiar with anybody in the system? PIERRE‑LUC DUBOIS: Yeah, my dad coached David Savard when he played in Baie‑Comeau in the QMJHL. I think he texted me, I don't have my phone right now, but somebody said he texted me. I'm familiar with him. One of my good friends got drafted to them but didn't sign him unfortunately, but he said it was a really great organization, great staff, great city. He was really happy for me. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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