Craig Conroy flexed his trade muscles last week by moving Nikita Zadorov in-division to Vancouver for a fifth-rounder and future third-rounder. Zadorov is the first in-season domino to fall among the Calgary Flames’s pending unrestricted free agents, and it seems Conroy is trying to stick true to his offseason promise of giving young guys a chance to play.
It doesn’t seem like it’s a rebuild just yet, but you can’t deny how nicely Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil have merged into the lineup with Nazem Kadri. In the remainder of the top-nine, play has generally improved across the board except for one player, Dillon Dube.
Dillon Dube by the numbers
It seems Ryan Huska has finally decided to make a change as Dube skated with the fourth line on Wednesday ahead of tonight’s matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes.
It comes as no surprise. Dube has gone pointless in his last five games while only recording three shots in that span. In his last ten, two points and ten shots. Not much better.
The season as a whole hasn’t been anything to write home about. With only seven points in 24 games, Dube is on pace for 23 points. That would be a 55% drop off from his career-high 45 last season.
Looking at CF%, Dube has the third worst rating on the team at 47.9% while his xGA/60 is sitting at a team-worst 3.15, yikes.
Dube’s time on ice has been steadily decreasing and if Wednesday’s practice is any indication, the trend looks to continue.
It’s Dube’s roster spot to lose
While Dube’s been struggling, Matthew Coronato has been tearing up the AHL with 18 points in 14 games. I’d imagine it won’t be long before we see Coronato return to the NHL with plans to stay long-term.
Further, Jakob Pelletier has been back on the ice in closed skates. The shoulder injury that sidelined the young winger before the season seems on track for the recovery. No timetable has been listed yet for Pelletier’s return, but it’s possible we see him before the All-Star break.
Without even factoring in Adam Ruzicka and Walker Duehr, the Flames could have to make some difficult decisions in the coming weeks. Dillon Dube needs some sort of change to spark some play, and line combinations aren’t doing anything right now. The short-term will have to be the fourth line, but will Ryan Huska consider scratching the forward for a game or two if nothing improves?
Long-term on Dube
It was reported this summer that the Flames and Dillon Dube had discussed a six-year, 36-million-dollar contract. Wow.
Even with 45 points in 82 games last season, that number seems high, especially with no signs of sustainability.
Dube is an RFA after this season and will be eligible for arbitration if all else fails. I could see arbitration as a likely case for Dube. That is, in hopes Craig Conroy doesn’t try and overpay him with a substantial cap bump coming next season.
Dube currently makes $2,300,000 AAV. If he keeps up his play this season his arbitration case could look closer to this contract than $6,000,000 AAV. For reference, Trent Fredric of the Boston Bruins settled his arbitration for two years at $2,300,000 AAV after 32 points last season at 24 years old.
What should the Flames do?
I’d prefer to see the Flames trade Dube at the deadline, but his play is diminishing any market there was for him. Every player has their ups and downs but Dube has been just plain hard to watch at some points over the last two years.
Maybe an amicable parting of ways would be good for both parties, similar to Juuso Valimaki and the Arizona Coyotes. Dube’s breakout season has yet to come and although I don’t think he’s at the top of the priority list on the trade front, it’s something the team could consider.
At 25 years old and with only three full seasons under his belt, there’s still room to grow. But, plenty of opportunity has been provided in Calgary and no real improvement has come of it.
I’m not sure what the future holds for Dillon Dube but I don’t think things are going to change in Calgary.
Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire
