The Los Angeles Kings were coming off their second straight first round loss to the Edmonton Oilers. It was at a point where general manager Rob Blake felt the Kings needed more offense and appeared to believe that Pierre-Luc Dubois was the answer.
The trade would see the Kings sending Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, and Rasmus Kupari along with a second-round pick to the Winnipeg Jets for Pierre-Luc Dubois. At the time of the trade, the Kings would also sign Dubois, who was a restricted free agent, to an eight-year deal worth $68 million.
It seemed like almost from the start, this was going to be a bad fit as Dubois would have only seven goals and seven assists through the first 33 games of the season.