Blue Jackets trade disgruntled Pierre-Luc Dubois to Jets for Patrick Laine, Jack Roslovic

Pierre-Luc Dubois has gotten his wish.

The Columbus Blue Jackets traded the disgruntled center to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday along with a third-round pick for a pair of skilled forwards – Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic, an Ohio native who signed a two-year, $3.8 million contract as part of the deal.

Dubois, 22, requested a trade upon signing a two-year, $10 million contract extension the week before the start of training camp Jan. 4 at Nationwide Arena. The team’s former No. 1 center didn’t publicly offer a reason, but it’s believed to be multi-faceted – tied to both prolonged contract negotiations and a feuding relationship with coach John Tortorella.

Thursday night, Dubois was benched for the second and third periods of a 3-2 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Dubois took his last shift was with 4:36 remaining in the first period. Television replays showed that the center half-heartedly battled for a puck in the corner against Tampa Bay forward Tyler Johnson. Once Johnson got the puck that sprang a rush the other way, Dubois skated slowly back to the bench.

Laine, 22, was selected second overall in the 2016 NHL draft – one spot ahead of where general manager Jarmo Kekalainen took Dubois to the surprise of many experts that year.

Most assumed Kekalainen would select forward Jesse Puljujarvi, who’s also Finnish, but the choice was Dubois, who developed into a powerful two-way player who has centered the Jackets’ top line the past three seasons.

Now they’ll have Laine on the left wing of that line once he recovers from an undisclosed upper-body injury that landed the talented winger on injured reserve Friday. Laine has 140 goals, including a five-goal game, and 250 points in 306 games with the Jets, who failed to sign him to a long-term contract and settled on a one-year deal worth $6.75 million.

Laine expressed a desire to leave Winnipeg, much like Dubois did with Columbus, and the Jets also couldn’t reach a deal with Roslovic, a 23-year-old forward who was hoping to land in a spot where he can play center.

bhedger@dispatch.com @BrianHedger

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Pierre-Luc Dubois traded from Columbus Blue Jackets to Winnipeg Jets