Disturbing pattern in two NHL markets

This just in: No one wants to play in Columbus or Winnipeg.

Once again, that's the perception going around the NHL following the latest reported trade demands of Blue Jackets centre Pierre-luc Dubois and Jets forwards Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic.

If you're a fan of either team, it can't be easy to hear that three first-round picks, all under the age of 25, want a so-called “change of scenery” so early in their careers. At the same time, it's nothing really new. Whether it was Evander Kane and Jacob Trouba, or Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky, or even Teemu Selanne and Rick Nash, both franchises have had a difficult time keeping their star players happy.

Now, it's Laine and Dubois — the No. 2 and 3 picks of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft — in addition to Roslovic, who was the 25th overall pick in 2015, who are counting the days before moving on from their respective cities.

Make all the jokes you want about the weather and lack of entertainment options. How there's nothing to do in Columbus. How there's even less to do in Winnipeg. But for fans who are on the outside looking in, it makes no sense that Laine and Dubois — and to a lesser extent Roslovic — would want out.

At least, it doesn't from a hockey perspective.

Laine, who becomes a restricted free agent, is coming off a season where he was on pace for a career-best 76 points. Dubois, who just signed a two-year deal, was Columbus' top scorer last season. Each one is a franchise player.

“It's a real punch in the gut,” said Ezra Ginsburg, a lifelong

Jets fan who co-hosts the Illegal Curve Hockey Show on TSN radio. “People are pissed off. They're more pissed off than frustrated. I think it's a hard pill to swallow, because Laine is in his prime and they expected him to be part of this organization for a very long time.”

Players have asked for trades in the past. But usually, it's because of losing or a lack of playing time. Usually, there's reason to be disgruntled.

This is different. This isn't Nash asking out of Columbus after a decade's worth of failure or

Kane wanting to experience the playoffs. This isn't Trouba looking for a prominent role on the Jets' defence. Nor is this Selanne choosing to leave Winnipeg after it became clear the team was relocating to Arizona.

You could defend and even sympathize with any of those actions. Not this.

While Roslovic, who is without a contract, could argue that he is too far down the pecking order among Winnipeg centres, Laine and Dubois are both in good spots — far better spots than Nash and Kane were in at the time when they wanted out.

The Jets went to the conference final in 2018. They have a loaded lineup that includes Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler and Kyle Connor, as well as the defending Vezina Trophy winner in goalie Connor Hellebuyck. They just signed Paul Stastny as the No. 2 centre to feed Laine the puck and keep him happy.

As Hellebuyck said on Wednesday, “This team is in its prime. It's time to win a Stanley Cup.”

“I think at this point it does look like it's a pattern,” said Ginsburg. “Why is this happening and how do you avoid it in the future?

You have (first-round pick) Cole Perfetti coming in. They (Winnipeg) should be figuring out how to make sure this never happens again.”