ARLINGTON, VA — Pierre-Luc Dubois has become the Capitals’ go-to host for young players, giving rookies Ryan Leonard and Cole Hutson a place to live when they joined the NHL.
Over the summer, Dubois played landlord once again, this time to 19-year-old prospect Lynden Lakovic. Lakovic was the first Capitals prospect to return to DC, arriving in Washington a month before the start of Training Camp, so Dubois offered to house him in the meantime.
As it turned out, part of Dubois’ job was introducing Lakovic to new foods.
“He had never had asparagus in his life,” Dubois said Friday. “He hadn’t had, like, some basic things. I was like, ‘Oh, we’re eating cauliflower tonight.’ (He said) ‘Well, I’ve never had that.’ I think he tried a lot.”
Lakovic confirmed Dubois’ claim, later adding that he hadn’t had unprocessed tomatoes before living with Dubois.
“I just wasn’t a big vegetables person growing up,” he said. “My mom always tried feeding me it, and I wouldn’t really bother. Dubie didn’t force me, but he just put it on my plate, and I kind of had to (eat it). It really wasn’t that bad, so can’t complain, just thank them for it.”
Lakovic also offered his opinion on several of the new vegetables.
Asparagus? “It’s not really enjoyable, but it doesn’t really taste like anything, so I would have it again.”
Cauliflower? “Not the biggest fan.”
Raw tomatoes? “I’m a big texture guy, and tomato just never rung my bell…Everyone knows, ketchup and tomato, that’s two different things.”
Besides vegetables, Dubois had Lakovic try some more exotic meals.
“Sneaky, octopus was really good,” Lakovic said. “But I’m like, ‘I haven’t tried that.’ And (Dubois said), ‘What?’ He looked at me like I was crazy.”
Though Dubois had readily shared Lakovic’s dietary habits with reporters, Lakovic’s mother apparently had no idea until now.
“I checked my phone after I got off the ice, and my mom texted me,” Lakovic said. She’s like, ‘You little shit, I always try to get you to eat all that stuff.’”
When Lakovic moved in, hosting young players was already old hat for Dubois, who has now had three tenants in under 18 months.
“I think I have that label attached to me for the rest of my life,” he joked.
Leonard was the first to live with with Dubois, rooming with him after his NHL debut and even returning for the start of the following season.
Leonard struck out on his own once Dubois’ wife gave birth — “Two kids in the house and three dogs would be a lot,” Dubois quipped then — but less than six months later, Dubois was inviting Hutson to take Leonard’s old room.
“Last year with Ryan was a lot of fun, so doing it again was a no-brainer,” Dubois said then.
So when Lakovic decided to spend several weeks in DC before camp, he called up Dubois to ask for a place to stay.
“We chatted before I came down,” Lakovic said. “I planned on coming down a little bit early, be with the guys and take some contact before camp started. I reached out to Dubie, and he was more than welcoming to let me stay at his place. I really appreciate that, and he was great.”
The pair even had time to attend a football game at the University of Virginia, which Lakovic later posted on Instagram.
Lakovic, unlike Leonard and Hutson, has not made the jump to the NHL and is expected to spend this season with the AHL’s Hershey Bears. Though he was in the race for last year’s WHL goal-scoring lead before an upper-body injury ended his season with the Moose Jaw Warriors, he’s still developing, and the Capitals already have tight enough competition for their 23 roster spots.
But Dubois knows all too well how it feels to be in Lakovic’s shoes. Back in 2016, Dubois lived in a single hotel room for six weeks as a Columbus Blue Jackets prospect; he now hosts young players so they can avoid that fate.
“That’s not fun,” he previously said of the experience. “You want to – you don’t want to go home, but you want to be at home. You want to be in a home. And to play with that mindset is kind of tough.”
RMNB’s Ian Oland first discovered the pair’s living situation at the Laughlin Family Foundation’s 6th Annual “Swing for a Cure” Celebrity Golf Tournament, which Lakovic and Dubois attended together.
Not only could Dubois offer Lakovic a room in his house, but he offered advice ahead of Lakovic’s first pro season, especially about life off the ice.
“More of it is — we’ve talked about on-ice stuff for sure, but he’s been a great mentor,” Lakovic said. “He took in Leno, he took in Hutty last year, and him taking it in me, I’m very thankful. We kind of talked about some on-ice stuff, but some off-ice stuff as well, taking care of your body.”
Living with Dubois also allowed Lakovic to spend time with Dubois’ growing family.
“Dubie and his wife Maddie were unbelievable,” he said. “I definitely learned some things, and I had a good time there… I really appreciate him and Maddie and their new son. It was a good time for sure.”
Dubois similarly praised Lakovic as a guest, noting how much he’s had fun with each young player he’s hosted.
“The three of them, they’re all just nice people,” Dubois said. “Polite, respectful. They’re all different, different personalities but all three of them have those — [respect] and politeness and cleanliness, that just made it enjoyable for all of us.”
After inviting Leonard to move in, Dubois quickly learned that housing rookies means teaching them how to cook and eat. He told reporters that Leonard was particularly bad at it when he first arrived (though Leonard disputed that characterization).
“We don’t want any fires in the house (with Hutson), so we’ll start slow,” Dubois said after inviting Hutson to live with him. “We’ll see where he’s at. Can’t be worse than Ryan, though…Ryan wasn’t a good cook.”
“I was a good cook at the Dubois household,” Leonard argued.
By the time Leonard left, he’d branched out into marinating meat and assembling pre-made meals, while Hutson was apparently cooking the family pasta within days of his arrival.
Thanks to Dubois, Lakovic’s new, expanded diet has already paid off. Lakovic knew he needed to add bulk even before his injury cost him valuable conditioning time. By the time he got the sling off, he said, “It’s like I didn’t even have an arm. It just was pretty much bone, it looked like.”
Lakovic had already gained weight earlier in the summer, but living with Dubois only accelerated that process. He gained seven pounds in just three weeks, now at a comfortable 215 pounds going into the season.
Now back in the hotel with other Capitals rookies, Lakovic will likely move again soon, this time to Hershey, Pa for his first pro season. Thanks to his time at the Dubois house, he’ll have plenty of food options once he’s there.
