Blue Jackets select Pierre-Luc Dubois with third pick in NHL Draft on his birthday

COLUMBUS, OH- The Columbus Blue Jackets selected Cape Breton forward Pierre-Luc Dubois with the third overall selection in the first round of the 2016 NHL Draft. The draft is being held at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York.

Dubois, who turned 18 today, posted 42 goals and 57 assists for 99 points with 112 penalty minutes and a +40 plus/minus rating in 62 regular season games with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 2015-16. He ranked third in the league in points, fifth in goals and sixth in assists and plus/minus while leading the club in assists, points and plus/minus. He added 7-5-12 in 12 playoff games.

Dubois was named to the QMJHL Second All-Star Team, awarded the Paul Dumont Trophy for Personality of the Year and the Mike Bass Trophy as the Best Professional Prospect in the QMJHL. The Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec native has recorded 52-92-144 with 170 penalty minutes and a +44 plus/minus rating in 116 games since making his junior debut with Cape Breton in 2014-15. He finished ninth among league rookies in scoring with 10-35-45 in 54 games during the 2014-15 campaign. He was selected fifth overall by the Screaming Eagles in the 2014 QMJHL Entry Draft.

The 6-2, 201-pound left wing/center was a member Canada's 2015 Ivan Hlinka Memorial gold medal team, posting 2-3-5 in five games. He registered 0-1-1 in six contests to help Canada capture a bronze medal at the 2015 IIHF U18 World Championships.