Catching Up With Islanders Prospect William Dufour at Rookie Showcase

On Tuesday, New York Islanders prospect William Dufour joined a star-studded cast at the Upper Deck's 2023 Rookie Showcase in Arlington, Virginia. We caught up with him to get his thoughts on his development and more.

On Tuesday, New York Islanders prospect William Dufour joined a star-studded cast at the Upper Deck's 2023 Rookie Showcase in Arlington, Virginia. 

List of invitees: Leo Carlsson (Anaheim Ducks), Pavel Mintyukov (Anaheim Ducks), Logan Cooley (Arizona Coyotes), Conor Geekie (Arizona Coyotes), Matthew Savoie (Buffalo Sabres), Matthew Coronato (Calgary Flames), Dustin Wolf (Calgary Flames), Connor Bedard (Chicago Blackhawks), Kevin Korchinski (Chicago Blackhawks), Adam Fantilli (Columbus Blue Jackets), Denton Mateychuk (Columbus Blue Jackets), Stanislav Svozil (Columbus Blue Jackets), Logan Stankoven (Dallas Stars), Sebastian Cossa (Detroit Red Wings), Marco Kasper (Detroit Red Wings), Xavier Bourgault (Edmonton Oilers), Brock Faber (Minnesota Wild), Jesper Wallstedt (Minnesota Wild), Owen Beck (Montreal Canadiens), Sean Farrell (Montreal Canadiens), Filip Mesar (Montreal Canadiens), Luke Evangelista (Nashville Predators), William Dufour (New York Islanders), Will Cuylle (New York Rangers), Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers), Tyler Boucher (Ottawa Senators), Ridly Greig (Ottawa Senators), Tyson Foerster (Philadelphia Flyers), Ozzy Weisblatt (San Jose Sharks), Ryker Evans (Seattle Kraken), Tye Kartye (Seattle Kraken), Zachary Bolduc (St. Louis Blues), Zach Dean (St. Louis Blues), Matthew Knies (Toronto Maple Leafs), Vincent Iorio (Washington Capitals).

Dufour was rocking No. 56 at the showcase, the number he wore during last year's preseason. He wore 28 in juniors and in his first season with Bridgeport, donning No. 14 for his NHL debut.

While the 21-year-old stood out at the showcase due to his frame, standing at six-foot-two and weighing 205 pounds, he also stood out for another reason.

Unlike most prospects in attendance, Dufour wasn't selected in the first round or even the second.

At the 2020 NHL Draft, the Islanders selected Dufour in the fifth round (152nd overall). 

"I'm probably the only fifth-round pick here," Dufour told our Sammi Silber before hitting the ice in Arlington. "When I was drafted, my agent, the first thing he told me was, 'It's just a pick. It's just a round. Just head to training camp. You do your stuff. You do your personal thing. Keep working. Never give up,' and now I'm here with all the first-rounders, so I'm pretty happy to be here."

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The star of the showcase was Connor Bedard, the 18-year-old taken first overall by the Chicago Blackhawks back in July. 

Dufour has never played against Bedard but did skate with him at the 2023 World Juniors for Team Canada, which ended in a gold medal. 

"He's fantastic. He'll have a great career in the NHL, for sure," Dufour said. "Just to share the ice with those types of guys is amazing."

The two were on the same line during the showcase game. 

Dufour had himself a solid first season of pro hockey, potting 21 goals with 27 assists in 69 games for Bridgeport.

Albeit a premature call-up, the Islanders threw Dufour into the fire against a historically dominant Boston Bruins squad on Jan. 18. 

Although he saw limited minutes, just 6:48 of ice time, he got a taste of NHL action.

As many players will say, once you get a taste of NHL action, you want more. 

With the Islanders still searching for a legitimate sniper, with the hope that Oliver Wahlstrom can still prove to be that kind of player, Dufour certainly has the skills to fill that role. 

And the Islanders certainly have confidence in Dufour. But don't take our word for it. 

"They have high confidence in me. They want me to be an NHLer in a couple of years for sure," Dufour said. "They have high expectations for me, and they just want the best from me.

"They brought me in this summer to train with them, practice a little bit with them, and just give me some clue on where I need to improve, continue to work on in the offseason and everything, so they're really good to me, and I think it will help my game a lot on the ice."

There's no question Dufour has an NHL-caliber shot, but the one area of his game that holds him back is his speed. That's been the knock on his game throughout juniors when looking at his career outlook.

Dufour is well aware that he needs to improve as a skater and has worked heavily this offseason to improve on his initial strides.

"Like I said every time, [I need to improve] my skating, my explosion," Dufour said. "When I'm max speed, I think I'm pretty fast for a big guy like me, but I think it's really my first couple of strides I need to improve. 

"I worked a lot with my trainer this summer with this, so I think I really improved it this summer."

When Dufour made his NHL debut, he skated alongside Mathew Barzal on the top line. That's where he wants to end up at the NHL level, but Dufour believes he can find a home in the NHL, wherever the Islanders need him to play. 

"I think I can play all of the roles," Dufour said. "I can play on the fourth line just grinding. I can play on the top line and score some goals. I want to play top six and score some goals for them […] That's my type of game. That's my biggest asset. "

Dufour and the rest of the Islanders prospects will be hitting the ice in a few weeks before the NHL mainstays join them for training camp. 

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