William Dufour 'Ready' For Second Camp With Islanders
New York Islanders prospect William Dufour entered last year's training camp after one of the best years of his life. Now, after a long summer, Dufour is as ready as he's ever been.
EAST MEADOW, NY -- New York Islanders prospect William Dufour entered last year's training camp after one of the best years of his life.
Winning was all he knew.
He was named QMJHL Player of the Year, then won the Memorial Cup -- being named MVP of the tournament -- before taking home the gold medal with Team Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championships.
While all those accolades were impressive, especially for a player drafted in the fifth round of the 2020 NHL Draft, that meant not much time to prepare for his first professional training camp.
A raw player last year, Dufour showed off an NHL-caliber shot, but his skating left much to be desired. He was part of the final cuts at training camp as he geared up for his first pro season in Bridgeport.
As the AHL season progressed, so did Dufour, learning and adapting to the speed of the pro game.
In 69 games with Bridgeport, Dufour scored 21 goals with 27 assists. He made his NHL debut on Jan. 18 against the Boston Bruins, a valuable learning experience for a player who was put in a situation he wasn't prepared for.
A full year later, with a long offseason, Dufour is as ready as he's ever been as he prepares for his second Islanders training camp.
"Last year, I mostly didn't have a summer," Dufour told The Hockey News. "This year, I'm just ready. I'm feeling very comfortable on the ice. I'm ready for main camp with the NHLers.
"I'm in top shape right now, full shape. I'm just ready to go, and I can't wait for Thursday."
Outside of defenseman Isaiah George and his defensive performance so far at camp, Dufour has been the biggest standout in terms of his growth.
Dufour's initial strides are exponentially better, and he seems more comfortable in all situations.
"I think I did pretty good work so far," Dufour said.
After the first day of rookie camp, we caught up with Bridgeport head coach Rick Kowalsky to get his thoughts on the six-foot-two forward.
"I think there's room for improvement, even though he had a pretty good year in the American League,"Kowalsky said. "I was impressed. He looks a little leaner. And hopefully stronger. We don't see all the test results, but so far, so good. I was impressed with the little skate at the end -- he led that -- so good first day for him, and he's a guy that we're really excited about seeing the growth he's made."
As for Dufour's mindset, Kowalsky said that's up to Dufour.
"I think that's going to be up to him, right?" Kowalsky said. "He's taken a step, and then step two of that is going to be integrating him with the NHL players and carrying that into the season.
"I really liked him in camp last year. You got to remember that this is a guy who played a lot of hockey over the last two years with COVID and the World Juniors, and that's the first thing he said to me. It was nice just to get some time to rest and relax and then really get a head start in the training. And so far so good. He looks like he's in good shape and looks like he's done it."
After the final day of rookie camp, Kowalsky couldn't help but be impressed with Dufour's consistency.
"I think Dufour looks more conditioned," Kowalsky said. "He looks like he's a bit quicker with his feet and his first step.
"And then the big thing for him is just maintaining that intensity, and I feel him, in particular, has really done that through all four days of ice sessions."
Dufour and the rest of the Islanders prospects have off Wednesday for medical before they hand the Islanders hit the ice for training camp on Thursday.