Dufour Looking to Build Off Dream Season

William Dufour had the 2021-22 season most players dream about. In one year,
he won the Memorial Cup
, the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy for the Memorial Cup most valuable player, the Michel Briere Trophy for the QMJHL most valuable player and
gold at World Juniors with Team Canada
. Now, he's taking the next step in his hockey career at his first NHL camp.
"I just want to be myself, not feel pressure, just continue what I did last year," Dufour said. "That's what I did at the World Juniors. I tried to play a two-way game and bring some offense. That's more my type of game. If I just play my game, I think everything's going to go well."

Before the start of the season, Dufour was traded to his fourth QMJHL team, the Saint John Sea Dogs, for his final junior season. After scoring 53 points in 58 games in his draft year (the Islanders selected him in the fifth round of the 2020 draft), and 29 points in 23 games in his post draft year, Dufour exploded, scoring 116 points in 66 games to become the second highest scorer in the QMJHL. His 56 goals led the league.

In December, Dufour was one of the final cuts from the Canadian World Junior roster. But after the tournament was postponed and rescheduled for the summer, Dufour made the team. He scored three goals and seven points in seven games, including a goal in the gold medal game against Finland, playing against fellow Islanders prospects Aatu Räty, Eetu Liukas and Matias Rajaniemi.
"He was good, he played great for Team Canada," Räty said. "I remember him scoring in the final when I was there on the ice, which did not feel good. But yeah, he's a really good guy."
In a Memorial Cup round robin game against the Shawinigan Cataractes, the Sea Dogs went down by three goals in the first period, before Dufour
scored a natural hat trick in the second period
to tie the game. He capped it off with a fourth goal at the end of the third period, the first four goal game in the Memorial Cup since 2017.
"Coming back here I'm really confident," Dufour said. "I had a pretty good season this year and I'm going try to bring that into camp and let's see what's it's going to do after that."

During his dream season, Dufour said he stayed in communication with the Islanders' player development staff.
He also said he skated with many members of the Islanders' NHL roster over the summer, as well as other players at rookie camp like Dennis Cholowski and Robin Salo.
Dufour said Matt Martin and Casey Cizikas invited him and Samuel Bolduc to golf with them, and he said he's also bonded with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Anthony Beauvillier as fellow Québécois.
"Even right now they're still talking a lot with us," Dufour said. "It's nice to have them to show us what we need to do and everything, and it's nice to have a chance to speak French."

Now, Dufour is looking to adapt to the new pace of the game in his first professional season. He was drafted in 2020 during the pandemic, and this is his first NHL camp after signing his entry-level contract in the spring.
"It's faster hockey now," Dufour said. "In the QMJHL, I was one of the older players, now I'm one of the youngest. There are guys here with kids, who are 34, 35 years old. Guys are bigger, they're stronger, but I think I'm ready for that. I'm just happy to be here."