About Pascal Dupuis
Pascal Dupuis (born April 7, 1979) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former professional ice hockey winger who is currently the director of player development for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). Undrafted out of the 1997 NHL entry draft, he played 15 seasons in the NHL for the Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers, Atlanta Thrashers, and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Born and raised in Laval, Quebec, Dupuis played with the Laval Régents before being drafted by the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. In his first season with the Huskies, he fractured his leg which prevented him from being selected in the NHL draft. Dupuis continued his major junior career with the Huskies and the Shawinigan Cataractes, where he broke out offensively. Recording career-highs in goals, assists, and points with the Cataractes, the Minnesota Wild signed him in 2000 after an impressive showing at the Wild training camp. Dupuis started his professional career assigned to the Wild's International Hockey League affiliate, the Cleveland Lumberjacks. After playing a full season with the Lumberjacks, openings in the Wild's roster due to injuries led to Dupuis making his NHL debut on April 2, 2001. He continued to be a mainstay until 2007, when he was traded to the New York Rangers. Dupuis was quickly dealt again to the Atlanta Thrashers, where he helped the Thrashers make their first and only postseason appearance. The following year, the Thrashers traded him to the Pittsburgh Penguins along with Marián Hossa. Expected to be nothing more than a role player with the Penguins, he contributed heavily to the team, being a part of the 2009 Stanley Cup winning team. Although Dupuis was productive with the Penguins, he started suffering multiple health issues from the 2013–14 season onwards, finally retiring in December 2015 but contractually remaining on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ long-term injury reserve list until the end of the 2016–17 NHL season. He was still considered a part of the 2016 Stanley Cup winning team, being able to hoist the cup. Post retirement, Dupuis joined the Penguins organization as a part-time scout out of Quebec and as a part of their player development system. He left the organization in 2018 to coach his son's school hockey team, the Lucille-Teasdale Diabolos, leading the team to the Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament Scolaire Division finals. In 2020, he joined the Cataractes organization to become a franchise co-owner and the director of hockey operations; he later stepped down from the director of hockey operations and became an assistant coach with the Cataractes. He joined the New York Islanders organization in 2026 as the current director of player development. He returned to the Huskies to start the season, recording 9 goals and 17 assists in 39 games, a slight uptick in production from his rookie season. Dupuis played with the Laval Régents in Quebec Midget AAA hockey for the 1995–96 season, recording 10 goals and 15 assists in 41 games, with his production improving in the playoffs with 11 goals and 11 assists in 14 games.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.