After going non-tendered by the Avalanche, winger William Dufour has signed a contract with Russian club Lada Togliatti for 2025-26, the team announced.
Dufour, still just 23, was one of the Islanders’ better prospects not too long ago. The 6’3″, 212-lb winger was a fifth-round pick in 2020 but popped offensively in a big way in the junior ranks, leading the QMJHL in goals and being named the league’s MVP following a 2021-22 season with the Saint John Sea Dogs that saw him post a 56-60–116 scoring line in 66 games. He also led the Sea Dogs to that year’s Memorial Cup title as the host city and posted a point per game for Canada at the World Juniors en route to a gold medal.
He followed that up with a strong first professional season in 2022-23. He was among AHL Bridgeport’s leading scorers with 21 goals and 48 points in 69 games and even made his NHL debut, posting a minus-two rating in 6:48 of ice time in a loss to the Bruins on Jan. 18, 2023.
That stands as Dufour’s only NHL appearance. His offensive production has decreased sharply in the two years following that promising rookie showing, logging 25 points in 55 games with Bridgeport in 2023-24, before managing only eight goals and 18 points through his first 45 appearances of the following season. He was sent to Colorado in the deadline blockbuster that brought Brock Nelson to Denver as the Isles looked to gain some additional assets from the Avs and land Dufour a fresh start.
Instead, Dufour only had four points in 12 games with the Colorado Eagles to close out 2024-25. Despite his previous track record as an intriguing prospect, that was enough for the Avalanche to let him walk for nothing months after acquiring him.
The Quebec City native will now look for a different opportunity overseas. It’s rare to see a player so young take this route, but it does afford him enough development time to get his career back on track and legitimately eye an NHL return in the coming years.
He joins a Lada roster that lacks NHL pedigree outside of Bruins 2011 second-rounder Alexander Khokhlachev and Sharks undrafted free agent signing Danil Yurtaykin. The club’s 17-36-5-10 record last season was among the worst in the KHL.
I’m sure this will be a pleasant experience until he is released in January