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.
Dupuis was born on April 7, 1979, in Laval, Quebec. His father Claude was a 1974 draft pick of the Quebec Nordiques, who went on to play 120 games in the North American Hockey League with the Maine Nordiques.
As a youth, Dupuis played in the 1993 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Mille-Îles Seigneurs, a minor ice hockey team from the Mille-Îles area of Laval, Quebec.
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. Dupuis played an important part in game four against the Lac St-Louis Lions, scoring two goals, including an equalizer with 1:03 left in the third period to bring the game to overtime. The Régents eventually won the game 6–5 in double overtime.
The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) selected Dupuis in the fourth round, with the 45th overall pick, of the 1996 QMJHL draft. Beginning the 1996–97 season with a shaky Huskies team who moved over the summer from Saint-Hyacinthe as the Laser, draft-eligible Dupuis intended to play every game of the season as a part of his hard work regime. During the season, he fractured his leg, significantly impacting his chances of being taken in the 1997 NHL entry draft. Dupuis eventually returned from the fractured leg and finished the season with 9 goals and 15 assists in 44 games. Despite being projected as a middle-round pick, Dupuis's leg fracture kept him from being drafted in 1997.
Entering the 1997–98 season, Dupuis had received a tryout offer from the Calgary Flames, inviting them to their training camp. Dupuis advanced into the main camp but did not receive an offer from the team. 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. On January 19, 1998, the QMJHL trade deadline, Dupuis was traded to the Shawinigan Cataractes along with defenceman Dany Gauthier in exchange for defenceman Roberto Baldris. Dupuis played well with the Cataractes, recording 7 goals and 13 assists in 28 games. With 40 wins and 24 losses, the Cataractes moved onto the playoffs, losing in six to the Val-d'Or Foreurs in the Lebel division quarterfinals. Dupuis recorded two goals in the playoff series.
The 1998–98 season was Dupuis' first full year with the Cataractes. His production improved greatly over the previous season, albeit with a slower start, having only five assists in the six games beginning the season. By the end of December, he had point-per-game production with 11 goals and 24 assists in 32 games, along with being one of the top players in penalty minutes for the Cataractes. At the end of the season, Dupuis had played 57 games, recording 30 goals and 42 assists to mark his first QMJHL season with above one point-per-game production. He also had a career-high 118 penalty minutes, ranking fourth among Cataractes players. As the best team in the Lebel division, the Cataractes received a bye and were eventually paired against the Hull Olympiques, a series that was lost in six.
Entering the 1999–2000 season as one of the top players on the Cataractes roster, Dupuis quickly cemented himself as one of the top producers on the team, leading the team in goals by the end of November with 19 goals in 31 games. He also recorded 19 assists, placing himself in the top three players by points, with Dominic Forget and Alexandre Tremblay placing ahead of him respectively. In his 200th game in the QMJHL, Dupuis scored two goals against the Sherbrooke Castors in a 5–3 win, and then was suspended for 2 games following the win. In a previous game, Dupuis had been involved in a line brawl with the Val-d'Or Foreurs. Other players and staff were suspended beginning at one game up to five games and fines were issued up to $1,000 CAD. After an eight-point game against the Halifax Mooseheads on March 10, 2000, Dupuis was named QMJHL Offensive Player of the Week on March 14 after recording five goals and seven assists in two games. The Cataractes entered the playoffs on top of the central division in the Lebel conference. Shawinigan first played against the Victoriaville Tigres, winning the series in 6. Dupuis recorded 11 goals and 3 assists in the 6 games. The Cataractes advanced to the conference semifinals against the Drummondville Voltigeurs, losing a close series in 7. Dupuis's production dropped in the conference semifinals, only increasing his point total up to 22 to end the playoffs. Dupuis ended the 1999–2000 season with 50 goals and 55 assists in 61 games, recording production close to two points-per-game.
At the beginning of the 2000–01 season, Dupuis was invited to the Minnesota Wild rookie tryout camp after being recommended by Wild head scout Tom Thompson. After progressing through the main camp, Dupuis was signed by the Wild on September 18, 2000. Following the signing, Dupuis along with four other players were assigned to the Wild's top minor affiliate in the International Hockey League, the Cleveland Lumberjacks. It took more than a month from the start of the 2000–01 IHL season for Dupuis to begin producing, scoring his first professional goal on November 12 in a 3–0 victory over the Kansas City Blades. That April, near the end of the NHL season, the Wild promoted Dupuis from the Lumberjacks as a replacement for left winger Cam Stewart, who had sustained a leg injury. He made his NHL debut on April 2, 2001, against the San Jose Sharks. During his debut, he scored his first NHL goal to open the game up to 1–0, only elapsing 6:04 in the first period. After four games with the Wild, Dupuis returned to the Lumberjacks. At the team awards banquet, Dupuis was named the Lumberjacks Top Rookie of the Year. The Lumberjacks moved onto the playoffs, where they were swept by the Grand Rapids Griffins in the Turner Cup quarterfinals. By the end of the season, Dupuis had recorded 19 goals and 24 assists in 70 games with the Lumberjacks.