Coyotes prospect profile: Laurent Dauphin
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- It was way back in the fall when the Coyotes were still sliding away from playoff relevance and talk was turning to potential future stars that could revitalize this team. The prospects on almost everybody's lips were Max Domi, Brendan Perlini, Henrik Samuelsson and Christian Dvorak.
Dave Tippett mentioned another: Center Laurent Dauphin.
"That figures," GM Don Maloney said with a mixture of laughter and appreciation for his coach's refined tastes. "We're all talking about these high-end skill guys, and Tip is talking about the two-way defensive guy."
Tippett isn't alone in his admiration for Dauphin, who has chosen the perfect NHL center to emulate in his quest for two-way fame: Boston's Patrice Bergeron.
"I'm a big fan of Laurent Dauphin," Coyotes development coach Steve Sullivan said. "He's not as explosive or dynamic as Max Domi. It's more a case where at the end of a game, when you rewatch the tape, that's when you see all the good things he does in a hockey game."
In 53 games with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens of the QMJHL, Dauphin has 30 goals and 71 points. The Coyotes want him to keep refining that offensive upside because, as Tippett noted, the days of making a living as just a good defender or just a good scorer in the NHL are gone. But Dauphin has a good head for the game and good away-from-the-puck elements in his game that will serve him well if and when he reaches the NHL.
"You always hear the term: a 200-foot player," Tippett said. "In my conversations with him, he wants to be a good defending player, but he also wants to be a player that can make good plays. I've seen spurts of it here but he's had some injuries so we haven't seen a good sample of it."
Last March, Dauphin had shoulder surgery to repair his right labrum, which had been bothering him for weeks. Dauphin said the shoulder feels good now, but the event that really set back this season was having his appendix removed in December.
"I lost 15 pounds -- I was down to 162," said Dauphin, who thanked the Coyotes for taking good care of him during and after the surgery. "I was thinking all the work I did in the summer was gone because I was feeling very weak."
Dauphin has slowly regained the weight as the season has progressed -- he's up to 176 (at 6 feet tall) -- but he needed a gentle nudge to push through the mental side of the setback.
"It really took a toll on his body and he started to struggle a little bit," Sullivan said. "After a while, we told him it was time. He needed to do a little bit more; start pushing himself through it. He agreed and to his credit, he came out of it with flying colors."
The QMJHL regular season wraps up next weekend, so Dauphin is preparing for the playoffs, where Chicoutimi has its work cut out for it since it currently sits fifth in the East Division and 14th overall in the league standings. When the playoffs conclude, Dauphin, who turns 20 in two weeks, has a simple goals for the summer as he prepares for Coyotes training camp.
"I want to work on my shot and gain some weight -- maybe 10 pounds so I can still keep my speed and explosion," he said. "I think next year, the goal is to go pro in the AHL, so I'll just do whatever I can to get there."
Domi, Perlini and recently acquired Anthony Duclair have created plenty of excitement about the Coyotes future on the wings. But as Maloney recently noted, the Coyotes have also adopted the philosophy that they need to over-acquire centermen "because we're never going to win if we don't address our center ice.
Dauphin, Dvorak, 2014 second-round pick Ryan MacInnis and Maxim Letunov, who came over form St. Louis in the Zbynek Michalek trade, are some of those pieces that the Coyotes will be watching very closely.
"We need those young centermen to keep pushing forward," Tippett said.
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Laurent Dauphin was a second-round pick in the 2013 draft.
Team: Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL)
Age: 19
Height: 6-0
Weight: 176
Position: C
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2013 (2nd round, 39th overall)
2014-15 stats: 53 games, 30 goals, 71 points.
Timeline: Dauphin has a goal of turning pro in the AHL next season. Coyotes GM Don Maloney has said none of the team's center prospects are ready to make the leap to the NHL next season.
Quote: "He's just a really good all-around hockey player. He's smart with the puck and without it. Where does it translate? We'll see. He'll turn pro next year and we hope we get him to Arizona sooner rather than later." -- GM Don Maloney
Did You Know? Dauphin was named the 2012 Telus Cup MVP for Canada's annual national midget AAA hockey championship which was played in Leduc, Alberta. In 13 playoff games he scored 12 goals and had 14 assists ... Dauphin won a gold medal with Canada's U18 team at the 2013 U18 World Junior Championship. In seven games for Canada in Sochi, Russia, he scored four goals and added two assists. ... Dauphin was ranked 28th among North American skaters in Central Scouting's final rankings prior to the 2013 NHL Draft.
Check back on FOXSportsArizona.com and tune into FOX Sports Arizona's Coyotes Live pre-game show 30 minutes prior to puck drop for profiles of the following prospects:
