That's part of what has allowed Dumais to shine up to this point in his career. The Blue Jackets targeted the winger from the Montreal area in this summer's NHL draft and waited with bated breath to see if he would fall to the team's selection late in the third round at No. 96 overall, then wasted little time making the call to draft the 18-year-old winger.
If there's any question about why someone with Dumais' clear offensive abilities would last nearly 100 picks into the draft, it all goes back to his size. Listed at 5-9, Dumais will always face an uphill battle to make it in a sport where size does matter, but it's also worth pointing out the recent changes to the game -- less clutching and grabbing, plus a bigger emphasis on skating and speed -- have made easier for smaller players to excel.
Dumais' father, Patrice,
grew up with one of the true trailblazers in that regard in Hockey Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis
, but the recent generation has seen such shorter players as Cam Atkinson, Johnny Gaudreau and Alex DeBrincat shine.
"There's no size limit anymore," said Trent Vogelhuber, who is coaching the CBJ prospects team in Traverse City. "You have skill and you can score like that, you're gonna find a way to play. He's got to keep working, get a little stronger, and obviously he's a young kid, but the stuff you can't teach is there."
For his part, Dumais draws inspiration from players of similar stature to excel at the NHL level.
"Those guys like (Brayden) Point, DeBrincat, it makes it easier for people like me to believe I can do it," he said. "If I work my hardest and go all out and work hard, I can do it like them.
"I always have a chip on my shoulder. I think a lot of people have doubted me. All I can do is work my hardest and try to prove them wrong. I'm definitely used to it. It's not such a bad thing, to be honest. It makes you work harder."
Dumais wasted little time getting going in the CBJ opener in Traverse City, scoring twice in the first 4:36 of the game. He got the Jackets on the board first just 1:29 into the game when he got to the net, where a Stanislav Svozil pass across the crease found him at the back door for a finish. A few minutes later, Kent Johnson settled the puck in the neutral zone then fed Dumais through the neutral zone with speed, and the winger had plenty of time to skate in and snipe a shot past the goalie.
Considering his impressive totals in junior hockey, Dumais certainly has the ability to score with such frequency.
"You look at his stats from the last couple of years in juniors and they're pretty impressive," Vogelhuber said. "You know there's skill there, and he has a pretty wicked shot, which you saw there on his second goal. You try to let the kids play at something like this without thinking too much. He was one of them that didn't think, went out and played hard and his skill came through."
That it came in his first official game in Columbus colors was a cherry on top for the talented youngster.
"It's always great to wear the jersey; it's such an honor," he said. "Especially when you're wearing it against other teams and you're representing your organization, there are no words to say. It's just great."
While Dumais hopes to one day do it in a regulation NHL game, it seems likely he'll return to Halifax this season to keep working on his skills. He spent this summer attending power skating workouts to try to add more speed and explosiveness to his game, and like any player his age he'll need to keep adding strength as he matures.
But after finishing with 109 points a season ago, the sky might be the limit for what Dumais can produce this upcoming campaign in the Q.
"For sure," he said when asked if he can do even better. "It's a long season, and I put in a lot of work this summer and worked on a lot of different things I need to improve. I believe in myself and I think that can lead to a better season."
