Getty Everett Silvertips Players during a WHL game
If you have not heard Landon DuPont’s name, you will start doing so from now on. And that makes sense because DuPont is walking the path paved by fellow wunderkind and Chicago Blackhawks franchise cornerstone Connor Bedard.
14-year-old hockey phenom DuPont was granted Exceptional Player Status by Hockey Canada on Monday, April 8. He will turn pro in May once he gets drafted to play in the Western Hockey League next season.
He is 𝗘𝗫𝗖𝗘𝗣𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟.
Landon DuPont has been granted Exceptional Player Status and is eligible to play in the WHL on a full-time basis beginning with the 2024-25 WHL Regular Season.
DuPont will be eligible to compete in the league on a full-time basis next season once he turns 15 on May 28, 2024.
Born in Calgary, Dupont is the second player ever and first after Bedard to earn an Exceptional Player exception to play in the WHL. Bedard joined the Regina Pats as a 15-year-old in 2020.
“[Bedard] actually just sent me a quick message, so that was pretty surreal,” DuPont told ESPN on Monday, April 8. “He just told me to enjoy every moment of it and have fun, so that was special.
“I’ve just been playing with kids that are much older than me and bigger than me ever since I started playing hockey. I really think that I’m ready to take that jump and enter the league early.”
Landon DuPont Joins an Elite Group of Former Wunderkinds
DuPont is just the third defenseman in Canadian Hockey League history to be granted Exceptional Player Status. He follows Aaron Ekblad (currently of the NHL Florida Panthers and former No. 1 pick in the 2014 draft) and Sean Day (former 3rd-round pick in 2016 by the Rangers).
DuPont is the ninth player overall in CHL history to be granted exceptional status, following Michael Misa (2022), Shane Wright (2019), Sean Day (2013), Connor McDavid (2012), Aaron Ekblad (2011) and John Tavares (2005) in the OHL, as well as Joe Veleno (2015) in the QMJHL.
Although he plays in the blue line, DuPont acknowledged he likes to go forward and advance the puck on offense.
“I always liked playing forward. I always wanted to play forward, but I always knew that defense was best for me and where I played best,” DuPont told Scott Wheeler and Julian McKenzie of The Athletic on April 8. “There were some tournaments where I was forward and it was lots of fun, but I always knew that I was born to be a D-man.”
DuPont was born in 2009 and with his father playing in Europe, he developed his game across the pond. DuPont played his minor hockey in Kloten (Switzerland) and Berlin (Germany) until the age of 10.
According to The Athletic, DuPont “often (played) with his older brother Nolan’s 2006 age group.”
Last season, DuPont scored 25 goals and notched 78 points in 35 regular-season and playoff contests as a 14-year-old playing against 16 and 17-year-olds, per The Athletic.
DuPont is expected to be the first pick in the upcoming WHL Bantam Draft. That pick belongs to the Everett Silvertips.
Scouting Reports Forecast a Promising Future for DuPont
The story published by The Athletic includes a few quotes from anonymous executives and staffers currently employed by WHL franchises.
One Eastern Conference general manager called DuPont a “very elite” player. Added the GM: “No question he should be getting exceptional status.”
That same anonymous GM thinks what DuPont has already shown at such a young age is extraordinary and bodes well for his professional future.
“His ability to drive offense as a [defenseman] is the best I have seen,” the GM told The Athletic. “Doing it at the U18 level is impressive. Elite puck skills, high hockey IQ, competes hard, and is a winner.”
A Western Conference WHL general manager, however, didn’t want to go overboard with his forecast, taming expectations a bit.
“He’s good,” said the GM. “(He’s probably) not getting much bigger but (he’s) real powerful, great base, 0–100 quickly.
“Really good offensive instincts. Hard, accurate shot. He will be a really good junior, really good pro.”
James Poole, who coached DuPont at Edge School, compared the wunderkind to one of the best young players in the NHL, Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar, who also played for the coach in the AJHL.
“Just how much of an impact (Makar) made on the game, and how much the play revolved around him, and just some of the things that you’re almost in awe of when you’re watching him, to me that’s Landon,” Poole said. “He was a driver of whatever went on on the ice, with and without the puck with his hockey IQ, his edge work, and his puck skills.
“He was dynamic at both ends of the rink and was a driver on the ice every time he was out there.”
Finally, the reporters writing the post over The Athletic quote Doug Crashley, a Calgary-based strength coach who works with local NHL players. He began training DuPont during the pandemic.
Crashley told The Athletic “he’s never worked with a player like DuPont,” adding, “I’ve seen every guy out west play, including the kid in Chicago (Bedard), and I don’t know if I’ve seen a player like him ever and I’ve trained some pretty good defensemen.”
Comments
Connor Bedard’s Heir? 14-Year-Old Phenom Landon DuPont Turns Pro at WHL