Defenseman Landon DuPont holds up his jersey of the Western Hockey League's Everett Silvertips. DuPont, 15, was granted exceptional status to play in the WHL for the 2024-25 season. Photo: Chris Mast / Everett Silvertips
Hockey's newest phenom is coming to the Pacific Northwest.
Defenseman Landon DuPont, who was granted exceptional status by the Canadian Hockey League to play at the major junior level this season at age 15, will join the Everett Silvertips for the upcoming 2024-25 season, a source confirmed to 93.3 KJR-FM.
The level of play and potential of DuPont's caliber is rarely matched who have moved through the Western Hockey League, a storied circuit boasting decades of esteemed alum such as Grant Fuhr, Joe Sakic, Patrick Marleau, Cam Neely, Bobby Clarke, and Carey Price. Recent graduates seen vividly across the NHL include Connor Bedard, Leon Drasaitl, Mat Barzal, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Jordan Eberle. DuPont became the second player in league history to be granted exceptional status for play starting this next season. Bedard was the first, ripping up the WHL with the Regina Pats before being taken first overall by the Chicago Blackhawks and winning the NHL's Calder Trophy this past season. They are not a routine grant in the CHL - only eight have been issued in program history (spanning the WHL, Ontario Hockey League, and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) - also granted notably to those such as Shane Wright, Aaron Ekblad, John Tavares and Connor McDavid.
“Landon not only boasts impressive hockey ability that will allow him to succeed in the WHL at a young age, but he also possesses the incredible maturity required to be an exemplary young person off the ice,” Hockey Canada senior vice president of high performance and hockey operations Scott Salmond said in a statement when DuPont's status was confirmed in April.
Shortly after, DuPont was unsurprisingly chosen by the Silvertips, first overall in the league's annual prospects draft, and the clock began to tick on when, or even if, DuPont would sign. Despite whispers that DuPont could alternatively choose to play closer to his hometown of Calgary in the British Columbia Hockey League, where players are often siphoned to college hockey, social media activity on the Silvertips end seemed to suggest DuPont's ultimate choice seemed to rest in Everett.
A three month wait ensued for DuPont to officially sign with the Silvertips, as several loose ends were tied up surrounding him, most notably the hire of new head coach Steve Hamilton and the promotion of general manager Mike Fraser, both relocating from Canada.
The league - and the Silvertips - will now gain arguably the biggest phenom in hockey since Bedard, with likely three years to showcase a highly skilled game that's already been compared to Quinn Hughes or Cale Makar and the possibility to transform the Silvertips blueline before DuPont is NHL Draft eligible in 2027. The Silvertips have never missed the playoffs since entering the league 21 years ago and have enjoyed a modest collection of talent reaching the NHL, but none potentially of DuPont's potential. They have suffered near-misses in recruiting with Auston Matthews and Seth Jones.
DuPont, whose father Micki skated for four years in the NHL with Calgary, St. Louis and Pittsburgh, will bring 19 goals and 62 points in just 30 games from last season with Calgary's Edge School U18 prep squad, finishing as their leading scorer by a whopping 21 points.
Wright, from a local Kraken angle, knows what playing in a league with ripe future talent at just age 15 can bring.
“Playing at the next level and taking that step and learning how to play against those older, bigger players just sets you up better, for the next level moving on and moving forward,” said Wright in April.
The Silvertips will open their 2024-25 with DuPont on September 21 at home against the Vancouver Giants.