CALGARY — Calgary native Landon DuPont on Monday became the second player to be granted exceptional status in the WHL.
The decision, made by a Hockey Canada committee and announced jointly by WHL Commissioner Dan Near and Hockey Canada senior vice-president Scott Salmond, will allow the right-handed defenseman to play in the WHL at the age of 15. next season.
He succeeds Connor Bedard, who was the first overall pick in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft. Dupont is the ninth player in CHL history to receive 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.
“It’s good. It’s very humbling and a great honor to have gotten this,” DuPont said Monday. “But I still have a lot of hard work and room to fill.” This is just one of the steps to the next level. I’m really excited to keep things moving forward and continue to work my hardest and we’ll see where that takes me.
DuPont scored 24 goals and 78 points in 35 combined regular season and playoff games as a 14-year-old, playing against 16- and 17-year-olds with Edge School’s U18 team last season, leading the Calgary school to a CSSHL championship as the top-scoring defenseman in the prestigious prep league.
DuPont is expected to be the first pick in the upcoming WHL Bantam Draft. The pick is held by the Everett Silvertips, who won the WHL draft last month after acquiring the Kamloops Blazers selection in a blockbuster trade for Anaheim Ducks defenseman Olen Zellweger and Washington Capitals prospect Ryan Hofer last season.
DuPont, who will be eligible for the 2027 NHL draft, is the son of former NHL defenseman Micki DuPont, who was a Flames draft pick and played briefly in Calgary, St. Louis and Pittsburgh before finish his professional career in Switzerland and Germany. . Micki won the Calder Cup and represented Canada at the men’s world championships before retiring in 2019 and becoming a player representative for Titan sports management and Certified Skills Coach and High Performance Coach.
“It’s great that he can continue to progress in his development, but we realize it’s a lot,” Micki said of the impending announcement during a phone call Friday. “There’s a lot of pressure on these kids, so we tried to minimize all of that for Landon.”
DuPont, born in 2009, played minor hockey in Kloten, Switzerland, and Berlin until age 10, often with his older brother Nolan’s age group in 2006.
“Even from a young age, he was strong enough to play with these kids and he became more comfortable with older kids,” Micki said.
Before Hockey Canada and the WHL made their decision, DuPont had to write an essay, federation staff attended his games and spoke with his coaches and teachers, and he sat for an hour with a psychologist sports (who also met his mother, Erin, and Micki).
In a survey of WHL executives this week, an Eastern Conference general manager called him “very elitist.”
“There is no doubt that it should be given exceptional status,” the director-general said. Athleticism. “His ability to drive offensively as a D is the best I’ve seen and to do it at the U18 level is impressive. Elite puck skills, high hockey IQ, intense competition and winning.
A WHL Western Conference general manager was a little more cautious in his assessment and projection of the 5-foot-11, 170-pound defenseman.
“He’s good,” the general manager said. “He doesn’t get much bigger (Micki is 5-foot-10) but really powerful, great base, 0-100 quickly. Very good offensive instincts. Hard and precise shot. He will be a very good junior and look like Zellweger as a pro.
James Poole, Dupont’s coach at Edge School, compares him to Cale Makar, who he coached against in the AJHL.
“How much (Makar) impacted the game, and how much the game revolved around him, and just some of the things that almost impress you when you watch him, for me, it’s Landon,” Poole said. “He was at the heart of everything that happened on the ice, with and without the puck, thanks to his hockey IQ, his point work and his skills with the puck. He was dynamic on both ends of the ice and was a driver on the ice every time he was out there.
A third WHL executive called him “special at his age.”
The executive said: “Landon has excellent hands, vision and awareness. He has exceptional mobility, defends well (and) competes hard. Its speed is rare, an extra gear that can split and jump into open space without rushing. Scores big goals with a quick release and shoots hard. Shows deception and confidence on the puck. Plays a very unselfish style and a leader on the ice. In big moments, he wants to make the difference. (And) beyond his basic skills, Landon has excellent reads and sense of game situations.”
Doug Crashley, a Calgary-based strength coach who owns and operates Crash conditioning and worked with local NHL players including Jordan Eberle, Duncan Keith, Josh Morrissey, Justin Schultz and Mike Green, and began coaching DuPont during the pandemic.
Crashley says he’s never worked with an actor like DuPont.
“I’ve seen all the guys play out West, including the kid from Chicago (Bedard), and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a player like him and I’ve coached some really good defenders,” Crashley said. whose son Nate also played with DuPont at Edge School this season. “In the playoffs this year and at Mac’s Midget tournament, he was the best player I’ve ever seen individually.”
Poole called DuPont achieving exceptional status a “no-brainer.”
“I see him as a generational player and, to be honest, an even better kid,” Poole said. “The player speaks for himself, but the kid is actually what impresses me even more. For all the attention he was getting at the age of 14, and everyone knew how special he was as a player, it was how he treated his teammates, how coachable he was , how he behaved in the school with the staff or otherwise. , he’s just a very humble kid who treats people the right way.
This story will be updated.
(Photo: Jenn Pierce/WHL)