The Everett Silvertips are back in atop the news cycle for the third week in a row with the moment their fans have all been waiting for all offseason.
After months of speculation of when a deal would finally be struck, that wait is finally over as the Silvertips have officially reached a deal with defenseman Landon DuPont on a WHL scholarship and development agreement, officially making him a member of the organization.
DuPont, 15, from Calgary, Alberta was granted exceptional status by the WHL on April 8, 2024, meaning he will be allowed the uncommon privilege of joining the league on a full-time basis at just 15 years old.
“We’re excited to have Landon and his family committed to the Silvertips,” said Everett general manager Mike Fraser in a press release. “We’re looking forward to having Landon suiting up with us this season having been granted his exceptional status. He’s a speedy, smart, dynamic player who will fit in nicely with our core group of defensemen.β
The Silvertips selected him with the first overall pick in the 2024 Bantam Draft, which made him the highest selected player in team history. He was the last player remaining from the draft who had yet to sign a scholarship and development agreement, but for good reason as his family negotiated with the league on the details, likely in regards to his age 15 season.
DuPont has been deemed as a potentially generational prospect for some time, which has been cause for hype around the region and among Silvertips fans since Everett won the first overall selection. He was just the ninth player in CHL history to be granted exceptional status and just the second ever in WHL history behind Connor Bedard in 2020, as well as the second ever defenseman after Aaron Ekblad in 2011.
All this attention around him and he hasn’t even played a game yet. What’s made DuPont so special to be talked up like this?
Sound Of Hockey‘s Josh Horton talked about DuPont just before he was initially granted his exceptional status by the league, but to sum it up, his skill is unmatched at this age level.
He possesses a unique ability of creating time and space for himself on both ends of the ice with elite edge work, as well as an offensive prowess and openness to his game that few defensemen at his age possess.
Dupont has drawn comparisons to the likes of Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, and Bowen Byram, proving that he’s been more than ready to compete at the WHL level through his play in the CSSHL levels.
The production for DuPont had been off the charts at Edge School in the CSSHL, delivering 19 goals and 62 points in just 30 games at the U-18 level. Across his two seasons and both the U-15 and U-18 levels at Edge, he tallied an astounding 34 goals and 109 points in 57 games. This type of production for a defenseman is simply unheard of.
While he possesses a smaller frame at just 5-foot-11, 170 pounds, he’s still only 15 years old and has plenty of growing and physical maturing ahead of him.
βLandon is a very exciting and dynamic young player who impacts the game all over the ice,” newly minted head coach Steve Hamilton said. “He’s an incredibly mature young man that’s ready for the transition to the Western Hockey League. Silvertip fans will love watching him develop in the years ahead.β
Selecting DuPont
How were the Silvertips even able to select DuPont in the first place? Werenβt they a top-seeded playoff team last year?
Well, they were, but recall the gargantuan trade they made with the Kamloops Blazers involving Olen Zellweger and Ryan Hofer the season beforehand. The Blazers were all in for a Memorial Cup push that year, selling a ton of their assets only to fall just short of the title as the host city.
And a byproduct of that push was that the Blazers lost almost all their top talent the year after, which allowed them to finish dead last in the overall 2023-24 standings.
It is safe to say that deal has done more than wonders for the Silvertips, as not only did they receive the pick that landed them DuPont, but they also got a large number of players and draft assets in the return, including current Seattle Kraken defensive prospect Kaden Hammell.
The initial acquisition of DuPont couldn’t have come at a better time for the Silvertips, ahead of one of the most anticipated seasons in recent memory. Within this impressive defensive group set to return this season, DuPont will have more than enough veterans to help mentor him, with three defensemen in Tarin Smith, Eric Jamieson, and the aforementioned Hammell already being affilliated with NHL organizations.
DuPont’s father, Micki, was a WHLer himself before playing parts of four seasons in the NHL. In an interview with the league, he spoke about the life values he was able to learn from playing in the WHL, and what he has passed down to Landon.
“The friendships that you make, the things you learn, the off-ice skills,” Micki said. “I think those [skills] are really important. I’m happy that [Landon] will have the opportunity to go through all that.”
DuPont will be eligible for selection during the 2027 NHL Draft, and if all goes according to plan in his development, like four other exceptional status players before him, he could very well be selected first overall.
The Silvertips will open training camp at the end of the month, opening the season at home against last year’s first-round opponent Vancouver on September 21.
(Top photo of Landon Dupont: Chris Mast / Mast Images)
Hope he does well. BTW…..he’s the 3rd D-man to receive Exceptional Player Status, after Ekblad, and Sean Day