RD Landon Dupont - Everett Silvertips, WHL (2027 Draft)

[eviohh26]

Going to go watch my 2nd game of him on Monday! Let you all know what I see. 1st time he was best player on the ice looking like the only dangerous threat on Everett.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

 

[CaviarAndRinkFries]

 

[eviohh26]

Well I watched my 2nd game of him yesterday. Wasn't the greatest game from him or anyone in particular.

He seemed to get more ice time as the game went on but for the 1st period at least he wasn't out there too much.

Things that I personally saw.

- Above avg skating.
- Good puck moving skills. sees the ice well and has a good break out / 1st pass
- Still only 15 so it seems unfair to judge his board battles and in front of the net.
- Good offensive player but nothing screams generational. Calm and not afraid to shoot or make passes on the PP.

I personally think I'm fairly good at spotting talent and assessing but this kid is hard to read at the moment. He is only 15 after all. He obviously is a skilled player and is one of the best if not the best skater on the ice.

I can see him going in the top 10 of his draft. He is more a Hughes style Dman rather than a Makar but he is only 15 . I'm excited to watch him play more over the years. He does have the potential to be that good. top 3 draft potential for sure.

 

[Bender Duster]

Well I watched my 2nd game of him yesterday. Wasn't the greatest game from him or anyone in particular.

He seemed to get more ice time as the game went on but for the 1st period at least he wasn't out there too much.

Things that I personally saw.

- Above avg skating.
- Good puck moving skills. sees the ice well and has a good break out / 1st pass
- Still only 15 so it seems unfair to judge his board battles and in front of the net.
- Good offensive player but nothing screams generational. Calm and not afraid to shoot or make passes on the PP.

I personally think I'm fairly good at spotting talent and assessing but this kid is hard to read at the moment. He is only 15 after all. He obviously is a skilled player and is one of the best if not the best skater on the ice.

I can see him going in the top 10 of his draft. He is more a Hughes style Dman rather than a Makar but he is only 15 . I'm excited to watch him play more over the years. He does have the potential to be that good. top 3 draft potential for sure.

For context, where were Hughes and Makar playing at this age?

 

[eviohh26]

For context, where were Hughes and Makar playing at this age?

Hughes was playing in the USHL . Makar AMHL.

He is ahead of both at his age. But progression isn't linear. At his age he is obviously impressive. But it also makes it hard to read.

A lot can change from now till his draft year. I hope so catch some more games of him over the next few years.

To be fair when Victoria and Everett have played vs one another its been a fairly low event defensive game. Everett is #1 in the conference and Victoria is #2.

 

[macbowes]

Hughes was playing in the USHL . Makar AMHL.

He is ahead of both at his age. But progression isn't linear. At his age he is obviously impressive. But it also makes it hard to read.

A lot can change from now till his draft year. I hope so catch some more games of him over the next few years.

To be fair when Victoria and Everett have played vs one another its been a fairly low event defensive game. Everett is #1 in the conference and Victoria is #2.

It's reasonable to assume he's going to advance at a significant pace, and he's currently better than all of his peers. To me, his skating is going to be a true weapon, and his transition, and rush game will make him elite. Impossible to know the future, but I would be very surprised if DuPont doesn't go 1OA in 2027.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Well I watched my 2nd game of him yesterday. Wasn't the greatest game from him or anyone in particular.

He seemed to get more ice time as the game went on but for the 1st period at least he wasn't out there too much.

Things that I personally saw.

- Above avg skating.
- Good puck moving skills. sees the ice well and has a good break out / 1st pass
- Still only 15 so it seems unfair to judge his board battles and in front of the net.
- Good offensive player but nothing screams generational. Calm and not afraid to shoot or make passes on the PP.

I personally think I'm fairly good at spotting talent and assessing but this kid is hard to read at the moment. He is only 15 after all. He obviously is a skilled player and is one of the best if not the best skater on the ice.

I can see him going in the top 10 of his draft. He is more a Hughes style Dman rather than a Makar but he is only 15 . I'm excited to watch him play more over the years. He does have the potential to be that good. top 3 draft potential for sure.

No offense, but I think your assessment is off and you probably just saw some bad games.

There's absolutely no way this kid doesn't go top 2 unless he has some significant injury or off ice problem. He is very likely to be the best prospect since McDavid, and potentially best so far of the 2000's.

 

[eviohh26]

No offense, but I think your assessment is off and you probably just saw some bad games.

There's absolutely no way this kid doesn't go top 2 unless he has some significant injury or off ice problem. He is very likely to be the best prospect since McDavid, and potentially best so far of the 2000's.

Could be. I also said he is 15 so its hard to get a real gauge on him. I literally said top 3 pick. top 10 at worst.

I mean wasn't Dahlin and Bedard considered mega huge prospects?

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Could be. I also said he is 15 so its hard to get a real gauge on him. I literally said top 3 pick. top 10 at worst.

I mean wasn't Dahlin and Bedard considered mega huge prospects?

I remember Dahlin at roughly the same age (probably a year later). People forget how highly regarded he was. He was viewed as the best draft eligible defenseman in forever. He was viewed similarly to players like Matthews, Bedard, etc.

Compared to DuPont, Dahlin was taller. He had great puck handling (potentially similar level, but definitely not better). Didn't skate as well. Don't think he processed the game as quickly. I don't think he was as purely talented at creating offensive chances with the puck, even if he was very good. Defending was pretty similar. The pace that DuPont makes plays at is a different level from Dahlin. Not even close. It's the type of pace you see from McDavid, MacKinnon, Makar, Matthews. Everything is so quick, crisp, dynamic, a step ahead. It puts you constantly on your heels trying to defend. There's no time to react.

Not trying to insult you. You saw what you saw. I took your post in good faith. I don't think you're trying to trash DuPont. I just think your assessment of what you saw is off compared to what he is. I don't see almost any way he's top 10 as opposed to top 2 (and only reason I say top 2 is hypothetically you never know who comes along and you get an Ovechkin/Malkin situation where there's one player his equal), unless there's some huge problem that comes up with him off the ice or injuries.

I know numbers aren't everything, but he's putting up the best U16 season ever in the CHL for defenseman PPG, a top 5 U17 season ever in the WHL for defenseman PPG (keep in mind he's U16, not U17), tied for the best PPG of any U18 defenseman in the WHL (some of the draft eligible defensemen in the league are 2.5 years older than him). His PPG is higher than Keaton Verhoeff in the WHL (projected top 2 defenseman for 2026) and just barely below Chase Reid (projected top 2 defenseman for 2026).

Comparing his numbers to other ES players over the years.

Defensemen:

DuPont: 1
Ekblad: .46
Sean Day: .27

All Players:

Bedard: 1.87 (only 15 games, keep in mind)
Misa: 1.24
Tavares: 1.18
Wright: 1.14
Spezza: 1.06
McDavid: 1.05
DuPont: 1
Ekblad: .46
Sean Day: .27

And obviously PPG isn't everything. Misa isn't better than McDavid. Bedard's numbers are inflated because he played less games and likely didn't have any time to come down off a heater. Stats can be deceiving sometimes, but the fact that his stats are competitive with all the ES players over the years that were forwards is just insane. It goes without saying that a defenseman should not be competing statistically with the best CHL forwards over the last 30 years. That suggests one of the most elite defensive scorers ever out of the CHL.

Someone earlier in the thread compared him to Bobby Orr, and I initially thought it sounded crazy, but that's my conclusion for now. When people compare him to Makar, it almost seems insulting. He's Makar if Makar is the bad outcome of what he becomes (and obviously I realize anything could happen for a 15 year old hockey player before they reach the NHL, but assuming nothing crazy happens Makar seems the low outcome).

I didn't watch Orr (before my time, so I only saw highlights), but I have watched Makar. I have watched McDavid, and I think he's the best prospect I've ever watched. Will he continue to get better? Who knows, but it seems like his floor is pretty much one of the best players in the NHL, barring nothing crazy. And his ceiling may be the best player in the NHL. It seems crazy because he's 15 years old and he won't play in the NHL for another 2.5 years, but he probably could step into the NHL at minimum starting the 2026-27 season, and potentially like half a season earlier (a year from now), so it's not that far away. He's destroying the WHL. This is not 10 year olds he's going against. This is arguably the best junior hockey league in the world.

I suspect you will eventually see this. You'll realize you likely just saw a bad game or two. He's 15. Can't expect perfection, but he's as legit as they come. I think it'd be hard for anyone to not eventually catch onto this.

 

[Turin]

Could be. I also said he is 15 so its hard to get a real gauge on him. I literally said top 3 pick. top 10 at worst.

I mean wasn't Dahlin and Bedard considered mega huge prospects?

Yea man he's 15. He's a defenseman who's balls dropped three minutes ago and he's outscoring Carter Yakemchuk who is four entire years older than him and just went 7th overall.

 

[eviohh26]

I remember Dahlin at roughly the same age (probably a year later). People forget how highly regarded he was. He was viewed as the best draft eligible defenseman in forever. He was viewed similarly to players like Matthews, Bedard, etc.

Compared to DuPont, Dahlin was taller. He had great puck handling (potentially similar level, but definitely not better). Didn't skate as well. Don't think he processed the game as quickly. I don't think he was as purely talented at creating offensive chances with the puck, even if he was very good. Defending was pretty similar. The pace that DuPont makes plays at is a different level from Dahlin. Not even close. It's the type of pace you see from McDavid, MacKinnon, Makar, Matthews. Everything is so quick, crisp, dynamic, a step ahead. It puts you constantly on your heels trying to defend. There's no time to react.

Not trying to insult you. You saw what you saw. I took your post in good faith. I don't think you're trying to trash DuPont. I just think your assessment of what you saw is off compared to what he is. I don't see almost any way he's top 10 as opposed to top 2 (and only reason I say top 2 is hypothetically you never know who comes along and you get an Ovechkin/Malkin situation where there's one player his equal), unless there's some huge problem that comes up with him off the ice or injuries.

I know numbers aren't everything, but he's putting up the best U16 season ever in the CHL for defenseman PPG, a top 5 U17 season ever in the WHL for defenseman PPG (keep in mind he's U16, not U17), tied for the best PPG of any U18 defenseman in the WHL (some of the draft eligible defensemen in the league are 2.5 years older than him). His PPG is higher than Keaton Verhoeff in the WHL (projected top 2 defenseman for 2026) and just barely below Chase Reid (projected top 2 defenseman for 2026).

Comparing his numbers to other ES players over the years.

Defensemen:

DuPont: 1
Ekblad: .46
Sean Day: .27

All Players:

Bedard: 1.87 (only 15 games, keep in mind)
Misa: 1.24
Tavares: 1.18
Wright: 1.14
Spezza: 1.06
McDavid: 1.05
DuPont: 1
Ekblad: .46
Sean Day: .27

And obviously PPG isn't everything. Misa isn't better than McDavid. Bedard's numbers are inflated because he played less games and likely didn't have any time to come down off a heater. Stats can be deceiving sometimes, but the fact that his stats are competitive with all the ES players over the years that were forwards is just insane. It goes without saying that a defenseman should not be competing statistically with the best CHL forwards over the last 30 years. That suggests one of the most elite defensive scorers ever out of the CHL.

Someone earlier in the thread compared him to Bobby Orr, and I initially thought it sounded crazy, but that's my conclusion for now. When people compare him to Makar, it almost seems insulting. He's Makar if Makar is the bad outcome of what he becomes (and obviously I realize anything could happen for a 15 year old hockey player before they reach the NHL, but assuming nothing crazy happens Makar seems the low outcome).

I didn't watch Orr (before my time, so I only saw highlights), but I have watched Makar. I have watched McDavid, and I think he's the best prospect I've ever watched. Will he continue to get better? Who knows, but it seems like his floor is pretty much one of the best players in the NHL, barring nothing crazy. And his ceiling may be the best player in the NHL. It seems crazy because he's 15 years old and he won't play in the NHL for another 2.5 years, but he probably could step into the NHL at minimum starting the 2026-27 season, and potentially like half a season earlier (a year from now), so it's not that far away. He's destroying the WHL. This is not 10 year olds he's going against. This is arguably the best junior hockey league in the world.

I suspect you will eventually see this. You'll realize you likely just saw a bad game or two. He's 15. Can't expect perfection, but he's as legit as they come. I think it'd be hard for anyone to not eventually catch onto this.

As I said. Both games were low event and played very tight. Both teams seem to have a defense first style. That affects what I get to see.

I feel like people are hating on me for my opinion but I'm giving my honest take. I legit said he will be a top 3 pick. It's still a couple years out till his draft and things can change. He could really become the real deal 1st overall generational player. It's hard to tell because he is young. Sky is the limit for him IMO.

I can honestly say he didn't have the greatest game last game. I felt he could have been sick or banged up because his ice time was pretty low in the 1st period.

 

[Mathieukferland]

As I said. Both games were low event and played very tight. Both teams seem to have a defense first style. That affects what I get to see.

I feel like people are hating on me for my opinion but I'm giving my honest take. I legit said he will be a top 3 pick. It's still a couple years out till his draft and things can change. He could really become the real deal 1st overall generational player. It's hard to tell because he is young. Sky is the limit for him IMO.

I can honestly say he didn't have the greatest game last game. I felt he could have been sick or banged up because his ice time was pretty low in the 1st period.

Maybe I saw the wrong game too, but for the hype around him I came away from watching the WHC17 final (the first game I got to see watching live) as just…. Satisfied. It was clear to see his edgework, 4-way mobility, and explosion were elite, but his decision making and efficiency with the puck was just… average. I also thought his skating covered up an undeveloped sense of positioning (Similar to Karlsson and Hughes in that respect). But obviously his production can’t be ignored and the fact he’s 15 leaves a lot of runway, development isn’t linear and he has an incredible skill base to build upon