For real, these two are going to have teams tanking like we’ve never seen since McDavid
Especially DuPont… if he keeps it up he is the best D prospect ever lol
I know you say it in jest, and mean nothing by it, but you really betray your youth with comments like those.
I envy you for it, middle-age isn't fun. And yes, the loose term "middle-age" is a matter of perspective. But I won't share mine, that would be too personal an issue.
Anyways, weird rant aside, DuPont could be a generational-type of D prospect, one for which the "hype" would reach a level not seen for DECADES, that much is true.
But Potvin and Orr were no less accpmplished and well-regarded as defensemen in their youth, let me tell you.
Orr in particular was signed as a young 13 year-old to a contract by the Bruins to pre-emptively make sure to lock his NHL rights and not ever risk another team swooping-in and "stealing" him from the Bruins.
In the years that followed Orr trained with the junior team, and older pros. And he distinguished himself so much, was so good even in his youth that there were some murmurs then that the Bruins' high-brass would have given Bobby Orr a spot on the big team's blueline as a 16 year-old if letting a minor play wasn't expressly forbidden by league rules.
That was pre-expansion, mind. So there would have only been so many spots available for defensemen in the league, with a lot of competition for each given the scarcity, meaning that this was even higher praise then than it woud be now to say DuPont could be an NHLer at 16.
Oh, and I could also pull-out a similar-ish story for Potvin, whom I consider to have the second-highest peak of all-time as a defenseman behind Orr, but I'm already getting wordy so I won't bore you (further).
So yeah, DuPont will most likely be a monster in the NHL for years/decades to come but let's pump the brakes on "of all time" please.
And I apologize that I had to be Mr. Super-square, champion of Hockey History for a moment. But the years of Hockey lore resting in my soul couldn't be denied and I had to speak-out to try and provide context.
Aside from that, please carry on and cheers.