Landon DuPont gets OK to compete in WHL full-time at 15

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Greg Wyshynski, ESPNApr 8, 2024, 03:09 PM ET

CloseGreg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.

Defenseman Landon DuPont has become just the second player in Western Hockey League history to be granted Exceptional Player Status by Hockey Canada.

DuPont is eligible to compete in the league on a full-time basis as a 15-year-old starting next season. The Calgary-born defenseman joins Chicago Blackhawks rookie sensation Connor Bedard as the only WHL players to earn an Exceptional Player exception. Bedard joined the Regina Pats as a 15-year-old in 2020.

“[Bedard] actually just sent me a quick message, so that was pretty surreal,” DuPont told ESPN on Monday. “He just told me to enjoy every moment of it and have fun, so that was special.”

DuPont turns 15 years old on May 28.

“I’ve just been playing with kids that are much older than me and bigger than me ever since I started playing hockey,” DuPont said. “I just think growing up with them, and playing with them, has really helped me develop as a player and as a person. So I really think that I’m ready to take that jump and enter the league early.”

He’s eligible to be selected in the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft, which is scheduled for Thursday, May 9. The Everett Silvertips hold the first overall pick, having acquired it from the Kamloops Blazers in a 2023 trade.

His father is Micki DuPont, who appeared in games with the Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues before finishing his career in Europe in 2019.

Landon DuPont becomes just the third defenseman in Canadian Hockey League history to be granted Exceptional Player Status by Hockey Canada. The other two were Aaron Ekblad of the Florida Panthers, the first overall pick in the 2014 NHL draft who joined the Barrie Colts in 2011; and Sean Day, who ended up as a third-round pick for the New York Rangers in 2016 and is currently playing for the AHL Syracuse Crunch, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s affiliate. Day joined the Mississauga Steelheads in 2013.

Overall, DuPont is just the…

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Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/39902009/landon-dupont-gets-ok-compete-whl-full-15

Author : Greg Wyshynski

Publish date : 2024-04-08 20:09:07

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