Landon DuPont is the toast of the freshmen class of the Canadian Hockey League.
DuPont, a projected favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2027 NHL Draft, was named the CHL’s Rookie of the Year on Friday.
The defenseman topped all rookie scorers in the Western Hockey League this season with 60 points (17 goals, 43 assists) in 64 games with Everett. He production placed him among the top five highest-scoring U17 defencemen in CHL history over the past 35 years.
DuPont, who turned 16 in May, became just the eighth defenceman in the 58-year history of the WHL to win the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as the league’s Rookie of the Year – and the first to do so since Seth Jones in 2012-13.
He is the WHL’s first rookie defenceman aged 16 or younger to hit the 50-point plateau since Scott Niedermayer recorded 69 points (14 goals, 55 assists) in 1989-90. DuPont was also the first U17 defenceman in the CHL to notch 60 points in a season since Ryan Ellis reached 63 points (15 goals, 48 assists) in 2007-08.
DuPont was granted exceptional status into the WHL by Hockey Canada last spring — the second-ever player from that league to receive exceptional status, joining Connor Bedard, and first defenseman ever to receive the honor.
He is the ninth player overall to receive the status, and first since 2025 NHL Draft eligible Michael Misa.