Landon DuPont is built for high-pressure moments
Earning exceptional status into the Canadian Hockey League brings a certain level of expectations that very few teenagers can handle.
But Landon DuPont can. The Everett Silvertips defender has been in the spotlight for years now, havin dominated the minor hockey ranks before making the jump to the WHL in 2024.
DuPont comes from a hockey family. His father, Micki, played a handful of games in the NHL. In his latter years, though, he became a stalwart with Canada’s Spengler Cup teams, which included winning the title in 2012 on a team full of NHL stars.
Even though he was young, Landon got to see what the spotlight was all about. And for a young prospect many expect to go first overall in 2027, being able to understand that and handle the pressure as he has should go a long way.
In a recent interview with Jeff Marek, DuPont talked about being a big figure in a hockey market as dedicated as Everett – a team looking to win the 2026 Memorial Cup.
“Everett’s nice because the fans love all the players and they’re so passionate,” DuPont said. “Sometimes you’ll be walking around at Target or whatever and you see some little kid ask for a picture, which is pretty cool because you remember being in that kid’s shoes one time.”
DuPont watched some high-end players skate alongside his father, with that hockey-mad enviroment helping shape him at a young.
“I just remember being with my dad’s teammates, just watching them on the ice and watching my dad play and then getting to go down in the dressing room after games,” DuPont said. “I’d see guys like Jason Spezza and (Sidney) Crosby, and I would just belike ‘Oh my god, can I get a picture?’
“In Canada, one of my first rinksides was a Pittsburgh-Montreal game,” DuPont added. “Going to the dressing room and seeing Sidney Crosby and seeing those… I don’t even know how to describe those legs. I was just like, ‘Oh my, am I the same species as Sidney Crosby?'”
These days, kids are asking the same thing about DuPont. The 17-year-old is coming off an 18-goal, 73-point sophomore campaign with Everett – no other 2027 draft defenseman was within 30 points of that in the WHL this past year.
It’s easy to forget how young DuPont is, given how long he’s been in the spotlight. The first real mentions about him came in 2022 when he was only 13 years old.
“It was a little weird, honestly,” DuPont said about seeing his name mentioned in draft boards at a young age. “You’re a young kid, and you’ve never really been in that situation before where people are talking about you and saying different things, some good, some bad. So I think just learning to block it out from a young age and just remember why you play hockey. I don’t play hockey for anyone else. I just do it for the fun, to be with the team and around my teammates.”
You can watch the full episode below: