Which draft lottery contenders need Landon DuPont the most?
For the unlucky teams already stuck at the bottom of the NHL standings less than a month into the 2026-27 season, it’s never too early to start dreaming about Landon DuPont.
The 17-year-old defenseman is off to a great start in his freshman year at the University of Michigan, with six points in his first five games. He’s expected to play a starring role with Team Canada at the 2027 World Juniors before returning to help the Wolverines chase a National Championship.
NHL teams have been tracking DuPont since his days at the Calgary Edge School, long before he was granted exceptional status to join the WHL’s Everett Silvertips at age 15. The six-foot right-shot defender has passed every test thrown his way so far, and whichever team ends up getting him will be over the moon about it.
But which team needs him the most? To find out, we’ve introduced an innovative new system called DuPoints. The more your team ends up with, the more they need Landon! These DuPoints are broken up into three relatively self-explanatory categories — Positional Need, Lottery Misfortune, and Desperation Factor — and at the end, we’ll tally them all up to generate scores out of 15 for each of the NHL’s top draft lottery contenders.
Let’s kick things off with the team that is currently riding the NHL’s longest active losing streak.
Vancouver Canucks
Positional Need: 2/5. Even considering Zeev Buium’s struggles in the early stages of the new season, Vancouver still has a pretty solid stable of young defenders. DuPont would have his work cut out for him to supplant Filip Hronek and Tom Willander on the right side of the Canucks’ blue line, and with Elias Pettersson, Sawyer Mynio, and Kirill Kudryavtsev also on the depth chart, it’s fair to say defense is already a position of strength — notwithstanding that DuPont would certainly improve it a great deal.
Lottery Misfortune: 5/5. As their fans will readily tell you, the Canucks have never won the draft lottery. Despite finishing the 2025-26 season as the NHL’s worst team by far, Vancouver ultimately fell to No. 3 in the 2026 NHL Draft. To say they’re overdue would be an understatement.
Desperation Factor: 3/5. The Canucks are in a bit of a weird spot. They just traded Quinn Hughes, and it might not be long before they do the same with the other Elias Pettersson (provided that his strong start to the 2026-27 season isn’t a mirage). They’re pretty young, but they’re also only just starting the rebuilding process, meaning they still have the likes of Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser to sell for additional value. It’s hard to know who will be part of the solution in Vancouver, but with brand-new faces in the GM and head coach positions, there’s no rush to get everything sorted right away, so long as things keep moving in the right direction.
Total DuPoints: 10. Remember, our rubric generates scores out of 15, so this isn’t actually that high of a rating. The Canucks could certainly use DuPont, but they’d probably be just fine with a few other guys near the top of Steven Ellis’ final draft rankings.
Chicago Blackhawks
Positional Need: 4/5. The following things are all true: Chicago drafted Artyom Levshunov with the No. 2 pick in 2024, they traded an enormous package to acquire Bowen Byram from the Buffalo Sabres this past summer, and they have a pair of solid shutdown options in Alex Vlasic and Wyatt Kaiser. At the same time, these Blackhawks could really use a true game-breaker like DuPont, especially considering the, ahem, volatility we’ve seen from Byram and Levshunov in Chicago thus far.
Lottery Misfortune: 0/5. C’mon now. (In fairness, if the San Jose Sharks were listed here, their score in this category would be a negative number).
Desperation Factor: 5/5. If the Blackhawks weren’t already antsy about Connor Bedard’s willingness to stay long-term, they’re probably feeling atmospheres of pressure after yet another miserable start. General manager Kyle Davidson has been on the job since 2021, and it’s starting to feel like it might be 2031 before the team he’s assembled is actually competitive. Just remember, he isn’t even four months removed from trading a top-five pick for Byram and signing him at a $12.5 million AAV.
Total DuPoints: 9. Davidson’s seat is scorching hot, but how many high draft picks do the Blackhawks get before it’s time to cut them off?
Los Angeles Kings
Positional Need: 3/5. Brandt Clarke already does a lot of the things that DuPont is expected to do in the NHL, and Mikey Anderson is a very good shutdown lefty. Beyond those two, though, the Kings have an extremely old and creaky defensive group that could desperately use some fresh blood, especially as Drew Doughty enters the final year of his contract.
Lottery Misfortune: 2/5. In 2019, the Kings fell all the way from second (Kaapo Kakko) to fifth (Alex Turcotte), but it evened out the following year as they moved up from fourth to second and selected Quinton Byfield. Unfortunately, Byfield hasn’t exactly lived up to his draft billing, but that’s another topic altogether …
Desperation Factor: 2/5. The Kings are just eight months removed from trading for Artemi Panarin; the only thing they’re desperate to do is make the playoffs. They certainly didn’t bring in Ken Holland and Peter Laviolette to win draft lotteries. Their big July 1 signings were 38-year-old Mats Zuccarello, 34-year-old Erik Gustafsson, 35-year-old Erik Haula, 32-year-old Scott Laughton, and 41-year-old Corey Perry. Kings fans should be desperate for their team to abandon any remaining pretense about them being contenders, but that just doesn’t seem to be on the menu in L.A. … yet. If they keep losing as much as they have, that’ll change.
Total DuPoints: 7. We’re all just waiting to see how the Kings double down on this roster before they inevitably throw in the towel.
Calgary Flames
Positional Need: 1/5. The Flames genuinely might be the last team that needs another elite puck-moving defense prospect, especially one who shoots right. This team could use a game-breaking forward prospect in the worst way, and while they wouldn’t say no to DuPont, they’d also likely be just fine running with Zayne Parekh, Simon Nemec, Carson Carels, Kevin Bahl, and Hunter Brzustewicz as the future of their blue line. If the Flames got DuPont, they’d probably try to flip at least one member of that group for a similar player at another position.
Lottery Misfortune: 5/5. Like the Canucks, the Flames have never won a draft lottery … but at least Vancouver got the Sedins with the No. 2 and 3 picks in 1999. Conversely, the Flames haven’t gotten to make a single top-three draft choice since they arrived in Calgary in 1980. Their highest pick to date is, uh, Sam Bennett, whom they snagged with the fourth pick in 2014. Beyond him? It’s a six-way tie for the at No. 6 spot between Carels, Matthew Tkachuk, Sean Monahan, Cory Stillman, Rico Fata, and Daniel Tkaczuk.
Desperation Factor: 3/5. The Flames aren’t necessarily desperate for any specific prospect — they just need anyone (whether that’s DuPont, Dima Zhilkin, Sergei Skvortsov, or anyone else) who can help advance their rebuild in a meaningful way as they move into Scotia Place for the 2027-28 season. Craig Conroy’s job is safe, but the Flames aren’t going to want to stay bad for long in their new arena.
Total DuPoints: 9. DuPont is a Calgary kid who would instantly become a fan favorite there. At the same time, it’d be tough for the Flames to go wrong with anyone at the top of the 2027 draft. They’re not in much of a position to be choosy.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Positional Need: 1/5 … for now. The Blue Jackets’ defensive group is headlined by reigning Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski, whose ultimate destination is anyone’s guess after a summer of trade rumors and vehement denials. If Werenski does end up being traded, Columbus will definitely need a new star on the blue line, but for now, they also have veterans Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson, as well as young upstarts Denton Mateychuk and Jackson Smith.
Lottery Misfortune: 3/5. Columbus has one draft lottery win in its history, having moved up from fourth to third in 2016; however, it didn’t make much of a difference in the end, as they probably still would’ve taken Pierre-Luc Dubois at their original spot. Since then, the Blue Jackets have only ever moved down in the lottery, most notably in 2023, when they fell from second (Leo Carlsson) to third (Adam Fantilli).
Desperation Factor: 5/5. Is it unfair to say things are starting to feel a little existential around these Blue Jackets? They have the second-worst average attendance in the league, they’ve won exactly one playoff series in a quarter of a century, and it really seems like they’re turning into a feeder team for the rest of the league. Columbus needs a boost like DuPont in the worst way.
Total DuPoints: 9. But be prepared for that figure to jump into the teens if and when Werenski moves on.
Philadelphia Flyers
Positional Need: 5/5. No other team on this list needs their No. 1 D of the future quite like the Flyers do. They whiffed on Buium in 2024, inexplicably trading down a single spot to take Jett Luchanko instead; the following year, they went with Jack Nesbitt at No. 12 despite both Kashawn Aitcheson and Jackson Smith still being available. Oliver Bonk has shown real promise in a small sample of NHL games this year, but the Flyers still need more, especially with Jamie Drysdale seemingly plateauing and Travis Sanheim entering his 30s. Cam York and DuPont would likely make a wonderful pairing.
Lottery History: 4/5. The Flyers did win the lottery relatively recently, moving up a whopping 12 spots in 2017 … to select Nolan Patrick second overall. Keep in mind that a decade earlier, the Flyers were bumped down from the top pick despite finishing last in 2006-07, losing out on Patrick Kane in the process. Of course, three years later, Kane scored the winning goal in overtime against the Flyers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. There’s just something about those Patricks.
Desperation Factor: 3/5. Things have quieted down a little in Philly now that they’ve rattled off three straight wins, and it’s easy to forget that they’re coming off a season in which they won a playoff round. At the same time, the Flyers haven’t exactly been a model franchise over the past decade, and their fans would love to see them finally break out of the mushy middle.
Total DuPoints: 12. After decades of watching Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jaromir Jagr, and Mario Lemieux play five hours away, it’d be neat to see the other Pennsylvania team get a superstar prospect for a change.
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