Bounce000 Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 Looks like we're getting another treat to watch in the Dub, or maybe he'll be the next Sean Day As reported by Eric Francis, among others, it is expected that 14-year-old defenseman Landon Dupont will be granted early exceptional status in the Western Hockey League (WHL) and will be the second player to do so following in the footsteps of Connor Bedard. The Everett Silvertips hold the No. 1 overall selection at the upcoming WHL Draft held on May 9th where they will select DuPont first overall. DuPont racked up a whopping 19 goals and 43 assists for 62 points in 30 games for the U18 Edge this season, leading the team in points and goals with 19. He led the entire league in points by a defenseman. A Hockey Canada panel made the decision after watching, evaluating and interviewing the son of former Calgary Flames defenseman Micki DuPont, as well as talking to his coaches, teachers and a psychologist who assessed his ability to handle such a step. “The announcement has not been made on DuPont yet, but the belief is it will be given to him next week,”Sportsnets’ Elliotte Friedman reported on last Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada. Eight players in total have been granted exceptional player status in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), of which include Connor McDavid, John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, Shane Wright, Joe Veleno, Sean Day and Michael Misa. DuPont will not be eligible for the NHL Draft until 2027, the WHL’s next big star could be entering fans across the WHL as early as this fall. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Heffy Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 I'd really prefer if these kids played in Junior A for a year instead of going straight to the CHL. I don't like closing the NCAA route off for them a year early, and the results have certainly been mixed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
112 Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 Score not for DuPont! 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HKSR Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 Used to mean more when it was the likes of McDavid, Tavares and Ekblad... Recently it has been Shane Wright, Joe Veleno, Sean Day and Michael Misa... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 3 minutes ago, HKSR said: Used to mean more when it was the likes of McDavid, Tavares and Ekblad... Recently it has been Shane Wright, Joe Veleno, Sean Day and Michael Misa... Bedard? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HKSR Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 Just now, Ghostsof1915 said: Bedard? Yeah, just saying in general... 80% of the recent exceptional status guys have been "meh"... 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Korea Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 13 hours ago, HKSR said: Yeah, just saying in general... 80% of the recent exceptional status guys have been "meh"... I think it's because the CHL has lost a lot of appeal, to both foreigners but also Canadians themselves. It should be embarrassing for the CHL that the number 1 pick this year will be a Canadian who went to the USA to play junior hockey. There was a time where all the #1 NHL picks were coming out of Canada. Even guys like Patrick Kane and Nail Yakupov chose to play out of Canada. Now things have changed. No reason for an American to go play junior hockey up here anymore. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBatch Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 (edited) 7 hours ago, Miss Korea said: I think it's because the CHL has lost a lot of appeal, to both foreigners but also Canadians themselves. It should be embarrassing for the CHL that the number 1 pick this year will be a Canadian who went to the USA to play junior hockey. There was a time where all the #1 NHL picks were coming out of Canada. Even guys like Patrick Kane and Nail Yakupov chose to play out of Canada. Now things have changed. No reason for an American to go play junior hockey up here anymore. Sad but true. Grew up with the USSR/Red Army as the only thing that rivalled Canada. Those guys trained like animals. The US, will likely overtake Canada at some point. 1996 was an eye opener, those players help grow the sport, and well a lot of their kids are now in the league. Maybe if Hull played for Canada there would have been a different outcome. For decades Canadians dominated the first couple rounds in the draft. When the wall crumbled, and with expansion. the NHL had to seek elsewhere to keep things going. The US overtook Russia as Canada's big opponent, once it lost the extra pool from Czechia/Slovakia ... It's been uncomfortably close since Salt Lake on the big stage. The guys in 1996 were inspired from "the Miracle". The US, like usual with their athletes, has done an incredible job. Hockey Canada needs more than scrubbing the rapey vibe. They need to go down and make sure that the CHL provides the same things the National Development Program does and more. Separate topic but related because grassroots is where these things start (at least we've got rinks all over the place, and a rink for 3-6 months a year outside in most places too), I for one, am actually going to look forward to the NHL's version of the old Canada Cup, now that they've listened to reason and made it only about countries. Would you bet on Canada? Goaltending used to be a huge strength. Our best looks like the 5th or 6th stringer circa 1970-2010. Edited April 6 by IBatch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBatch Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 21 hours ago, HKSR said: Yeah, just saying in general... 80% of the recent exceptional status guys have been "meh"... Exceptional status meant "first overall pick incoming". As in a kid that was able to play with guys much older. It's only a year too. It's not like Gretzky playing against kids twice his size and a few years older going back to age 5 or something. Gretzky could have played in the NHL at 15. It seemed like when they announced the "Tavares" rule, that it made some sense. Sure hope this guy, can live up to the hype. One advantage the CHL has is they play a lot of games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Arrogant Worms Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 https://www.sportsnet.ca/juniors/article/landon-dupont-granted-exceptional-status-to-play-in-whl-as-a-15-year-old/ DuPont becomes the first defenceman and second player in league history to receive exceptional player status. The first was Chicago Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard (2020). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Korea Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 On 4/6/2024 at 6:14 AM, IBatch said: Sad but true. Grew up with the USSR/Red Army as the only thing that rivalled Canada. Those guys trained like animals. The US, will likely overtake Canada at some point. 1996 was an eye opener, those players help grow the sport, and well a lot of their kids are now in the league. Maybe if Hull played for Canada there would have been a different outcome. For decades Canadians dominated the first couple rounds in the draft. When the wall crumbled, and with expansion. the NHL had to seek elsewhere to keep things going. The US overtook Russia as Canada's big opponent, once it lost the extra pool from Czechia/Slovakia ... It's been uncomfortably close since Salt Lake on the big stage. The guys in 1996 were inspired from "the Miracle". The US, like usual with their athletes, has done an incredible job. Hockey Canada needs more than scrubbing the rapey vibe. They need to go down and make sure that the CHL provides the same things the National Development Program does and more. Separate topic but related because grassroots is where these things start (at least we've got rinks all over the place, and a rink for 3-6 months a year outside in most places too), I for one, am actually going to look forward to the NHL's version of the old Canada Cup, now that they've listened to reason and made it only about countries. Would you bet on Canada? Goaltending used to be a huge strength. Our best looks like the 5th or 6th stringer circa 1970-2010. The easiest (and probably worst) solution to Canada's goaltending problems would be to send our best prospects south and put them through the NCAA system. You can include the defencemen as well. College hockey has been praised (and criticized) for its heavy emphasis on defence and goaltending. It tracks well because it indeed takes much longer for those positions to develop into NHL readiness. A lottery pick forward has a good shot at cracking the NHL roster in year one. Defencemen and goalies need more time, and the NCAA is so much better for that. So just send 'em down. Screw Hockey Canada. The BCHL has already abandoned ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatchesMalone Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 On 4/5/2024 at 9:57 AM, HKSR said: Yeah, just saying in general... 80% of the recent exceptional status guys have been "meh"... Which ones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HKSR Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 3 minutes ago, MatchesMalone said: Which ones? Shane Wright, Joe Veleno, Sean Day and Michael Misa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatchesMalone Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 16 minutes ago, HKSR said: Shane Wright, Joe Veleno, Sean Day and Michael Misa You don't like Wright or Misa? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HKSR Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 24 minutes ago, MatchesMalone said: You don't like Wright or Misa? Not enough to be excited about "exceptional status" for them. Will they be good players? Probably... but I'd be surprised to see them have careers like Tavares, Ekblad, or that guy in Edmonton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatchesMalone Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 (edited) 1 hour ago, HKSR said: Not enough to be excited about "exceptional status" for them. Will they be good players? Probably... but I'd be surprised to see them have careers like Tavares, Ekblad, or that guy in Edmonton. Interesting. A couple of things to keep in mind here: The quality of the CHL has been declining for a while now relative to other developmental models especially QMJHL, for as Miss Korea has been discussing. I also recall that for a few years after Ekblad got exceptional status there were a lot of questions marks around whether he would live up to it. Also of note: for Day, Ekblad and Wright, their physical maturity was a major reason for their exceptional status. Remember, exceptional status was never intended to mean: next generational NHL superstar. Only that the player is exceptional to play major junior hockey at 15. Sean Day was over 200 lbs at the time. He was a husky kid; NHL scouts were worried about his athleticism and conditioning from the start. Ekblad was 6'2 and 190+ Wright was a sturdy 185 by his OHL draft. You can see how with each guy there's a tradeoff between skill and size. Guys like Bedard, Misa, McKenna were deemed exceptional purely based on skill, whether you agree with it or not. Veleno was a bit of a puzzler, but the Q is a significantly weaker league than the Dub or the O, so exceptional there means something different than it did when Crosby was denied it in 2002. Felt almost like the Q was just trying to get in on the action. Might be something they and the other CHL leagues will consider to try sway top players away from the NCAA route. Edited April 9 by MatchesMalone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HKSR Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 17 minutes ago, MatchesMalone said: Interesting. A couple of things to keep in mind here: The quality of the CHL has been declining for a while now relative to other developmental models especially QMJHL, for as Miss Korea has been discussing. I also recall that for a few years after Ekblad got exceptional status there were a lot of questions marks around whether he would live up to it. Also of note: for Day, Ekblad and Wright, their physical maturity was a major reason for their exceptional status. Remember, exceptional status was never intended to mean: next generational NHL superstar. Only that the player is exceptional to play major junior hockey at 15. Sean Day was over 200 lbs at the time. He was a husky kid; NHL scouts were worried about his athleticism and conditioning from the start. Ekblad was 6'2 and 190+ Wright was a sturdy 185 by his OHL draft. You can see how with each guy there's a tradeoff between skill and size. Guys like Bedard, Misa, McKenna were deemed exceptional purely based on skill, whether you agree with it or not. Veleno was a bit of a puzzler, but the Q is a significantly weaker league than the Dub or the O, so exceptional there means something different than it did when Crosby was denied it in 2002. Felt almost like the Q was just trying to get in on the action. Might be something they and the other CHL leagues will consider to try sway top players away from the NCAA route. Yeah, so all in all, exceptional status doesn't excite me anymore. Majority of the guys that gain that status don't amount to the expectations placed on them based on history by guys like Tavares and McDavid. Bedard is likely the 1st in awhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabychStache Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 Wasn’t Gavin McKenna granted exceptional status too? He’s the real deal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatchesMalone Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 2 hours ago, HKSR said: Yeah, so all in all, exceptional status doesn't excite me anymore. Majority of the guys that gain that status don't amount to the expectations placed on them based on history by guys like Tavares and McDavid. Bedard is likely the 1st in awhile. Well that's fine and dandy. I've been saying Hagens over Misa for years. Still think Misa will go top five and be a hell of an NHL player. McKenna and DuPont look legit to me. Not saying generational or anything like that (though McKenna is in the ballpark), but they both look like candidates for first overall in their respective drafts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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