Landon DuPont is getting closer and closer to throwing on Michigan's jersey for the first time in a real game, and with that come expectations. What should fans expect from the young phenom, and what would a great season look like next spring?
Landon DuPont is stepping onto Michigan’s campus as one of the most hyped freshmen in college hockey history, and with that comes a mountain of expectations.
Along with being the projected first-overall pick, DuPont is reportedly being paid a lot of money to be a Wolverine, so his performance doesn’t just highlight his draft stock; it’s needed for the program to win the national championship for the first time since 1998.
As with Gavin McKenna last season, scouts and fans will watch him like a hawk, looking for every little flaw, and if he doesn’t get off to a hot start, many will be ready to criticize and question his game.
But with such high expectations, what does a successful season look like for DuPont in his first and likely final NCAA season?
There are multiple ways to measure this; you can look at point totals, team success, and his draft stock.
Even if somehow DuPont doesn’t go first overall, it doesn’t mean he had a bad season; it could just mean the player ahead of him excels so much that it can be justified to take that specific player over DuPont. In terms of his draft stock, if he still looks like a first-overall calibre player, similar to Ivar Stenberg, who went second overall to the San Jose Sharks, it would be hard to call that a failure.
If Michigan fails to make the national tournament, and DuPont is a key piece on that team, you can argue that, with the roster they have and the value he brings to a team single-handedly, you could call that an underwhelming season, but it’s hard to base one player's season on team success; it can be a factor.
His point total is something that the fans will most likely stare at to figure out how successful he’s been in college. Although points aren’t everything, when you put up 73 points in 63 games in the WHL, point production should be expected. The best way to look at his potential point totals is to look at some of the other elite defensemen who play in college hockey and start to guess what he could do, relative to what those players did.
Three players come to mind for this: Zeev Buium, who was at Denver; Lane Hutson, at Boston University; and Luke Hughes, who was also at Michigan.
Buium was insanely impressive en route to Denver’s national championship run, where, in 42 games, he had a staggering 50 points.
Hutson’s freshman season was very similar; in 39 games, he had 48 points.
For Hughes, he was at Michigan his freshman year, but Wolverines head coach Brandon Naurato wasn’t there until his sophomore season. But in his first year under Mel Pearson, he had 41 points in 39 games.
Even with those high point totals from the others, it’s harder to compare due to the level of scoring from when those players were in college to now, arguably the hardest era in college hockey. Hughes’ season had the most comparable nationwide scoring to today, so I think a point total you can expect DuPont to hover around, barring injury, is 35 on the low end to 50 on the high end. Given the talent at Michigan and the opportunity many expect DuPont to have, it wouldn’t be very surprising if he found a way to surpass that 50 mark.
Even if he doesn’t have crazy numbers, DuPont brings a level of effort and intensity every single shift, which is something you don’t see on a box score. His freshman year will be watched by many, and all you’ve got to do as fans is grab your popcorn and enjoy the show.
