The Memorial Cup is set to begin on Friday night in Kelowna. Only one Chicago Blackhawks prospect, Jack Pridham, is participating as a member of the OHL Champion Kitchener Rangers. He is not the only player in the tournament that must be watched by the Blackhawks organization. It is also important for them to keep an eye on Landon DuPont, a defenseman for the Everett Silvertips. Everett is the WHL champion. DuPont is expected to be a top pick, perhaps number one, in the 2027 NHL Draft. Over the 2025-26 season with Everett, his second in the WHL, DuPont had 18 goals and 55 assists for 73 points in 63 games played. That is extremely high-end production for a 16-year-old in Canadian major junior. DuPont was allowed to play in the CHL as an underage player because he was the 9th player in history to be granted “exceptional status”. In 2024-25, he proved he belonged by having 17 goals and 43 assists for 60 points in 64 games played as a rookie. The WHL named him their “Rookie of the Year” for his efforts. He took his game to another level when the playoffs began this year, which wasn’t any different from his first playoff run as a 15-year-old rookie. En route to the Memorial Cup, DuPont had 5 goals and 18 assists for 23 points in 18 playoff games. Although the Blackhawks had an 11-point improvement in 2025-26, they still came in 31st place. It would be massively ignorant for them just to assume they will take a major step in 2026-26, because the whole league is getting better. This could be the year they leap, but it could also be another year that ends poorly if things don’t go their way. That would put them right back in the lottery mix again next spring, which is where knowledge about DuPont would help them. Everett will play three games as part of the Round Robin. The first will be against Chicoutimi on Saturday. Then, DuPont will face Pridham’s Rangers on Monday. They will close with the Kelowna Rockets on Wednesday. All of these Memorial Cup games can be viewed on NHL Network. Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/4e4e9f5b-62f6-45c3-80db-adc839fcf95e.jpeg] Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/] team site to stay up to date on the latest news [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/latest-newshttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/latest-news], game-day [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/game-dayhttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/game-day] coverage, player features [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/playershttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/players], and more. For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting on the article below on THN.com or by creating your own post in our community forum.
