Vancouver’s Lin and DuPont of Everett are the first defencemen to have 50 points in a season at 16 or younger in the WHL since Niedermayer.
Upon further review, Vancouver Giants rookie defencemen Ryan Lin has a spot in the WHL record book.
The league made a scoring change Tuesday from Vancouver’s 3-1 win over the Prince George Cougars on Sunday, adding a Lin assist on Mazden Leslie’s empty-net goal.
That boosted Lin to 50 points — five goals, 45 assists in 57 games — and made him just the second defenceman age 16 or younger to record 50 points in a season in the league since Scott Niedermayer reached that mark in his rookie season with the Kamloops Blazers in 1989-90.
Lin follows Everett Silvertips rearguard Landon DuPont, who had 15 goals and 57 points in 59 games going into Everett’s meeting with the Spokane Chiefs on Wednesday night. DuPont is 15, and he is getting to play regularly a year earlier than players usually do because he was granted exceptional status by Hockey Canada.
David Musil’s 32 points in 2009-10 had been the Giants’ team mark for scoring by a 16-year-old rearguard. Jon Blum, who is Vancouver’s all-time leading scorer amongst defencemen, had 24 points as a rookie in 2005-06. Bowen Byram, who has been their highest-drafted blueliner, had 27 points as a freshman in 2017-18.
That gives you some idea at how good Lin has been so far this season. But that’s just part of his story. The league doesn’t publish ice times, but he is likely second to Leslie on the Giants this season. Lin is usually a first-pairing penalty killer, and is routinely on the ice in the waning moments trying to protect a one-goal lead.
He just thinks the game so well. He is in the right spot at the right time. He might be better defensively than he is offensively.
The 5-foot-11, 171-pound right shot from Richmond is eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft.
“The guy is 16 and he’s outperforming a lot — if not the majority — of defencemen in the Western Hockey League right now,” explained Vancouver centre Connor Levis, 20, who is wrapping up his fifth and final season in the circuit. “He’s awesome to have, with the way he breaks pucks out, with the way he defends. He’s physical. He’s a great guy in the locker room. It’s everything that scouts love to see in a player. I’m really excited what kind of career he has ahead of him. I know he’s going to have a good one.”
Vancouver (31-24-8-0) has five games remaining in the regular season. They currently sit sixth in the Western Conference standings, but could finish anywhere between fifth and seventh. The top eight teams make the postseason. The standings remain a jumbled mess, so there is still a variety of possible first-round match-ups.
The Giants have a three-in-three weekend coming up, with a visit Friday to the fourth-place Victoria Royals (36-16-3-7), a return match-up with the Royals on Saturday at the Langley Events Centre, and then a Sunday visit to the fifth-place Portland Winterhawks (34-25-3-1).
“I think our culture is really good. I think we’re excited to go into the playoffs,” Levis said. “Everybody wants to keep on playing. We don’t want the season to end. I think that’s the No. 1 thing that helps in playoffs — your desire to keep on playing. I think we have that and we’re going to keep on playing hard for each other.”
The Giants dealt for Levis at the trade deadline last season, bringing him over from the Kamloops Blazers. He was a part the Blazers’ 2023 Memorial Cup host team. He also has 36 WHL playoff games on his resume.
He is an important voice for a Vancouver team that has been getting massive contributions all season from the likes of rookies Lin and goalie Burke Hood, 17, and sophomore winger Cameron Schmidt, 18.
Vancouver general manager Barclay Parneta has said the key remains how the Giants are playing going into the playoffs, rather than who their first-round opponent is and how they match up. Levis echoed those thoughts.
“We can beat any team in this league if we’re playing hard, playing consistent and playing for each other,” Levis said. “We’re going to keep pushing and see how far we can keep going up the ranks (before the end of the regular season), but whatever happens happens. We’re going to do our best to meet that team (in the first round) and we’re going to be prepared.”
Levis has 23 goals and 52 points in 59 games this season with Vancouver. He has amassed 99 goals and 230 points in his 282 WHL regular season games so far.
Victoria defenceman Keaton Verhoeff could join DuPont and Lin as defencemen 16 or younger to putting up 50 points in a season. He is at 43 points, including 20 goals, in 57 games. Victoria has six games remaining.
Niedermayer had 14 goals and 69 points in 64 regular season games with the Blazers as a 16-year-old in 1989-90.