2025 NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Caleb Desnoyers

Upside Hockey's NHL Draft profile series: Aces Edition, Vol. 13

Upside Hockey’s prolific prospect profiler Trevor Curtis’s 2025 NHL draft eligible prospect profiles are all featured on our dedicated page for this with all featured prospects indexed in our table of contents alphabetically by last name. For the 2024 NHL Draft, for example, we had well over 200 prospect profiles completed. We’re now up to 185 for this draft class!

Draft Thoughts (Aces Edition, Vol. 13):

LHC Caleb Desnoyers (6'2", 172lbs)

Moncton (QMJHL): 56gp/ 35g/ 49a/ 84pts, +51, 39 PIM

Photo Credit: LHJMQ

The Moncton Wildcats were the best team in the Q this season, and went 16-3 in the playoffs en route to winning the Championship, and are currently competing in the Memorial Cup. Their best player, C Caleb Desnoyers (ranked # 7 NA Skaters, # 6 by McKenzie, # 7 by Button) led the team in regular-season scoring by an incredible 17 points, amassing 84 points in 56 games- in an era when scoring is down in the QMJHL. Those numbers were good enough for 5th-overall in league scoring, and 2nd in points-per-game (1.50), while his +51 was 3rd in the Q.

He has put forth an incredible playoff performance, leading the Wildcats in post-season scoring by 8, and placing 2nd-overall in league playoff scoring (first in points-per-game), with 30 points (9 goals) in just 19 games. After the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, he won back-to-back gold medals at the U-18 Championship, and the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, with identical stats- posting 1 goal and 5 points in 5 games, at both events.

Desnoyers might be the most complete player in the draft, with a well-rounded skillset, a reliable 200-foot game, and the ability to contribute in any situation.

Desnoyers entire game is driven by his high-end vision, awareness, hockey sense, and anticipation, with a nod to his elevated motor and compete. A playmaker first and foremost, he sees the ice exceptionally well, and processes at lightning-speed, to make sound decisions and problem-solve on the fly. He is blessed with soft-touch passing-skill, and owns a modicum of creativity that allows him to manufacture space for himself and his teammates, and to open up seams to make plays.

He can spot targets through traffic as if he had x-ray vision, and can anticipate the play before it comes to fruition, as though he had ESP. Desnoyers can connect on feeds through the smallest holes in traffic, serve-up dynamic passes across the ice, and distributes with the perfect weight and velocity to the recipient's tape- providing his comrades with a high number of grade "A" chances every game.

He finds receivers in high-danger consistently, and can make plays in tight spaces with patience and poise under pressure; with his top-shelf spatial awareness, he locates lanes that few others could spot, and uses give-and-go sequences heavily.

Desnoyers' goal-scoring and finishing skills are underrated, and his 35 goals in 56 games would attest to that. His shot is hard and heavy, with a quick and deceptive release to fool goalies, and he exerts the precision to bulge twine from difficult angles, as well as the power to score from a distance.

With a strong net-front presence, and a willingness to get his nose dirty, he plants himself in front of the goalie to to battle for position, draw attention from defenders, cause havoc, set up a screen, and cash-in on second-chance opportunities. He's a persistent threat from the slot, gets to the middle a ton, and drives the net with the puck.

Desnoyers' puck-skills are above-average, and he uses his well-developed deception abilities to manipulate opponents. With slick one-on-one stickhandling, along with various feints, fakes, and look-offs to facilitate, he can deke and dangle around in tight spaces, and he also protects well in traffic to power his way around, and bulldoze a path through checks. He catches and handles smoothly while in-flight, with tight control, and solid puck-management.

Desnoyers moves around the ice very well, and can even separate from opponents in open-ice at top-speed, but he's not quite an elite speedster, and his mechanics aren't 100% perfect. As he gets stronger and fills out, he will add more explosiveness to his stride, and will further upgrade his top-speed. He accelerates quite quickly, and is agile and evasive on his edges, for excellent maneuverability in tight-checking scenarios.

With a power-forward profile, he uses his frame well as leverage to power his way through traffic, win battles along the boards, and cut to the inside. He will throw hits to separate man from puck, but never takes himself out of the play to do so.

Desnoyers is a leader and a winner, who provides a positive example for his teammates with his sky-high compete, his relentless motor, and his never-say-die attitude. He's a big game player, shows up at important times, and never cheats the game- and he shines in high-pressure situations.

I've always said that Desnoyers reminds me a bit of Patrice Bergeron stylistically, mostly because of his uncompromising and detailed defensive game- and I've now read that comparison from a few other writers. As in the offensive zone, he reads the play exceptionally well on the backcheck, and works to break-up plays proactively- from the breakout to the cycle. With high-end defensive awareness, he takes away the middle from attacks, supports his defensemen in guarding the net, battles for pucks down-low, and intercepts passes.

Desnoyers skates into hands, throws hits to secure possession, and upon recovery- he makes smart plays to get the puck moving in the opposite direction as quickly and efficiently as possible. He is an excellent penalty-killer, and contributes to many exits and zone-clears in man-down situations. As stated, he doesn't cheat the game, exhibits strong habits, displays a keen attention to detail, and shows elevated intensity and engagement; he is often the first forward back to the defensive zone, and the last to leave.

In addition, he is also a faceoff specialist, and finished with a 63.7% on the dot. Going forward, Desnoyers will need a small tweak to his skating, and will need to fill out and get considerably stronger to be able to handle opponents at the next level.

His defensive conscience has never come into question, but there are some who are seriously underrating his offensive capabilities. This kid is a top-line C in the making, and I can easily see him being picked in the top-5 of this summer's draft.

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See where Desnoyers landed in our most recent mock draft: