Mammoth select Caleb Desnoyers No. 4 overall in 2025 NHL Draft
The Utah Mammoth selected center Caleb Desnoyers of the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats with the fourth overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft Friday night at The Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
Desnoyers, 18, just completed a memorable season in which he loaded up on accolades. He dominated the QMJHL with 35 goals and 84 points in 56 games during the regular season and levelled up even more in the postseason with nine goals and 30 points in 19 games. He led the ‘Q’ in playoff assists, helped Moncton win the league title and earned playoff MVP honors. Desnoyers also took home the Paul Dumont Trophy for QMJHL personality of the year.
He’s known as a passionate, charismatic leader, beloved by teammates and coaches everywhere he’s played in his career to date. Case in point: he accomplished everything he did this past season while playing through multiple wrist injuries. It’s no wonder he’s already been named captain of the Wildcats for 2025-26.
Desnoyers brings far more than just elite intangibles, of course. He’s a dynamic all-around player known to have excellent hockey IQ and strong playmaking skills. He’s an unpredictable, clever puckhandler who deceives defenders and is a major asset on the power play. His skills translate to winning: he’s played on gold-medallist Canada teams at the Under-17 and Under-18 World Championship, and he’s won the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup. At 6-foot-2 and 172 pounds, he has a projectable enough frame that his tools should translate well to the pros, though he has some filling out to do.
Given he’s still major junior eligible and is already part of Moncton’s plans for next season, it’s likely he plays another year in the ‘Q,’ but once Desnoyers gets his shot at the NHL, his two-way intelligence should help him push for a roster spot in relatively short order.
“Desnoyers is a safe bet to become a two-way, top-six forward,” Daily Faceoff prospect analyst Steven Ellis said. “I like his physical play, mostly because he doesn’t let anyone push him around. I think he’s a great playmaker and he’s one of the smarter centers in this draft. Desnoyers might not be the flashiest, but at the very least, he does so many intelligent things with the puck every night. Desnoyers is a guy you can win with, having done so at various international tournaments and in the 2025 QMJHL final. That ability to stay calm and collected under pressure – and still perform to a high level – matters to NHL teams.”
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