Caleb Desnoyers has huge potential as a top-end player for the 2025 draft
Caleb Desnoyers, a projected top-10 selection in the 2025 NHL Draft, has largely been considered the top player in this class from the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.
The St-Hyacinthe, Quebec native, who stands at 6-foot-2 and weighs 172 pounds has scored at a torrid rate of 84 points (35 goals, 49 assists) in 56 regular-season games with Moncton — the highest point-per-game mark among draft-eligible forwards from the circuit at 1.50. He’s added eight points (two goals, six assists) through four post-season skates, too.
It’s an impressive clip from Desnoyers, who is no. 5 in FCHockey’s Midterm ranking for the 2025 draft.
Quality production is nothing new, either. Last season, his rookie spin, Desnoyers produced a strong 56 points (20 goals, 36 assists) in 60 regular-season games and added two points (one goal, one assist) in four playoff games.
What has led to the success and wide recognition that has made Desnoyers a projected top-5 pick on our board? What skills does he bring to the ice that has led to his production? Finally, what role is he projected to have if and when he makes it to the NHL?
We explore.
Desnoyers’ skating
Desnoyers is a strong skater with excellent straight-line speed and edgework. His skating ability makes him a reliable puck-moving presence for Moncton. That, paired with his big frame, is something many teams would covet, which helps boost his draft stock. His skating stands out most on the forecheck and in transition. He can create chances by applying pressure quickly, forcing opponents into mistakes.
Additionally, he generates offensive chances off the rush with his edges and speed. Because defenders must respect his speed, he manipulates the space they unintentionally give him—slowing or stopping after crossing the blue line to set up a teammate entering the zone with speed. He can also create chances on his own by using that space to shoot or drive the middle for rebound opportunities.
The one noticeable downside was that he didn’t always keep his feet moving. That’s not necessarily a major flaw, but there were moments when he failed to utilize his strong skating and instead floated.
Offensive zone impacts
When it comes to the offensive zone, Desnoyers very clearly makes his presence felt. If his production over the last two seasons with Moncton was not evidence enough, watching him play makes it obvious. First, his game away from the puck stands out. His forechecking, as mentioned, is a strength. He forced a lot of turnovers to extend offensive possessions and generate opportunities for his team.
As for his positioning without the puck, there was clear improvement as the season progressed. Early in the year, his off-puck play was inconsistent — he didn’t always put himself in good spots for teammates to find him. But as the season went on, he became more consistent, often finding the right areas with strong anticipation and timing to open up in dangerous spots. It’s still not fully refined, but it’s much improved from the beginning of the season.
Desnoyers’ impact with the puck
When he has the puck, he does most of his damage off the rush. His unpredictable play in transition often puts opposing defenders in tough spots. However, his decision-making as both a passer and shooter can be inconsistent.
As a passer, he either forces risky attempts into dangerous areas — which frequently fail to connect — or defaults to perimeter passes. There’s little middle ground.
As a shooter, he sometimes passes up high-quality chances for an easy shot, or conversely fires low-percentage attempts that are easily stopped. His raw skill remains evident — particularly his vision — and as Moncton’s primary option, he enjoys more puck touches and leeway for mistakes. Still, he’ll need greater consistency in his offensive game going forward.
High volume, high-danger playmaking
In three randomly tracked games, Desnoyers’ passing showed the need for more consistency. At even strength in those games, he attempted 49 offensive-zone passes and completed 30 (61.2% completion rate). Of those 49 attempts, 20 were deemed high-danger — defined as cross-ice or centering/slot passes — accounting for 40.8% of his total attempts. He completed four of those 20, a 20% completion rate.
He generated five shot assists — the primary pass leading to a shot on goal — and three scoring chances off his passes. He turned the puck over 11 times, including seven intercepted passes. His previously mentioned forechecking led to him forcing seven turnovers in the offensive zone.
On the power play, he attempted 28 offensive-zone passes, completing 26 (92.9% rate). Of those 28 attempts, five were considered high-danger. He completed all five while generating two shot assists and one scoring chance. One of his passes was intercepted, resulting in his lone offensive-zone giveaway, and he failed to force any turnovers himself.
Low volume shooting results in higher efficiency for Desnoyers
When it comes to shooting at even strength, Desnoyers attempted nine shots with all nine hitting the net. Of those, six were considered dangerous by type (deflections, off the rush or one-timers) and five were dangerous by location (home-plate/slot shots). While clearly more of a pass-first player, Desnoyers got his fair share of touches in dangerous areas. However, he should have had several more opportunities, including multiple high-danger scoring chances or even goals. He passed up several high-quality shooting chances to make an extra pass. While efficient as a shooter statistically, he often overthought plays and made unnecessary passes.
On the power play, Desnoyers took three shots with only one hitting the net. He generated one dangerous shot by type and two by location. His lone shot on goal during these minutes came from the slot area but didn’t beat the goalie. Once again, he showed limited willingness to shoot. Much of this stemmed from the power play’s focus on set plays rather than rush chances, with emphasis on puck movement to create high-quality looks. Playing the half-wall position, Desnoyers typically kept plays simple while quarterbacking the power play as a facilitator. Adding more volume and variety to his shot could diversify his game and make him more difficult to defend.
Desnoyers’ offensive game summarized
Overall, he remains a raw but talented player. His improved play away from the puck has unlocked new dimensions in his game, though he needs greater consistency as both a passer and shooter. Developing his shot should be the priority – while he generates dangerous rush chances, his lack of shooting power diminishes their effectiveness. As he strengthens this element, he must also learn to shoot more frequently.
His transitional game remains his greatest strength, and if he can translate that ability to the next level, he will make a living through that. Teams constantly seek players who can impact games as neutral-zone puck movers. Combined with his raw skills and potential to develop into a more efficient, multi-faceted attacker, these qualities could prompt teams to select him early in the draft – particularly given his size and skating ability.
Desnoyers in transition
As mentioned already, Desnoyers is a dominant transitional presence. Between his strong skating and raw skill, he’s able to find a lot of success in this area. It also helps that he gets a ton of touches due to being the guy in Moncton. Even more important, Desnoyers has generally strong positioning in the defensive end, which allows him to make an impact in the neutral zone.
However, like with his offensive game, he did force quite a lot as well. While he was very involved and generated a lot of success, he also generated plenty of turnovers in the neutral zone as well. Part of the issue, to a degree, is that he always looks to do the work himself. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. But there are moments where he should have passed the puck to a teammate instead but elected to hang on. If he can further develop his raw stickhandling skill and smooth out his attacking style, he can be a fantastic transitional player at the next level.
Desnoyers entering the offensive zone
When it comes to entering the offensive zone, Desnoyers was involved directly on 36 of the 96 total entry attempts his team had while he was on the ice at even-strength. That’s a 37.5% involvement rate. Of his 36 attempts, he generated a controlled entry on 19 of them (52.8% success rate). Meanwhile, he failed on 11 of them (30.6% fail rate), turning the puck over in the neutral zone. He made up 47.5% of the team’s total controlled entries and 45.8% of his team’s failed entries.
On the man advantage, he was directly involved in four entry attempts out of the 12 total entry attempts the team had with him on the ice. That’s a 33.3% involvement rate. Of his four entry attempts, he generated a controlled entry on two of them, while failing on the other two. The smaller involvement on the man advantage is likely due to his role. He plays the point and half-wall area.
Exiting the defensive zone
As for exiting the defensive zone, he was directly involved in 16 of his team’s 67 zone exit attempts (23.9% involvement). Of his 16 attempts, he generated 11 controlled exits (68.8% success rate). Meanwhile chipping the puck out for an uncontrolled exit on another three of them. He hardly struggled with failing to exit the zone. He recorded only two exit fails in total, which made up just 11.8% of the team’s total fails.
While shorthanded, he was involved on one of the two total exit attempts his team had while on the ice. His lone exit was a controlled one, the only controlled exit the team generated in those minutes. While his positioning in his own end is solid and allows for him to generate a lot of touches in the transitional game, most of his touches came after the blue line. That ultimately means the puck was already out of the zone by the time he got the touch. But what the numbers don’t show is that a good portion of the team’s controlled exits came from passing the puck to Desnoyers in the neutral zone.
Defensive zone impact
When it comes to defending, Desnoyers didn’t make a big impact early on, in my eyes. His effort and engagement were not consistent at all. While he wasn’t a liability in those early season views, his lack of engagement was definitely noticeable. Not only that, but he was quick to cheat up ice for offense when his teammates got the puck. But as the season went along, his engagement very clearly got better. He plays a physical style and he was willing to engage along the boards in battles a lot more often.
At even-strength, he registered 18 puck touches in the defensive zone, forcing six takeaways, including intercepting a pass. He only turned the puck over in his own end once. Another positive, he interrupted five oppositional entries against. To show his growth, eight of those puck touches, two of those forced turnovers, and two of those entry disruptions all came in the most recent tracked game. He was also involved in seven exit attempts in that game as well, which was the most out of the three tracked games. He simply showed a ton of growth as the season went along.
Projection: Where will Desnoyers go and what role will he play?
Desnoyers is about as close to a guaranteed top pick as a player can be. In this class, there aren’t a ton of high-ceiling prospects like Desnoyers available. That makes him one of the premium prospects in the class. He has the size, raw talent, and production to show for him.
With a deeper dive, his transitional skill, if translated to the next level, will be a key part of his game moving forward, and a big indicator that a player can lead his own line. Desnoyers has the ceiling of a high-end second-line center or a solid first-line center. He should also be able to play on both special teams if his development goes well.
However, with his inconsistencies and decision-making issues with the puck, his floor dips a bit. He will be an NHL player one day, but may only become a bottom-six scorer with the ability to play on a second power play and penalty kill unit. He is definitely leaning more toward the higher end of that projection. That’s due to the raw talent he has and the clear improvements he has made over the course of this season already.
What we’re saying
“Desnoyers is a puck hound all over the ice. He was always the first player pressuring the attacking players and made sure to be the first forward back on the backcheck. He was also strong at the faceoff dot, which helped the team start with possession in the attacking zone more often than not, and he was a reliable player for all defensive zone faceoffs. Desnoyers will struggle to score as many points at the pro level if he doesn’t improve his offensive game, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be a center who can play up and down the lineup for any team that takes a chance on him in the first round of the 2025 draft. [He] is the type of player you win with.” – FCHockey regional scout Nathaniel Duffet
“Desnoyers leverages a very transferable playing style to the pro level; he’s the type of player that automatically helps you win hockey games and is hard to find for teams. I think he projects as a top-six center, probably a 1B type for a team that has a more dynamic top-line center on its roster. We’ll see how the season goes, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Desnoyers gets selected as a top-12 pick in the 2025 draft.” – FCHockey chief scout Joey Fortin Boulay
Desnoyers’ games tracked
November 2, 2024 versus Val-d’Or
January 12, 2025 at Val-d’Or
March 1, 2025 versus Blainville-Boisbriand
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