What the Chicago Blackhawks could get in NHL Draft prospect Caleb Desnoyers

New York Times

5 days ago

The Chicago Blackhawks' final draft board will come together within the next few days.
Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson, director of amateur scouting Mike Doneghey and their talent evaluators will gather in Chicago this week to make their final decisions.
The most interesting debate, at least from a public perspective, will be about the third pick. Whose name the Blackhawks ultimately call Friday will be partially dictated by the two teams ahead of them, but Chicago will undoubtedly be prepared for anything.
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One player who is expected to be in those internal discussions is Caleb Desnoyers, a 6-foot-2, 178-pound forward from the QMJHL. If the draft board goes as expected with Matthew Schaefer and Michael Misa going first and second, the Blackhawks will likely be choosing among Desnoyers, Anton Frondell and Porter Martone.
Today, we'll take a take a deeper dive into Desnoyers' game.
The Athletic's Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler have a slightly different opinion of Desnoyers, but it's not far off. Pronman ranks him as the fourth-best prospect behind Schaefer, Misa and Martone. Wheeler has Desnoyers fifth behind Schaefer, Misa, James Hagens and Martone.
Pronman wrote of Desnoyers: 'He has great creativity as a playmaker, while also being a detailed two-way player. Desnoyers can be trusted to check top players as he has a physical edge in his game and gives a high effort every game. He has the potential to be a No. 1 center who can play in any situation.'
Wheeler wrote: 'Desnoyers is a good-sized center with room to add muscle, and scouts love him as a projectable top-six center who plays a smart, detailed, well-rounded two-way game with good skill, smarts and poise.'
Based on Byron Bader's NHL equivalency model on Hockey Prospecting, Frondell has the sixth-highest probability in the 2025 draft class to become a star player. He produced 35 goals and 49 assists in 56 games for the Moncton Wildcats this season.
What impressed you about Caleb's season? I watched a bunch of video lately, and it just seems to be his consistency in all zones.
That's obviously very impressive for a kid his age, but the game is really consistent. Probably what's more impressive is the passion and the enthusiasm is probably even more consistent. His leadership traits and his love for the game and his competitiveness, those come to the rink with him every day. I think that's gonna make a very talented young man. But it's those other attributes that's going to potentially separate him from his peers the longer he plays here.
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What's unique that you see in a leadership ability or competitiveness that you might not see in other players that age?
Just the setting he was displaying in this year. He was our youngest player. We had an older team. They're primarily 19 and 20 years old. For Caleb to bring that type of leadership and that sort of confidence, competitiveness with them every day despite being the youngest guy in our locker room, I think that's pretty impressive. I don't want to, say, take it for granted because we totally recognize how special that was, but at the same time, it just becomes the expectation with him over time. You kind of forget that he's 17, forget he's your youngest guy and that's the standard he was able to create for himself this year.
What stood out about his offensive game this season?
Just how diverse it was. As he goes and continues to get stronger and add elements to his games, I think how diverse he'll continue to be. He scored goals from distance with us. And again, as he gets stronger I think it's projectable, I think he's going to be able to do that in the National Hockey League. But then he also scored a lot of goals from hard areas in front of the net. You know he's a big body, and by the time he's 23, 24, he's going to be an awful lot for defenses to handle. He's got a real willingness to get to the far post on net drives and go to hard areas. But I think it's just the diversity to how he creates the offense is what's impressive.
There's also a lot of talk about his two-way game. What impressed you there?
With the type of year he had, the type of line he was playing on, it would have been very easy to kind of cheat for offense at different points of the year, but he did a great job of maintaining habits and making sure he was on the right side of the puck coming out of the zone more times than not. Again, when you get him into competitive situations, whether it's in the offensive zone, neutral zone or defensive zone, he takes a lot of pride in that. That's why he's such a sought-after kid.
Do you project him as a center going forward or do you think it matters?
No, I do project him as a center. Obviously, depending on when it is that he breaks into the NHL, it's obviously very hard as a teenager to play center in the NHL. He's certainly capable and smart enough to adapt and play different positions. He did that for us this year. But I think when you see him in his prime years in NHL I'll be surprised if it wasn't at the center-ice position.
I assume you would like him back, but do you see him as someone who could benefit from another year or so in your league?
Well, Caleb being as competitive as he is, I know if you talk to him, his goal is to play in the NHL this fall. So we'll let him pursue that goal. But also, I think he has things that he can build off of coming back to us for another season and just kind of picking up where he left off in playoffs and Memorial Cup and continuing to get bigger, stronger and just kind of more NHL ready, I guess, if the NHL team that drafts him decides that he's not ready in October.
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Any specific areas you feel like he needs growth in or where he'll have to focus on early into his NHL career?
For sure, I think it's just like any talented young guy, I think it's just continuing to buy into his process, just continuing to get bigger and stronger. And with his habits and his desire to be an elite player, that's going to happen. He just needs to let time kind of run its course and allow him to put weight and strength on his frame.
When you're talking to NHL teams, are there any specific questions that come up or anything that you found that they're most curious about with him?
That's a great question. Primarily, Caleb is such a great interview and such a fun kid to talk to that a lot of times they come away from that wondering what they don't know. Sometimes when a kid is that fun to talk to, you start thinking, is that too good to be true? But he is a great kid to be around. He's very passionate. And, you know, I think a lot of NHL teams see that, and that's why I don't think he'll be sitting around long on next Friday.
Desnoyers not only produced at a high rate in the QMJHL playoffs — with nine goals and 21 assists in 19 games and earned MVP honors in the postseason — but was also clutch. On this play, Desnoyers, No. 18, steals the puck to set up the game winner in the opening round.
Desnoyers' patience to allow plays to materialize is one of his greatest strengths. He has a lot of poise with the puck.
He doesn't have as much skill as some of the top players, but there's still some there. He shows it off here to set up a goal.
Here's another example of his backchecking, and it leads to another team goal:
This is another example of his passing and patience:
The biggest question about Desnoyers is whether his game is dynamic enough to be a top-three pick. He does a lot of things well and he's projected to be a solid NHLer, but his ceiling isn't thought to be as high as that of some of the other prospects. He doesn't have elite skills. Other players in the draft class possess traits you could project more easily to stardom — especially offensively. Desnoyers might end up being the one who fares better in the NHL because of his predictable two-way game. There is probably higher risk with some of the others.
The Blackhawks know they have to complement players such as Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar with more size. The Blackhawks have some bigger forwards on their way, most notably Sacha Boisvert, but they could use several more. As mentioned, Desnoyers needs to fill out, but his frame could make him a physical force in the NHL.
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The Blackhawks would have to decide where exactly Desnoyers fits. Many people believe he'll be most optimal at center in the NHL because of his two-way play. He could probably be fine at wing, but his game is more suited for the responsibilities at center. Right now, the Blackhawks are planning on Bedard and Nazar as their top two centers. That could always change, but it is something the Blackhawks have to be mindful of as they continue to construct their roster.