The Utah Mammoth selected Caleb Desnoyers with the fourth overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
The 18-year-old spent last season in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League with the Moncton Wildcats and posted 84 points (35 goals, 49 assists) in 56 games. Desnoyers also had 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists) in 19 playoff games en route to the QMJHL championship. The performance earned Desnoyers the Guy Lafleur Trophy as the league’s postseason MVP.
Desnoyers — who is a 6-foot-2, 178-pound center — reached those accolades with two injured wrists, he revealed at the NHL Scouting Combine earlier this month. The injuries date back to November, he said, and he received MRIs after the season ended. It was not clear at the time if he would need surgery.
Mammoth general manager Bill Armstrong said the team had done its due diligence when asked if Desnoyers’ circumstance was a concern for Utah.
“It’s always important to make sure you go through thorough evaluation when a player is hurt to make sure you know what you’re getting,” Armstrong said. “We’re not taking anybody in the draft that we haven’t gone through their medical 150%. And if they had something in there we’re not happy about, we follow it up with another medical, usually in Utah or in their hometown through the MRIs and doctors that we know. We try to be as thorough as we can.”
The Mammoth will likely look for Desnoyers to fill the No. 2 center spot in the top six in the coming seasons.
Prior to the Mammoth making their pick, the New York Islanders selected Matthew Schaefer first overall, the San Jose Sharks selected Michael Misa second overall and the Chicago Blackhawks selected Anton Frondell third overall.
The first round of the NHL Draft will conclude on Friday night and rounds two through seven will happen on Saturday. Utah has five picks left in this year’s draft — 46th (second round), 78th (third round), 110th (fourth round), 142nd (fifth round) and 174th (sixth round). The Mammoth do not have a pick in the seventh round.