Caleb Desnoyers and DJ Khaled have at least one thing in common: All they do is win.
Most recently, Desnoyers led his Moncton Wildcats to a league title in the QMJHL. He captured the playoff MVP award along the way, despite playing through significant injuries to both wrists.
He also has gold medals from every international tournament he’s ever played:
- The U17 World Hockey Championship
- The U18 World Junior Championship
- The Hlinka Gretzky Cup
Now, he’s looking to go 4 for 4 in international tournaments. He’s currently at Team Canada’s selection camp for the U20 World Junior Championship — hockey’s closest equivalent to the NCAA’s March Madness tournament.
“Obviously it’s a great achievement for me, but it’s really (just) the start,” Desnoyers said in a phone interview with the Deseret News on Dec. 9. “(I) still want to make my place and show that I’ll have an impact on the team to help them win gold.”
Utah Mammoth management places major emphasis on bringing in guys who have won before because they know what it takes to do it again. Six of the players on their current roster have won the Stanley Cup, 10 have won league championships at other levels and eight have won gold medals on the international stage.
Desnoyers will fit right in when he eventually makes the big league.
Desnoyers’ QMJHL coach, Gardiner MacDougall, is doubling as an assistant coach for Team Canada. He’s well-known within the hockey world for the way he connects with his players.
Gardiner MacDougall calls for his team to huddle on the ice after being eliminated in the Memorial Cup semi-finals.
Legendary coach. pic.twitter.com/UDgZRF1v0b
— BarDown (@BarDown) May 31, 2025
“He’s different,” Desnoyers said. “He gets the best out of all his players. I feel really fortunate that I have the chance to have him now for my second year in Moncton. He’s awesome. He’s a different beast and also a great motivator, but also knows the game really well.
“He’s a huge part of our success here with the Wildcats and it’s great to have him there with Hockey Canada. He’s going to be a big part of that winning team.”
As much as Desnoyers has already won in his young career, there are still plenty of championships left on his bucket list. Among them is the Memorial Cup.
Think of the Memorial Cup as a mini Champions League. The winners of each league under the CHL umbrella join the host team for a four-team tournament to capture what many — including Desnoyers — believe is hockey’s hardest trophy to win.
Here’s the crazy part: It’s not out of the question that Utah could have first round picks on three of the four teams at the Memorial Cup this year.
Tij Iginla’s Kelowna Rockets are hosting, so they’re automatically in. Cole Beaudoin’s Barrie Colts and Desnoyers’ Wildcats are both in second place in their respective conferences. With all three players coming from different leagues, they aren’t competing against each other for a spot in the tournament.
“It’d be great to be able to compete against them,” Desnoyers said. “(I’m) looking forward to competing with them at the World Juniors.”
Iginla and Beaudoin are at Team Canada’s selection camp alongside Desnoyers. Beaudoin played in the tournament last year, but an elimination in the quarterfinals sent him home much earlier than he would have liked.
With Team USA winning the tournament each of the last two years, Team Canada is looking to get back to the top of the podium — and the Mammoth’s prospects could play a huge part in getting them there.
Caleb Desnoyers wrist injury update
As previously mentioned, Desnoyers played a large portion of last season with significant injuries to both wrists. The Mammoth drafted him fourth overall, at which point they believed surgery would not be necessary. But that changed a few weeks later when they announced that he’d undergone a successful procedure on one wrist.
Desnoyers said his wrists are feeling “amazing.”
“They’re feeling great,” he continued. “I’m lucky that we have some great facilities and some great staff to take care of that in Moncton.
Although takes pride in being a two-way player, he’s scoring at a high pace: 25 points in 17 games. He ranks fourth in the QMJHL in points per game and he’s first in that category among 18-year-olds.
Utah Mammoth general manager Bill Armstrong, left, and first-round draft choice Caleb Desnoyers, right, speak at a press conference to recap the NHL Draft and preview Utah’s development camp at the Asher Adams Hotel in Salt Lake City on Sunday, June 29, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
