Caleb Desnoyers, selected by the Utah Mammoth with the No. 4 pick of the 2025 NHL Draft, will miss the start of the season following wrist surgery.
The 18-year-old forward is expected to be out 12 weeks.
Desnoyers said wrist issues bothered him all last season, but he tied for fifth in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League last season with 84 points (35 goals, 49 assists) in 56 games with Moncton, and then was named the most valuable player of the QMJHL playoffs after he had 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists) in 19 games to help Moncton win the league championship.
“Pretty much anything you can imagine you need your hands for hockey was affected by [the wrist injuries],” Desnoyers said during the NHL Scouting Combine in June. “Lucky enough I have a good staff, good facilities, and my therapist in Moncton is excellent. So I just did a lot of treatments to help me get through it and give it 100 percent every night.”
Where Desnoyers plays when he’s healthy remains in question. He could return to Moncton, and since he has yet to sign an NHL entry-level contract he also could play NCAA hockey.