Caleb Desnoyers made a stop on his way to the NHL Draft.
It was Bill Armstrong’s backyard.
Before he would become the Utah Mammoth’s first-round pick (No. 4 overall), Desnoyers spent an evening as the general manager’s dinner guest. They got to know each other.
“When you’re in your backyard, it’s pretty undercover,” Armstrong quipped. “There’s not too many people who were videoing over the bushes. It was pretty secure. We brought him in through the garage and got him to the backyard.”
That night, Armstrong revealed his limitations. “We don’t cook at our house,” he said. So instead, they ate pizza from Nomad East in Yalecrest. And Desnoyers sold the Mammoth GM and scouts on his talents.
The Mammoth had been focused on Desnoyers ever since they got lucky in the NHL Draft Lottery back in May, moving up 10 spots to the fourth pick. They did their homework — through in-person scouting, video, data and interviews — on who Desnoyers is as a player.
Caleb Desnoyers, middle, is congratulated after being drafted by the Utah Mammoth during the NHL hockey draft Friday, June 27, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The backyard dinner cemented that Desnoyers was the kind of human Utah wanted to bring into the organization, too.
“I just like sometimes to sit with a player and get to feel a bit of their presence and who they are,” Armstrong said. “To be able to sit and spend some extra time with him and get to know him, that means a lot. I think he’s a very confident young man. Getting to know him only enhanced the fact that we were going to take him.”
And so, as the Mammoth’s logo flashed on the screen at L.A. Live’s Peacock Theater on Friday evening, Desnoyers was announced as the highly anticipated pick.
What was going through his mind at that moment?
“I was so proud,” Desnoyers said. “I’ll have to rewatch it. I don’t really remember right now. Kind of blacked out a bit. But couldn’t be more proud. For me, it’s one of the best — if not the best — organizations in the NHL. Really excited.”
If all goes to plan, Desnoyers is poised to be a play-driving center in Utah’s top six who can complement Logan Cooley, who anchored the first line last season.
“Competitive centerman that takes a lot of pride in the small details — all the intangibles from my faceoff to creating some plays and making the players around me better in the o-zone,” was how Desnoyers described himself. “And also … a good leader, pretty vocal guy.”
Desnoyers — standing at 6-foot-2 and 178 pounds — pushed his team, the Moncton Wildcats, to a Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League championship. After posting 84 points (35 goals, 49 assists) in 56 games during the regular season, Desnoyers followed it up with 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists) in 19 playoff games to secure the title. The performance earned Desnoyers the Guy Lafleur Trophy as the league’s postseason MVP.
Armstrong likes winners. And that certainly fits the bill.
“He’s got a little bit of everything we want,” Armstrong said. “He’s got the skill, he’s got the high hockey IQ and he’s someone that led his team down the stretch to a championship as a 17-year-old. That’s hard to do.”
Desnoyers revealed at the NHL Scouting Combine earlier this month that he was dealing with injuries on both of his wrists while achieving those accolades last season. MRIs taken after the season ended showed that no surgery would be needed and he could continue training during recovery this offseason.
“Already we’ve started all the workouts and putting in the work to be ready for what’s coming ahead,” Desnoyers said.
The Mammoth’s development camp starts on Sunday and it is unclear if Desnoyers will be a full participant. Armstrong said Utah’s trainers will evaluate Desnoyers’ injury and that he expects the player to join “at some point” that week.
Desnoyers, of course, got a preview of Salt Lake City during his brief visit. It seems he is ready to make it home and will get an extended stay as the prospects all arrive in the coming days.
Bill Armstrong, general manager for the Utah Hockey Club, speaks during an NHL news conference Friday, July 5, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
“Honestly, I’ve never seen a city as beautiful as that,” Desnoyers said. “It was gorgeous with all the mountains and just the streets, it’s so clean. Can’t wait to bring my family over.”
Desnoyers had plenty of family and friends in attendance at the draft — around 20 total people, he said. No one more important than his older brother Elliot, though. Elliot was a fifth-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2020 and has been in the AHL for the past few seasons.
“Since day one that I started skating, he’s always been there as a brother, a best friend and a mentor,” Desnoyers said. “He’s the main person who has helped me get to where I am at today.”
As Desnoyers takes this next step in his career, the Mammoth have high expectations for what he could turn into. It is still undecided if Desnoyers will return to the QMJHL, turn to NCAA hockey or earn an NHL roster spot next season. In the meantime, Armstrong wants him to get bigger.
“We’ll see how he does coming into camp. We’ll see where he’s at,” Armstrong said. “He’s got some work to do in that area — he’s got to put on some weight and he’s got to become hockey-strong at the NHL level. It will be a great challenge for him and the way that he attacks it — you never know how quick he can get there.”
Desnoyers, expectedly, was all smiles when he appeared on the Zoom screen — thanks to the decentralized draft format — in Utah moments after getting selected. But there was an understanding that this was not the peak for him.
It was just the beginning.
“It’s the biggest step so far in my young career but the way I look at it, it’s the start of the start of the start. There’s nothing accomplished yet,” Desnoyers said. “Yes I got drafted at a good number, but for me all the work I put in helped me get here but I still have so much to give to accomplish what I want to accomplish in the NHL.”