NHL Power Rankings: Who are the hottest (and coldest) teams since the trade deadline?
This year's busy NHL trade deadline transformed the outlook for many Stanley Cup contenders. It was an all-out arms race, with big names on the move and many buyers pushing all of their chips in.
Which contenders have caught fire with their upgraded rosters? Who's lagging behind the competition and limping into the playoffs? Let's dive into each team's performance since the March 7 deadline in this week's edition of the power rankings.
Last week: 1
Mirtle rank: 1
Dayal rank: 1
The Jets became the first team in the West to clinch a playoff spot when they beat the league-leading Capitals on Tuesday. Winnipeg has been a clear notch above the rest of the Central Division this season, but the gap has tightened since the deadline when many of its rivals loaded up.
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Colorado and Dallas' rosters look significantly deeper post-deadline, which has paid off with scorching results, while the Blues, a potential round one matchup for Winnipeg, are the hottest team in the NHL right now.
Winnipeg has kept pace, having won seven of its last 10, though Gabriel Vilardi's recent week-to-week injury is a big blow to the first line and top power-play unit. Mark Scheifele also needs to snap out of his nine-game goal drought, but it's otherwise hard to find blemishes in a team that has lost just five games in regulation since late January.
Last week: 2
Mirtle rank: 3
Dayal rank: 2
Well, they won again, their fourth in a row, and their seventh straight game getting at least a point (5-0-2). So credit for the results. But they allowed 48 shots against the Flames on Thursday, continuing a trend of fairly underwhelming play post-deadline. They certainly miss Miro Heiskanen lately, and news he might not be back for Round 1 is a blow to their chances against an Avalanche team that's looking rather powerful.
Last week: 3
Mirtle rank: 2
Dayal rank: 3
A hard-fought OT loss this week to the Jets stings and they dropped Thursday's contest against the Wild despite mostly controlling play too, but the Caps still have the best points percentage in the East since the trade deadline. Washington has been a wagon offensively all year, with contributions coming from every part of the lineup. The only asterisk is that their recent wins have mostly come against inferior opponents – Washington's record is only 3-4-1 against teams in a playoff spot since the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Last week: 6
Mirtle rank: 4
Dayal rank: 4
The Golden Knights didn't do anything overly exciting at the deadline – unusual for them – but it hasn't mattered, as a 6-2-2 record since then stands as one of the NHL's best. Convincing wins over the Lightning and Wild this week helped bump them up our rankings, and they should have no problem with a nice little Blackhawks-Predators bottom-feeder double header this weekend. They've established a nice lead in the division, too, which would be their fourth title in eight seasons of existence. Must be nice to be a VGK fan.
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Last week: 7
Mirtle rank: 6
Dayal rank: 5
This once top-heavy Avs forward group looks far deeper and more dangerous since the deadline.
Brock Nelson and Charlie Coyle have bolstered Colorado down the middle, but the club is also significantly healthier on the wings compared to the start of the season. Valeri Nichushkin (7 goals in his last 10 games) and Jonathan Drouin are on absolute tears, Martin Necas has been a terrific fit and the depth wingers are pitching in too.
The Avs are 8-1-1 since the deadline and picked up an impressive 4-0 victory over an equally hot Kings team on Thursday.
Last week: 5
Mirtle rank: 5
Dayal rank: 7
They rattled off five straight wins after the Mikko Rantanen firestorm of the deadline had the entire league's attention focused on the Corsicanes, but it's been a bit bumpier ride since. A lopsided loss to the Kings and a puzzling one against the Predators drop them a spot in our rankings, even though they're still scoring and dominating possession, as always. Of note: Old man Taylor Hall has been heating up of late, with six goals and nine points in his last seven games.
Last week: 4
Mirtle rank: 7
Dayal rank: 6
The Panthers' secondary offense has gone a bit cold and they're only 4-4-0 since the deadline, but there is some good news on the horizon. Brad Marchand is poised to make his Panthers debut soon, potentially on Friday against Utah. And after a rocky start on the top pair in Aaron Ekblad's spot, Seth Jones is beginning to stabilize his game. Jones has helped the Panthers control about 60 percent of shots during his five-on-five shifts in three consecutive games.
Last week: 11
Mirtle rank: 8
Dayal rank: 8
Even with the loss to the Avs, we wanted to give the Kings some more love than the rankings have most of the year. LA is 9-2-0 since the deadline and has been a dominant even strength team all year, ranking among the leaders in 5-on-5 goal differential and expected goals share. A lot is riding on Darcy Kuemper's .919 save percentage being the real thing in the playoffs, but let's give the Kings their due: They've had a surprisingly good season and gone under the radar while doing it. Maybe this is the year they finally beat the Oilers?
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Last week: 9
Mirtle rank: 9
Dayal rank: 10
The Lightning have been a bit uneven since the deadline (5-4-1), but they obliterated the Hockey Clubbers 8-0 on Thursday, with almost everyone getting on the scoresheet. Leading the way were deadline pickups Oliver Bjorkstrand (two goals) and Yanni Gourde (two assists) as they continue to round out Tampa's offense nicely. It's been interesting to watch Gourde, in particular, pick up heavy minutes after his role had diminished in Seattle.
Last week: 8
Mirtle rank: 10
Dayal rank: 9
They lost to the Sharks. Again. San Jose has just two wins against playoff-bound teams in its last 29 games; both of those are against Toronto. And with the Atlantic Division title sitting right there for them, the Leafs have dropped three games in March against the Sharks and Predators. We would call it hard to believe, except it's been that kind of a weird up-and-down year for Toronto. Next up, the Kings and Ducks as they try to rescue the California road trip.
Last week: 10
Mirtle rank: 11
Dayal rank: 11
Things aren't so rosy in Edmonton right now. And it's about more than the club's struggles this past week without Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Mattias Ekholm in the lineup. The Oilers' 5-4-1 record since the deadline is fine, but zoom out, and they have the 25th-best points percentage in the NHL since Feb 1. There are question marks and flaws with this roster, even though Jake Walman's immediate impact and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' recent surge provide some optimism.
Last week: 15
Mirtle rank: 12
Dayal rank: 12
A come-from-behind win in Nashville pushed the Blues' win streak to eight in a row, making them the hottest team in the NHL since the deadline. What's most impressive about their run lately is they've done it without both Colton Parayko and Pavel Buchnevich. Dylan Holloway, Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas have been three of the NHL's top scorers in that span, helping propel St. Louis to a heady 4.1 goals per game. Good thing they didn't sell at the deadline as they're potentially going to be a handful for someone in Round 1.
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Last week: 12
Mirtle rank: 13
Dayal rank: 13
Ottawa had a brief scare in February when it lost five consecutive games, but Travis Green's side has been able to convincingly right the ship over the last month with a 9-3-1 heater.
The biggest difference? Their once-struggling offense is suddenly red-hot thanks to strong secondary contributions from Dylan Cozens, David Perron, Drake Batherson and Michael Amadio, among others. It feels cruel to drop the Sens a spot in the rankings compared to last week, but the Blues deserved the promotion.
Last week: 14
Mirtle rank: 14
Dayal rank: 14
The importance of Thursday's 4-2 win over the Capitals can't be overstated. Minnesota's grip on the first wild card spot has been loosening because of St. Louis' wicked run, the club is banged up without Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson-Ek, and the team's performance has been up-and-down for a while. The two points they secured against Washington and a favorable schedule down the stretch (24th easiest according to Tankathon) should have the Wild feeling more comfortable about their handle on a playoff spot.
Last week: 13
Mirtle rank: 15
Dayal rank: 15
They brought a stretch of four losses in five games into Wednesday's not-entirely-decisive win over the Blackhawks, so things aren't all rosy. Not having Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton and defensive stalwart Jonas Siegenthaler appears to be wearing on coach Sheldon Keefe as well, given his odd blowup about Johnathan Kovacevic. 'Kovacevic just needs to play better. That would help,' Keefe said when told his defenseman suggested that they needed to have a playoff mentality. We know many aren't expecting much of the battered Devils if they hold on to get into the postseason, but we don't recommend suggesting that around them right now.
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Last week: 16
Mirtle rank: 17
Dayal rank: 16
At the start of this week, Canucks fans were getting ready to fire up the old draft lottery simulator again. Their playoff hopes looked dead after two devastating losses to the Blues and Rangers, not to mention the injuries to Elias Pettersson, Nils Höglander and Filip Chytil.
The undermanned Canucks are still alive, however, thanks in large part to Thatcher Demko's return from IR. Vancouver's star netminder has been limited to just 19 games this season due to multiple injuries, but he returned on Monday against the Devils and has backstopped the club to two massive victories. The odds are still stacked against the Canucks, but a Demko heater could be exactly what the doctor ordered.
Last week: 19
Mirtle rank: 16
Dayal rank: 17
The Flames had won four in a row going into Thursday's loss against the Stars, and they gave Dallas a good push in piling up 48 shots. Is that enough to bump them up two spots? Apparently! Dustin Wolf has shown his first signs of a little wear lately, and Calgary smartly went to backup Dan Vladar for two wins in New York as part of a first-ever franchise sweep of the three teams there. The Flames have two games left against the Sharks and two more against the Ducks, so there's a path here for them to still sneak in. But St. Louis' red-hot run has certainly made that much more daunting.
Last week: 17
Mirtle rank: 18
Dayal rank: 18
A tough loss to sad-sack Philadelphia on Thursday hurts. But the Flyers had the new coach bounce (and were absolutely pounded in Toronto earlier in the week) so perhaps we can call that one an anomaly. Once the hottest team in the league, the plucky Canadiens have now lost four straight, which is going to make their path to the postseason far more tricky. Their next three against the Hurricanes and then the Panthers twice could make or break them.
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Last week: 18
Mirtle rank: 19
Dayal rank: 19
The Isles lack high-end offensive firepower with Mathew Barzal injured and Nelson now in Colorado, but they've mustered a respectable 6-4-3 record since the deadline to stay alive in the playoff race.
This past week, however, hasn't been kind to them. They've dropped three straight games, which included Kyle Palmieri's apparent game-winner with 9.6 seconds left in regulation against the Blue Jackets getting bizarrely overturned for an extremely questionable goaltender interference call. Ilya Sorokin has been forced to start 14 of the club's 16 games since the 4 Nations Face-Off, and the fatigue is beginning to show, particularly in the last game against Vancouver. Things don't look great for New York right now but all the wild card contenders around them are struggling too, so they're still in it.
Last week: 22
Mirtle rank: 20
Dayal rank: 20
It's been hard to watch the best story of the season fade out as of late, with six consecutive losses (and eight in nine) before finally getting a shootout W against the Islanders on Monday. Goals have been incredibly hard to come by on the C-Bus, with just seven in their last six games. Two positives? Sean Monahan is back as 1C, which will help. And a big goal from Kirill Marchenko in that win was significant given how quiet he's been in March. They're going to need a lot more from him, however, if they're going to claw into a wild-card spot.
Last week: 20
Mirtle rank: 21
Dayal rank: 22
Utah didn't sell any of its pending free agents at the deadline, which signalled that the organization wanted its young, exciting core to have a chance to stay competitive in the playoff race and play meaningful games. Their post-deadline run started decently, but it's all come crumbling down recently. Utah has suffered three blowout losses over the last week and a half: a 7-1 shellacking against the Oilers, a 5-1 home ice defeat to the slumping Red Wings and an embarrassing 8-0 defeat against the Lightning on Thursday. The playoff push has disappointingly fizzled out.
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Last week: 21
Mirtle rank: 22
Dayal rank: 21
Things are not good at MSG lately. The Rangers dropped to 3-6-1 since the deadline with a loss to the Kings on Tuesday, which isn't great. But it's the way they've been losing that has been particularly dispiriting. Heck, the way they've been winning has, too. Their only W in the last two weeks included getting outshot 39-12 by the typically punchless Canucks. Perhaps the ugliest stat for New York is the fact they're sitting in 22nd in the standings despite Igor Shesterkin putting up the second-highest goals saved above expected in the NHL. Now that's hard to do.
Last week: 23
Mirtle rank: 23
Dayal rank: 23
The Red Wings entered the 4 Nations Face-Off break clinging to the final playoff spot in the East. It's been an absolute free-fall for them since, with an ugly 5-11-1 stretch sabotaging any hopes of breaking a nearly decade-long playoff drought. Detroit has had a brutally difficult schedule down the stretch, so it's not entirely surprising to see them slip below the playoff bar, but it's the dramatic way they've crashed and burned out of the race entirely that's so disappointing.
Last week: 25
Mirtle rank: 25
Dayal rank: 24
Anaheim is on pace to hit 81 points, which would mark a 22-point improvement from last year's miserable campaign. The Ducks' sturdy goaltending is probably the biggest driver behind that progress, but it's encouraging that blue-chip forwards Mason McTavish, Leo Carlsson and Trevor Zegras have upped their point production pace significantly since the deadline. They need to build on that momentum because outside of Jackson LaCombe, their young forwards and defensemen haven't progressed enough this season.
Last week: 26
Mirtle rank: 24
Dayal rank: 25
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We're really into the dregs here, where it's hard to separate the various tanking clubs from one another. The Penguins are somehow 5-4-1 since the deadline, with a makeshift lineup that includes Connor Dewar on the second line and Conor Timmins in the top four minutes. But after a beatdown in Buffalo on Thursday, they've now lost three in a row. They have a tough schedule coming up, too, with games against the Senators, Blues and Stars, so the chase for a top five pick could, uh, pick up soon.
Last week: 30
Mirtle rank: 27
Dayal rank: 26
We're not quite sure what got into the Sabres against the Penguins on Thursday. But scoring seven – even against depleted Pittsburgh – was enough to vault them up the rankings… all the way to seventh last. Buffalo has actually won three in a row, scoring 15 goals in those games, and five of seven, prompting a disgruntled fan base to begin promoting this classic on social media. Even when they win, the Sabres lose these days.
pic.twitter.com/IKdE3niPiK
— BleedBlackAndRed🦬⚔️ (@RockTheRed89243) March 28, 2025
Last week: 28
Mirtle rank: 26
Dayal rank: 27
The Kraken netted lucrative hauls for Oliver Bjorkstrand, Yanni Gourde and Brandon Tanev at the deadline, but their underpowered roster has amassed the 12th-best points percentage in the NHL since the deadline. On one hand, it's not ideal that they're potentially playing themselves out of a top-five draft pick, but on the flip side, it's been positive to see Matty Beniers up his production lately, plus the emergence of talented 20-year-old sniper Yani Nyman, who's scored six points in eight games since his AHL recall.
Last week: 24
Mirtle rank: 29
Dayal rank: 28
For some reason, we stayed up late Wednesday night to watch Boston get absolutely throttled by the fledgling Ducks. And it really felt like watching the end of an era. The Bruins have been a good team for most of the past 20 years, but they're perfecting the tank this season, having lost seven in a row now and 15 of their last 18. Maybe there's some way to build around David Pastrnak and turn this around on the fly in the next couple years, but it sure looks unlikely at the moment.
pic.twitter.com/ed6UAHYw5u
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) March 27, 2025
Last week: 29
Mirtle rank: 28
Dayal rank: 29
There's no sugarcoating the fact that it's been a nightmare season on Broadway. The Preds have been slightly more competitive post-trade-deadline, which included a couple of quality wins recently over the Hurricanes and Leafs. Luke Evangelista and Fedor Svechkov are finding their groove, which bodes well for the future. But they blew a third period lead on Thursday against the Blues and it's still been really challenging to manufacture goals.
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Last week: 27
Mirtle rank: 30
Dayal rank: 30
The Flyers have been in absolute freefall lately. In fact, their win over Montreal on Thursday was their first regulation or overtime victory since Feb. 25, a span of 14 games without a single ROW. In tribute to John Tortorella, we're going to confess we're not really interested in learning how to write about this type of season.
Last week: 32
Mirtle rank: 31
Dayal rank: 32
Beating the Leafs on Thursday was enough to bump them up, and the race for dead last is certainly heating up with the Blackhawks. The Sharks now have six points in seven games since the deadline selloff; Chicago has only five in 10 (2-7-1). San Jose sits two points back on the season, and they have a game in hand. If you're the kind of hockey fan who likes watching the worst teams in the league in April, get your popcorn.
Last week: 31
Mirtle rank: 32
Dayal rank: 31
The vibes have been rough in Chicago, with the club losing eight of its last nine games. Connor Bedard hasn't had the monster breakout campaign that many were hoping for, but more importantly, the roster around him is just so bleak and deprived of proven, high-end contributors. 19-year-old Artyom Levshunov's exciting play down the stretch has been a silver lining.
(Top photo of St. Louis Blues center Dylan Holloway: Steve Roberts / Imagn Images)
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- New York Times
Why ‘special' Caleb Desnoyers is one of 2025 NHL Draft's top prospects
BUFFALO, N.Y. — In his time in hockey, first on the agency side and now as general manager of the Moncton Wildcats, Taylor MacDougall has seen and worked with his fair share of prospects. Ask him about Caleb Desnoyers, who just centered his team's top line to a QMJHL title and won the Guy Lafleur Trophy as the league's playoff MVP, and he tries not to get carried away. Advertisement Tries … 'He's a special kid, quite frankly. And a lot of that stuff gets thrown around with top prospects but I try not to and I try to hold those standards very high,' MacDougall said on a recent phone call. 'If you're an NHL organization and you have the opportunity to tie off to this kid for the next 15 years, oh my goodness, I would sleep soundly. There's so many variables that go into trying to win a championship, but you give him 15 cracks at it over the course of an NHL career, that kid's going to figure it out at some point.' Desnoyers is a potential top-five pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. He was the No. 1 pick in the 2023 QMJHL Entry Draft, the league's rookie of the year as a 16-year-old, and a QMJHL First All-Star this year after registering 35 goals and 84 points in 56 games, fifth in league scoring and second in points per game (1.50) to league scoring champ and 21-year-old overager Jonathan Fauchon. Between his MVP playoff run with the Wildcats and the Memorial Cup, he registered another 32 points in 23 games (for a combined regular season, playoff and Memorial Cup total of 45 goals and 116 points in 79 games). He also did it while playing through two wrist injuries. On Thursday morning, he told The Athletic that he'd been dealing with it since November. Before leaving for the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo, he had an MRI. After the combine, he'll see a doctor about it and go over the results. 'I'll recover fast but might need to do some stuff,' he said. 'It has been a long season.' But it's not the points or big plays Desnoyers made that everybody talks about when they describe him as 'special.' Pekarcik caps off an insane setup by Desnoyers to score the very first goal of the Final! 🔥#QPlayoffs | @monctonwildcats — QMJHL (@QMJHL) May 10, 2025 He has those things. NHL Central Scouting's report talks about his hockey IQ, anticipation, two-way play, good offensive skills and vision. They call him a 'very good playmaker who also displays a scoring touch' and say he's a prospect 'who has a lot of transferable pro elements in his game.' Desnoyers describes himself as a 'competitive centerman who takes a lot of pride in all of the intangibles and the little details that people don't always recognize. Advertisement 'I'm just a versatile player (and) my main factor is that I make all of the players around me better and I'm a good leader, vocal leader,' Desnoyers said. Those who've worked closely with him will also talk about how he's one of only three players to have ever won triple gold at U17s, U18s and the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. They talk about how he finished plus-51 on the Wildcats, the best player on a winning team. MacDougall said 'he has some really elite gifts and genetic gifts,' but that it's everything else that makes Desnoyers a top pick in this class. 'He's so driven, he's so competitive, he's so passionate. The intangibles that he has are through the roof,' MacDougall said. 'You just don't see them that often.' At the combine, he's one of the prospects who has really impressed in his interviews with NHL clubs. Desnoyers said he's just being himself. 'I've always had good energy and just been an enthusiastic person,' he said. 'I'm not stressed going into these and I've just tried to be myself and be Caleb Desnoyers and good things will happen.' Gardiner MacDougall, Moncton's head coach who also coached Desnoyers at last year's U18 worlds, talks about his 'tremendous leadership values' and how 'he's in the very, very elite mindset' before he talks about the skill set. 'He's one guy that makes a difference for your team whenever he walks in the rink,' he said. 'He can come in the rink in the morning and the team changes. He has that special charisma to him, that special personality to him. He connects with people as a leader, but also connects as a teammate with them and then he just proceeds to grow that as he comes on the ice for practice or for games. He's got such a bright future in front of him and it has been a real privilege to coach him because he just finds ways to get better. He's an intelligent player about the game but he's very passionate. And when you've got a performance level that he has, with the talent that he has, the smarts that he has, and then the passion that he has, it's a powerful combination.' Pascal Trepanier has worn a few different hats in Desnoyers' hockey career. Peewee AAA coach. Skills coach. And for the last 10 years, stepdad. After an 18-year career of his own that included 229 NHL games with Anaheim, Colorado and Nashville, Trepanier moved back to the Montreal area, got into coaching, and has been working with Desnoyers in one way or another since 2015. Advertisement He knows him as a hockey nerd. When they used to watch games at home, Trepanier would pause it and say, 'What did you see?' When they were done with one game and Trepanier and Desnoyers' mom, Martine, a teacher, would want to watch something else, he'd get mad and go watch another game upstairs. That runs in the family. Desnoyers' dad, David, manages the Isatis Sport St-Hyacinthe Complex and is a former tough guy defenseman who played in the QMJHL and then in Quebec's senior and semi-pro levels. His uncle, Simon Laliberté, is a former captain of the Wildcats. His brother Elliot is a former captain of the Halifax Mooseheads who was signed by the Philadelphia Flyers. At the Wildcats' QMJHL championship celebration, they named Desnoyers captain of next year's team as well. He said 'No decision has been taken yet' on whether he's going back to Moncton next season, however. 'My main goal is to play in the NHL as soon as possible, and if not, I'll be at the place where I'm able to be in the NHL the year after, and Moncton's a great choice for that,' he said. Growing up, Caleb was the youngest of three boys and always the smallest. According to Elliot, he always had to compete for everything, whether they were playing games or sports. These days, though, the playing field has leveled. Now Caleb's taller (6 feet 1.5 to Elliot's 5 feet 11), and they've been able to skate and work out in the same groups. Elliot has cherished that. 'We just push each other so hard,' Elliot said of Caleb catching up to him. 'It has been quite fun to be honest. Especially recently.' They used to talk about Elliot around the QMJHL the way they talk about Caleb now. Trusted. Reliable. Consistent. A leader. Loved by coaches. A two-way center. Elliot says he and his little brother both think the game the same way, but play at different speeds (Caleb plays faster, he admits). Advertisement Trepanier says 'everything that Elliot does is really professional' and that that has rubbed off on Caleb, from his mentality to his eating and sleeping habits. He describes them as best friends who do everything together. They train and skate together. They fish and golf together. They watch and talk hockey together. But Elliot looks up to his little brother, too. Said Elliot: 'We always discuss about hockey and I want to see his point of view on stuff as well. I look up to him in the sense of what he's doing with all of the pressure and how he's really disciplined and always wants to be better. I really admire that in him.' Elliot also describes his brother as 'quite the character.' 'He just loves to chat, loves to mess around with people and always makes people feel really good,' Elliot said. 'He's a really easy-going guy, and he has been like that forever. And he's just always so competitive in every aspect of his life.' Caleb has always had an 'aura about him where he shows up at the rink and there's just something about him that lights up the room and gets people involved,' according to Trepanier. 'There's just something, even as a young kid, that's a little bit different,' Trepanier said. 'He makes everybody around him better, and I think that's a pretty decent quality. And there's a lot of stuff for the next level that he and we need to work on but he gets on the ice and he wants to win. If it's during a drill, he wants to be the best guy. If it's during the game, he wants to be the best. And if it's a championship, then he wants to win. He's really mature. He's got one goal and it's to play in the NHL and be the best. Pretty much everything in his life is driven by wanting to be the best.' Both Caleb and Elliot acknowledge they've talked about the Flyers picking at No. 6 and the potential that they could end up in the same organization, but Elliot thinks his brother will be gone by then. Yann Joseph and Maxim Noreau are new to working with Desnoyers. Noreau only retired from his 17-year pro career last March. He started working in player development in the Montreal area right away through his agency, Quartexx, running skates twice a week for them. He first met Desnoyers at one of those skates. They clicked right away, and Desnoyers started coming to Noreau's personal skates on the south shore of the city as well. Advertisement Joseph is a Montreal-area strength and conditioning coach who trains pros such as Anthony Beauvillier and Xavier Bourgault. Last May, the Desnoyers boys and Elliot's Lehigh Valley teammate Zayde Wisdom joined him at his gym for the offseason, switching personal trainers. Joseph worked with Desnoyers to fix some postural issues that he was compensating for on the ice. After a full offseason with him, he played pain-free in his draft year because of their work together (though he did play banged up in the playoffs and into the Memorial Cup). Even though Desnoyers turned 17 just a month before starting with him, Joseph decided to train Desnoyers with his older pro group because he wanted to see if he could follow them. Immediately, he brought an enthusiasm to the gym that transferred to all of the guys. But he performed better than they did in some exercises, too. 'Those guys were like 'Whoa, OK, kid,'' Joseph said. 'So that was fun. Even if they were older, they could watch him and learn. And at the same time, he was doing the same things as those guys and he saw that they're professionals for years and could see the way they managed the workout and the recovery and that was good for him also.' Though Desnoyers says he's 6-2 and 180 pounds, Joseph would poke fun at him and call him 'chicken legs.' But 'he's way stronger than he looks,' Joseph insisted. Ahead of the draft, a few NHL strength and conditioning coaches have asked Joseph to send them Desnoyers' data from the gym. According to Joseph, they've been impressed by his numbers. 'For his size, the way he pushes the bar and the speed with which he pushes the bar is really, really impressive, even with big weights,' Joseph said. 'And when you look at him, he's got like small legs on him right now at 17 years old, and you can see he's got room for growth. But his numbers don't tell the same thing because he's really strong and fast for the size of his legs. I'd ask him sometimes, 'How can you push all that weight with those legs?' and he would laugh.' When Noreau first skated Desnoyers, he wasn't up to date on any of the up-and-coming players. That first skate was focused on shooting (Noreau was known for his shot during his playing career). Desnoyers was a natural, listening intently and picking up on his tips quickly. Right away, Noreau was struck by how hardworking he was. Advertisement 'The big thing with Caleb that I think is even a little overlooked still is attitude-wise, you talk about being a complete player, about being a dog, about being an impact in the game, and some guys want to be that guy but when the big moments come and it's a stressful situation or you've got a lot of pressure to perform, I feel like Caleb is more the type of guy that wants to be there,' Noreau said. 'If a team goes to a shootout, he wants the shot. He knows that there's a big risk and reward to it but I think he knows that 'Hey, I want that. It's on me. And if anybody's going to fail, let it be me.' And that attitude is going to bring him a long way. And sometimes he's going to fail and he won't be perfect all the time, but just to have that attitude, and even in practice he's asking me a lot of questions and why guys do certain things, and just having that, regardless of all of the other attributes that he also has, I think that's huge.' A year after beginning their work together, Noreau now believes the sum of those things will make Desnoyers a player who is used in key situations and put in leadership roles in the NHL. 'You put him out late in a game or on the PK for a faceoff or whatever it is, he's smart enough to know what his job is at that time. It's not about 'I need to be Caleb leading in points,' it's 'Hey, I've got a job to do,'' Noreau said. 'I have a discussion about that with a lot of my top guys, and I always say, 'Do you think that people don't notice in the stands if you're not out there every game late in the game?' That goes a long way, being that guy. And he wants to be that guy.' — With reporting in London, Ont. (Top photo courtesy of Daniel St. Louis / CHL)
