Latest news with #CalebDesnoyers
Ottawa Citizen
4 hours ago
- Business
- Ottawa Citizen
Around the Q: Teams shift focus to 2025-26 season
It was less than 12 hours after the London Knights hoisted the 2025 Memorial Cup Sunday evening that the transactions for 2025-26 got underway in the QMJHL. Article content That's when the QMJHL champion Moncton Wildcats announced that Rian Chudzinski, a member of the USA Hockey's National Program, was joining the team and has committed to Boston University following his junior career. Article content Article content Article content And with the league's draft slated for Friday and Saturday in Quebec City, the quick transition to next year continued in full swing on Tuesday, as teams finalized trades from the past season and to complement earlier moves to bolster their lineups for the upcoming season. Article content Article content The past couple of QMJHL drafts have thrust the Wildcats into the spotlight, first with the Caleb Desnoyers pick as No. 1 overall in 2023 and then last June when they hosted the draft at the Avenir Centre. Article content This year, the Saint John Sea Dogs will stand front and centre as for the seventh time in their history, they will select first overall when the session opens Friday evening in Quebec. Saint John finished 17th overall last season and won the draft lottery for the right to pick first on Friday. Article content The Sea Dogs enjoyed a strong draft in 2024 in Moncton, when they landed forwards William Yared fifth overall and Dylan Rozzi at No. 8. They also secured the rights to defenceman Cameron Chartrand at No. 19, and he inked with the team late in the regular season. Further, they added former first rounder forward Zachary Morin and he inked with the squad early in the year. Morin, Rozzi and Yared all finished in the top eight of rookie scorers this past season. Article content Article content The No. 1 ranked player this year is Alexis Joseph, who turns 16 on June 16. Article content He is a six-foot-four centre whose talent has shone throughout his career, including key evaluation periods and tournaments. That includes last season, when he registered 56 points in 42 games with the Quebec Under 18 AAA College Esther Blondin Phoenix. Article content Saint John also holds the No. 10 and 18 picks in what promises to be a significant building block for the organization, which is looking to move forward after three tough campaigns after winning the Memorial Cup in 2022.
Ottawa Citizen
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Ottawa Citizen
Game on: NL Regiment's QMJHL home opener set for Sept. 18, draft coming this weekend
Article content It's time to mark your calendars: a new era of hockey in NL now has a starting date, as the Newfoundland Regiment has announced its inaugural home game will take place at the Mary Brown's Centre on Thursday, Sept. 18 against the Moncton Wildcats. Article content The highly anticipated inaugural matchup against the defending QMJHL champions will kick off the entire Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League season, with no other games scheduled across the league on that date. Article content Article content Article content The Regiment's first home game will be one worth watching, as the visiting Wildcats roster will feature the top-rated QMJHL prospect ahead of this summer's NHL Entry Draft. Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec native Caleb Desnoyers is likely to be among the first players selected in the first round, and for good reason. Article content Article content Not only did he record 35 goals and 49 assists for 84 points in just 56 games last season, he added another 30 points in the postseason (9G, 21) and helped Moncton to reach the Memorial Cup for the first time since 2010. Article content Following a solid Memorial Cup performance with one goal and one assist in four games played, just yesterday Desnoyers was named captain of the Wildcats for the upcoming 2025-26 season. Article content Yesterday, the club announced that Gordie Dwyer will be the team's first head coach and general manager, and it is believed that the club's complete schedule will be released by the Canadian Hockey League as early as Wednesday. Article content Article content Team staff won't have much time to sit back and revel in their successful week, as most will be heading to Quebec City for the QMJHL Entry Draft taking place on Friday and Saturday. Article content Article content With the Regiment in possession of three first-round selections — including the fifth, sixth and eighth overall picks — the club's newly-minted coach is already on the way to Quebec City, with a pit stop in Prince Edward Island to collect some personal items first. Article content 'From there, we have our league meetings as general manager, and as head coach, we have our scouting meetings. Then the fun really starts on Friday night with the first round of the draft.'
New York Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Why James Hagens dropped down NHL draft boards, and the Islanders' unique predicament at No. 1
James Hagens entered the 2025 draft cycle coming off an MVP performance at the 2024 U18 World Championships and a dominant season in the USHL. He was projected by many — including myself and several NHL scouts I spoke to — as the No. 1 prospect for this class. He had a very good draft season. Hagens posted a point per game as a freshman at Boston College, playing major minutes on one of the top teams in college hockey. He centered the top line for Team USA at the World Juniors, where they won gold. He has a rich history of prolific scoring and being one of the very best players in his age group. He is among the very best skaters and puck handlers in this draft. Advertisement We've been spoiled recently with the years Macklin Celebrini and Adam Fantilli had in college in their draft seasons. Hagens didn't do what they did, but his season compares to what Matty Beniers and Kent Johnson did at Michigan when they were top-five picks in 2021. Hagens has outplayed several top draft prospects he's being compared to — or has apparently been surpassed by — at various events. He was way better than Porter Martone at this year's World Juniors and arguably just as good or better than him at the U18 Worlds last spring. At that tournament, where Hagens was a top player, Caleb Desnoyers was a fourth-line forward for Canada. Hagens also outplayed Michael Misa at their U17 Challenge two years ago. So why isn't he considered in the conversation for the best player in the draft anymore? There are a few variables. While he played very well this season, evaluators have minor questions about how Hagens' game would translate to the NHL. At BC, he had stretches this season where he was hard to notice at even strength and had too many games where he was invisible. He struggled to consistently get to the inside against bigger college defenders. He also struggled to score goals this season. At barely 5-foot-11 and without a physical edge, his profile becomes harder to project as a top-line NHL center who you can win with. His compete level is decent and looked good at the World Juniors, but I wouldn't call it a standout trait. If Hagens turns into the most offensively productive player from this class, I wouldn't be shocked, and frankly, I would call him the most purely talented offensive player in the class. But winning in the NHL is about more than scoring. Several players — such as Misa and potentially Anton Frondell, Desnoyers or Martone — may go ahead of Hagens simply because the profile they project as (bigger, two-way players, most as centers) is more valuable to NHL teams than a dynamic, scoring small player who may or may not be an NHL center. Advertisement The scouts who are bullish on Hagens, though, would argue that if he were playing junior hockey instead of college, he would have lapped some of those other players. Which brings us to the New York Islanders, who now face a fascinating decision. As soon as they won the draft lottery, buzz around Hagens started up among a vocal part of the fan base. Hagens is from Long Island. He grew up an Islanders fan. For a franchise that lost their last No. 1 pick when John Tavares signed with Toronto as a free agent, the idea of drafting one of their own carries real emotional weight, especially given his profile as a projected No. 1 pick at some point. That, however, is not the state of the draft currently. Right now, there's one player most teams believe is fitting of the No. 1 pick: Matthew Schaefer. A minority leans toward Misa, but that is the extent of it. Frankly, from the scouts I've talked to, there are as many who feel Hagens isn't a top-five player in the draft than who feel there's a meaningful challenger to Schaefer at No. 1. 'Schaefer is the only truly special player in this draft,' said one NHL scout, with an executive we talked to stating, 'Other than maybe Misa, Schaefer is in a tier of his own.' Schaefer is a 6-foot-2 defenseman with tremendous skating ability who makes a lot of plays, competes hard and has the ability to control games from the back end. He projects as a star 25-minute-per-game NHL defenseman who helps you win playoff games. He dominated almost every game he suited up in this season, even if his playing time was limited due to injury. His offensive upside isn't elite, but the total package is. Even if he wasn't clearly ahead of Hagens a year ago at this time, Schaefer is nearly a full year younger than Hagens, and as he continued to develop this season, the separation became clear. Advertisement If the Islanders had the No. 2 pick, the Hagens conversation would make sense. He's not my No. 2 ranked player, or that of almost any NHL scout I've talked to, but it's perfectly within the realm of possibilities that Hagens ends up the pure best player in the class, surpassing Schaefer, and even more reasonable that he could end up the best forward in the draft. This isn't a Connor Bedard or Macklin Celebrini draft where the difference from 1 to 5 is gigantic. But Hagens becoming the best player in the draft is not the likely outcome, and taking Hagens over Schaefer would be the move of an organization that is unserious about winning the Stanley Cup and putting a priority on other variables. 'They'd be going way off the board in the eyes of most teams if they took Hagens,' said one NHL scout. The Tavares situation looms in the background, but it's not the same. It's understandable the organization feels overshadowed at times by the Rangers, but the Islanders aren't the team they were in 2018. They have stable ownership. They have a permanent home in UBS Arena and have had reasonable playoff success in recent years. The idea that Hagens would stay just because he's local isn't enough to make up for passing on the better player. Hagens is a fantastic NHL prospect with the potential to be an impact offensive player. He has the tools to be a consistent 60-80 point forward in the league or better. My NHL comparison for him is William Nylander. He's a legitimate top-five talent and would be a perfectly reasonable pick at No. 2 or 3. But as tends to be the case in many drafts, there is typically a distinction between the No. 1 prospect and the next best player. The gap isn't as wide this year, but in the mind of most evaluators, and I tend to agree, the pick is clear-cut. As difficult as it may be, the Islanders have only one correct decision to make, and that is drafting Schaefer.
Winnipeg Free Press
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
QMJHL: Wildcats top Huskies 5-3 in Game 1 of conference semifinal series
MONCTON – Markus Vidicek and Caleb Desnoyers each had a goal and an assist as the Moncton Wildcats topped the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 5-3 on Thursday to take Game 1 of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League conference semifinal series. Loke Johansson, Maxime Coté and Julius Sumpf, with an empty-netter, also contributed goals for Moncton. The Wildcats outscored the Huskies 3-1 in the third period after entering the frame tied 2-2. Mathis Rousseau stopped 36 shots in the win. Bill Zonnon, Ty Higgins and Samuel Beauchemin replied for Rouyn-Noranda. Samuel Meloche turned away 19 of 23 shots. Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is set for Friday. This roundup was generated automatically with a CP-developed application. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2025.
CBS News
18-04-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
Bruins finish with fifth-best odds to win NHL Draft lottery
The Boston Bruins will have a small chance at the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Or Boston could end up with the seventh overall selection if the lottery doesn't go the team's way. After missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016 after a 33-39-10 season, the Bruins will enter the NHL Draft lottery with the fifth-best odds to land the top pick. The Philadelphia Flyers jumped the Bruins in the tank race Thursday night, securing the fourth-best odds to win the lottery with a regulation loss to the Buffalo Sabres. The Bruins could have clinched the fourth-best odds in the lottery with a regulation loss to the New Jersey Devils in their regular-season finale Tuesday night. But that game went to overtime and the Bruins got a point out of the 5-4 defeat. Boston finished the season with 76 points, but are slotted ahead of Seattle in the lottery odds because the Kraken had more regular season (28) than the Bruins (26). The Flyers also finished the season with 76 points, but are ahead of the Bruins and Kraken in the lottery race with only 21 regulation victories. The Bruins earned points in four of their last six games as they closed out the season 3-2-1. Those late-season wins could end up costing the team a shot at a top five pick on draft night. The NHL hasn't announced a date for the Draft lottery, but the Bruins will likely pick sixth in the upcoming draft. Boston has just an 8.5 percent chance at the No. 1 pick and an 8.6 percent chance at the second overall selection. Here is the team's odds in the lottery, according to Tankathon : 1st overall: 8.5 percent 2nd overall: 8.6 percent 3rd overall: 0.3 percent 4th overall: 0 percent 5th overall: 24.5 percent 6th overall: 44.0 percent 7th overall: 14.2 percent The Bruins are desperate to add a young and talented center to the mix, and should be able to land one inside the top six in either Canada's Michael Misa or Caleb Desnoyers, Sweden's Anton Frondell, or Boston College's James Hagen. But there's now a chance Boston could miss out on each of those prospects if they end up with the seventh overall pick. The San Jose Sharks have the best odds to land the top overall pick at 25.5 percent, following an abysmal 20-50-12 campaign. The Chicago Blackhawks are next at 13.5 percent, following by the Nashville Predators (11.5 percent), and Flyers (9.5 percent).
