As we approach the end of the junior hockey season in Canada, each of the three CHL leagues, minus the QMJHL, have wrapped up their league championships before the Memorial Cup gets underway. Each of the league champions will join the host Rimouski Oceanic for the annual CHL title tournament in what’s sure to be an exciting event, as always.
We are getting down to the nitty gritty when it comes to scouting season for the upcoming 2025 NHL draft. Each of these series have players of interest and high-quality prospects. In the OHL, Oshawa, who lost in five games to London in the OHL final on Thursday, has Simon Wang on the backend, a hulking defender who joined the team from the Junior A circuit after the NCAA eligibility rules were changed, giving them a big blueliner to lean on.
Out west, much of the attention, deservedly so, is on the 2026 NHL draft phenom, Gavin McKenna, who has been a monster throughout the season and the playoffs.
In the QMJHL, Caleb Desnoyers has been a force, leading the post-season in scoring and helping Moncton get out to a big series lead over Rimouski. Moncton will represent the Q at the Memorial Cup because Rimouski also made the final, but Moncton can claim the league title and set the tone heading into the Memorial Cup. Desnoyers has been a big part of that. Let's take a look at all three players in our newest NHL Draft Notebook.
Simon Wang, D, Oshawa Generals (OHL)
May 13, 2025 vs. London (Game 4, OHL Final)
In one of the better games I’ve seen from Wang since his arrival in Oshawa, Wang was taking advantage of the raw physical advantages that he has at every chance. His length and mobility were assets throughout this game. He had a few really nice activations, jumping up in the rush or pinching down into the offensive zone.
In one particular instance in the second period, as a teammate knocked down a failed clearing attempt and Wang jumped up into the offensive zone to provide an option to the outside. Upon receiving the pass, Wang fired it on net and created havoc in front. When the puck went back the other way, Wang got on his horse and caught up to the play, providing some solid defensive play to end his shift.
Throughout the game, Wang’s skating was a major asset on puck retrievals. He was almost always the first one back to the puck and then when he picked it up, he had the evasiveness to get out of pressure. He was quick to flip his hips or cut away from the forechecker to open himself up to the ice.
When he had the puck on his stick, he was much more confident than without the puck. When he was in the defensive zone, Wang was maintaining conservative gaps and defaulting to the net front. I would have liked to see him get a bit more aggressive but his conservative play allowed him to take a couple of strides and jump on loose pucks. He broke up cycles fairly well in his own end and made good simple passes out of trouble.
Wang’s breakouts were a bit hit or miss, often looking to find teammates up ice as they were looking to attack but his accuracy was a bit off, especially early in the game. When Wang stayed patient, evaded pressure and found some open ice, he was much more crisp on the breakout.
This was a very good effort for Wang and I would have loved to see him play a bit more than the 13 minutes that he had on the night. His defensive coverage was quite solid, and he killed play consistently. He showed a few intriguing flashes of a solid offensive game, and if he was able to get a bit more aggressive, he could have had a few extra chances of his own. One of the better outings for Wang in my viewings.
Gavin McKenna, LW, Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
May 9, 2025 vs. Spokane (Game 1, WHL Final)
In a game where the Tigers were heavily outshot but managed to pull out a win, McKenna’s line managed to control nearly 60 percent of the shot share and win their minutes at five-on-five. McKenna had a beautiful assist in the first period on what wound up being the game-winning goal. Picking up the loose puck on the wall in his own zone, McKenna burst up ice, altering his speed as he got to the offensive blueline. He proceeded to dangle one defender, evade another, flipped his hips and hit an onrushing attacker with a nice little hook pass in the slot to give them a downhill attacking shot chance that they made no mistake on.
Throughout the game, McKenna had a number of really solid offensive rushes and showcased his puck handling and skill in space. His speed and quickness were notable in transition, shifting his pace up and down to throw defenders off before bursting by them with elite quickness.
His ability to cycle the puck high in the zone, rotate into the high slot and attack downhill consistently was impressive. He did tend to overhandle, and that got him into trouble a few times, but when he has the dynamism that he displayed throughout the game, it’s no wonder that he tries to do too much. This will be something to keep an eye on next season as scouts hope to see some maturation in his game in this regard.
Defensively, there are certainly some improvements in his game in comparison to earlier in the year, but he still has some issues with wandering and losing his man, as well as being a bit over-eager on loose pucks that he thinks he can get to but fails to. As much as he tries to lock up sticks and prevent cycles at times, he just doesn’t have the strength as of yet, and he hasn’t learned to leverage his skating just yet. The improvements in positioning and anticipatory play are certainly a nice sign, though.
The dynamism, skill and bursts of speed that McKenna plays with are certainly elite traits. There is a reason that he was one of the best junior players in Canada this year. He is a surefire bet to be atop the draft board for the 2026 class when the season begins next year, and his strong playoffs will be a big reason for that.
Caleb Desnoyers, C, Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL)
May 14, 2025 vs. Rimouski (Game 3, QMJHL Final)
In the tightest game of the series thus far, Desnoyers played quite well, but there were moments throughout the game, particularly at five-on-five, in which he was being neutralized a bit offensively. Desnoyers wound up with two assists in the game, both coming on the power play.
His intelligence and passing with the man advantage were key to helping Moncton win this game. Pace and foot speed were issues at times in this game as it seemed like Densoyers lacked a bit of pop and was coasting in a glide more often than usual, which kept him from being quite in position a few times, particularly defensively.
Defensively, one trait that was quite solid for Desnoyer throughout the night is his man-on-man shadowing, specifically around the slot. He rarely let a player go free and stayed on their hip and often used his stick to get under theirs to ensure a difficult pass reception. There were a few moments where he was making the effort to battle along the boards, and he didn’t have the strength to push the puck carrier off the puck, but he was able to at least make life difficult and prevent an easy escape. Added strength over the next couple of years will help with this specific issue.
In the offensive zone, there were some flashes of nice playmaking and vision, especially on the power play. His first assist was a secondary helper, just flipping the puck off the wall and through the air from left to right in the offensive zone. A quick pass from a teammate to the defender high in the zone and a shot that found its way through helped Desnoyers get on the scoresheet. His second was a much nicer assist, coming on a beautiful pass from the corner to the front of the net where a teammate deflected it in. Desnoyers' power-play movement and ability to take advantage of the extra time and space were evident.
Where things seemed to break down a bit for Desnoyers were puck bobbles and loose pucks that were just out of reach. One thing I’ve noted in the past is that Desnoyers has so many pucks fall into his lap, and he’s very good at taking advantage of that, but in this game, that wasn’t really the case at even strength. He couldn’t corral pucks the way we’ve often seen in the past.
A solid effort overall, and his defensive game was good. He wound up with two assists in a game that was far from a dominating performance. Desnoyers continues to showcase himself as a truly solid center prospect.
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