The newly founded CHL/USA Hockey Prospects Challenge starts tomorrow. There, the CHL's top draft prospects will look to take on the USA Hockey National Team Development Program.
The QMJHL's has two representatives at the tournament.
Yesterday, the THN QMJHL site profiled Blainville-Boisbriand's Justin Carbonneau.
Today, well take a look at Moncton Wildcats centerman Caleb Desnoyers.
Desnoyers, 17, has picked up 31 points (14+17) across 20 games thus far, missing four games in late September and early October with an injury.
Even though he has impressive point totals, what makes him such a unique players is that his production doesn't come at a cost of his defensive game -- a rarity for prospects.
Notably, Desnoyers' rock-solid two-way game is one of his greatest strengths as both Moncton head coach Gardiner MacDougall and Team Canada Under-18 coach Kris Mallette have made him a fixture of their power play and penalty kill units.
His pro habits and commitment to a well-rounded game should endear him to NHL scouts and, eventually, coaches very quickly.
Another skill Desnoyers has in his arsenal is faceoffs as he's won 63.4 per cent of his faceoffs this season.
Usually players that are this well-rounded tend to lack that high end skill, and even though Desnoyers' play probably won't blow you away -- he's a more than capable creator and finisher.
Desnoyers' has the brain and the vision to set teammates up, sometimes opting for precise no-look passes or using things like chip plays to puzzle defenders.
He's a strong puck carrier as well, as his ability to use his 6-foot-2 body to get inside body position and keep his opponent separated from the puck is strong.
However, he'll need to bulk up a bit to be able to remain effective at that at the professional level.
Another area of concern could be his pace. Not slow by any means, but he has a tendency to play at a slower-pace. He could also add an extra gear to his speed, and edgework as it's pretty good for the junior level but would probably be closer to average at the NHL level.
Desnoyers posses some strong intangibles, namely being a part of the Wildcats leadership group as an alternate captain, captaining Team Canada to Hlinka Gretzky Gold this summer and being an alternate captain on Team Canada White's Gold medal winning team at the U-17 Hockey Challenge last Fall,
These shortcomings aren't the biggest deal in the world, as he's still a consensus Top 10 to Top 15 prospect.
In a draft that seems to be still very much up in the air, a big performance at the tournament could be the thing that gets Desnoyers unanimous Top 10 support.
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Check out the CHL/USA Prospects Challenge Tuesday, November 26th and Wednesday, November 27th, on CHL.TV