Caleb Desnoyers has been golden every time he’s suited up for Canada.
The 6-foot-2 centre captured three gold medals in a nine-month span, winning at the 2023 World Hockey Challenge, 2024 Under-18 World Hockey Championship, and the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
Desnoyers now has his sights set on the World Juniors as he takes part in Team Canada’s training camp ahead of the 2026 tournament in Minnesota.
“[Wearing the Maple Leaf] is the best thing. There’s nothing you can compare to it,” Desnoyers told TSN on Friday. “When you’re young and playing in the winter, just to play with the flag on your chest and to play with and against the best in the world is an unreal feeling. You want to win at any cost.
“After the Stanley Cup, the World Juniors is probably one of the most watched [tournaments] in the world. I’ve been able to go three-for-three, which is amazing, and I’m looking forward to another one here.”
The pressure mounting on Canada is heavy after back-to-back disappointing performances at the past two editions of the tournament. Canada finished in fifth place at the World Juniors in Sweden in 2024 and then followed it up with another fifth-place performance in Ottawa last year.
The expectation to win is nothing new for Canadian players, but Desnoyers sees that environment as something to embrace rather than a hinderance.
“I’m excited to see how the environment is going to be,” said Desnoyers. “We have such a good coaching staff and environment with Hockey Canada that we’re really not going to feel that pressure.
“On social media, people are probably going to speculate on this stuff, but I think we’ll just be there for each other and play as best we can. We’ll make Canada proud and take the gold back home.”
Desnoyers has a “Golden Goal” on his international resume, which is something few players can boast. He scored the game-winning goal in a 2-1 win over Czechia at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup to cement the victory for his country.
However, he jokes that the accolade was due to his own mistake.
“It’s great, but it came about in a weird way,” said Desnoyers. “We were winning 2-0, where I scored the second goal, but then I took a penalty near the end of the game. Our penalty kill was 100 per cent through the whole tournament but [Czechia] scored on that one.
“I ended up with the ‘Golden Goal,’ but everyone joked that I took the penalty just to get it.”
The 18-year-old has an impressive hockey resume outside of his play for Canada. He has won at every level he’s played at – whether it was in Triple-A hockey or the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.
Desnoyers helped lead the Moncton Wildcats to a Gilles-Courteau Trophy after defeating the Rimouski Oceanic in six games during the QMJHL Championship Series.
He finished second in QMJHL playoff scoring with nine goals and 30 points in 19 games and won the Guy Lafleur Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs.
While his primary goal was to win the championship for his team and the City of Moncton, he takes great pride at being named MVP.
“In my opinion, the playoff MVP is the best trophy to win as a personal trophy and is probably the hardest to get,” said Desnoyers. “My first objective every year is to win with the team, and I’m a big believer of taking care of the team and putting the team goals before yourself.
“The [Guy Lafleur Trophy] was really fun to get but I was happier to win the QMJHL championship trophy.”
The battle between Rimouski and Moncton was a big learning experience for Desnoyers. The Wildcats jumped out to a 3-0 series lead, but had trouble finishing Rimouski, who won the next two games.
Moncton jumped out to a 3-0 lead in Game 6 but allowed the Oceanic to score two goals in the third period to get within striking distance. However, the Wildcats were able to clamp up defensively to claim the title.
“It was an experience, and if there’s one thing in the hockey world that you can’t buy, it’s experience,” said Desnoyers. “You always want to be a part of those big games and be able to make an impact and a difference on the team.
“We had a great rivalry against [Rimouski] throughout the whole season and ended up winning the championship. It was a surreal feeling, but a great experience. It helped me grow and gain more experience to feel more comfortable in those big moments.”
The Wildcats then moved on to play in the 2025 Memorial Cup in Rimouski as the QMJHL representatives.
They began the tournament with losses to the London Knights and Medicine Hat Tigers, and needed a win against the host club Rimouski once again in order to stay alive.
Moncton came up big by defeating Rimouski 6-2 in their final round-robin game to move into the semifinals. They took on the Knights, who proceeded to beat the Wildcats 5-2 and then won the Memorial Cup with a 4-1 win over Medicine Hat in the final.
“It’s pretty hard to prepare for that format, especially right after you finish your playoff run,” said Desnoyers. “It’s a spot where you have to bring your best every night and whichever team is able to sacrifice better will win the game. Hockey is a game of mistakes and whichever team makes the least amount of mistakes is going to end up with the trophy.
“London was a really good team last year, who I think played the best in the tournament and ended up being champions.”
The Saint-Hyacinthe, Que., native’s fantastic 2024-25 season finished with him being drafted fourth overall by the Utah Mammoth at the 2025 NHL Draft in Los Angeles.
Shortly afterwards, it was discovered that Desnoyers needed surgery on his wrist, which made him ineligible to participate in on-ice activities for Utah’s rookie camp and the main training camp.
But he still feels that his time at the Mammoth’s camp was an eye-opener for him and getting to sit down and talk with the current members of the team was a big advantage heading into this season.
“They’re all great people and that’s a big factor in that organization. They want to have great people to build a good culture,” said Desnoyers. “It starts with [captain] Clayton Keller and [Dylan] Guenther, [Logan] Cooley, [Jack] McBain, and [Alexander] Kerfoot were all great people. The whole team were really professional and great people to be around.”
Prior to Desnoyers’ injury, he was deciding on the best course of action to continue his development would be. He had aspirations of making a push to make Utah’s roster and return to the Wildcats if it didn’t happen, but also was considering continuing his career in the NCAA.
In the end, Desnoyers decided to return to Moncton, where he was named captain of the team for the 2025-26 season.
“It was simple for me. I want to play in the NHL as young as I can,” said Desnoyers. “I don’t want to force things, but I want to be an impact player and be what I have to in order to play in that league.
“The decision between the two options was more about what would get me the mileage and experience to get as close as I can to my goal to play in the NHL. With everything that was going on, Moncton was the best spot I could ask for. It was the best fit for me with [head coach] Gardiner MacDougall, [general manager] Taylor MacDougall, and the staff that they have so there was no hesitation of staying there.”
