Film Room: Caleb Desnoyers is the 2025 NHL Draft’s Chess Grandmaster

“Chess” is a game often used as an analogy for cerebral players’ approach. The term is fitting — a calculated game that requires navigating multiple variables, identifying weak spots in defences, leveraging space and momentum to create openings, and building advantages patiently and incrementally.

No prospect in this draft better embodies the core concepts of high-level chess than Caleb Desnoyers.

The now-captain of the Gilles-Courteau Trophy-winning Moncton Wildcats capped off a phenomenal draft-year season with an even better postseason, scoring 28 points in his first 12 games of the playoffs before injuries finally slowed him down. While he only managed two points in four games at the Memorial Cup, Desnoyers still managed to showcase his three-zone impact — despite operating with an injur