QMJHL Stock Watch: Caleb Desnoyers continues to shine for the Moncton Wildcats
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The QMJHL keeps getting more interesting.
The Moncton Wildcats continue to dominate their competition, with Caleb Desnoyers continuing to drive the wagon. The 2025 NHL Draft-eligible continues to impress NHL scouts, and is only further cementing himself as a top-10 prospect in the class with each passing month. Meanwhile, a young star is emerging for next year’s draft — Xavier Villeneuve has had a phenomenal month, and the 2026-eligible defenceman continues to further his offensive growth and set himself apart.
Meanwhile, some drafted prospects have started adding new layers to their game. Tomas Lavoie (UTH) and Justin Poirier (CAR) feature in that category as well. Overall, the QMJHL’s drafted prospects have had a good month, but there are some exceptions — and this edition of Stock Watch will reflect that.
Stock Rising 📈
Caleb Desnoyers, C, Moncton Wildcats (2025 NHL Draft)
The smartest player in the QMJHL continues to find new ways to raise his draft stock. Caleb Desnoyers has been phenomenal all year for the Moncton Wildcats, sitting fourth in league scoring with 65 points in 41 games while leading his team by 19 points. Mind you, the Wildcats are a top-five team in the CHL right now, and Desnoyers is their youngest player by nine whole months.
His calling card continues to be his combination of high-end intelligence and physicality, but the skill in Desnoyers’ game continues to shine. He doesn’t have the shift-the-defence dynamism that a top-10 pick normally does, but he is extremely detailed in his three-zone approach, meticulous on the puck, and has more than enough awareness to circumvent his lack of explosiveness. On top of that, everything scouts hear about him on and off the ice indicates that Desnoyers is going to improve massively in the next few years. He is dedicated, highly competitive, and easy to trust with difficult assignments, on top of being in the driver’s seat of a fluid system that should continue to test the limits of his dynamic skill. Hard to name a draft-eligible prospect better equipped to improve than Desnoyers.
Xavier Villeneuve, LD, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (2026 NHL Draft)
The top blue-line scorer in the QMJHL isn’t a grizzled 21-year-old veteran defenceman — it’s 17-year-old Xavier Villeneuve, who is only eligible to be drafted in 2026. The 5’10” left-shot blue-liner sits at 10 goals and 39 assists for 49 points in 44 games — tied for first among defencemen in the league with one game in hand — and he got there by having a phenomenal month.
Villeneuve currently sits on a nine-game point streak, boasting 15 points in 10 games in January. Six of those games were multi-point efforts. With phenomenal footwork, high-end offensive vision, and game-breaking puck skills, Villeneuve picks apart power play formations, punishes loose gaps in transition, and joins every attack. His small-ice edgework and escapability allow him to circumvent his lack of size, and he makes every play in motion, making him absurdly difficult to contain in the offensive zone. His defensive game isn’t a drawback either, even though things aren’t perfect on that side. With the right development and improvement in his defensive-zone timing and motor, you’re looking at a beat-the-odds top-15 prospect in next year’s draft.
Tomas Lavoie, RD, Cape Breton Eagles (Utah Hockey Club)
The main reason Tomas Lavoie failed to earn a spot in our final top-134 last year was the lack of offensive growth in his game — he would default to rim plays on breakouts, fail to adjust his shot to beat high screens, and avoid attempting slot passes in favour of long rim plays in the offensive zone. But somehow, this year, Lavoie is turning into a high-end offensive player.
The 6’4” right-shot blue-liner has earned 42 points in 43 games so far for Cape Breton, nine of which have come in the last five days. Now much more proactive in the offensive zone, Lavoie takes control of distribution plays, throws a tonne of pucks on net, and activates off the puck to find advantageous pockets of space in the high slot.
This is exactly the growth that Lavoie needed to show in order to maximize his NHL odds. His defensive game is already highly refined—he manages gaps with smart footwork, closes off opponents with his massive reach, and erases them along the boards with pins and crushing hits. Lavoie looks like he’s only getting started, which bodes incredibly well for the Utah Hockey Club and their 89th selection in 2024.
Justin Poirier, RW, Baie-Comeau Drakkar (Carolina Hurricanes)
The Drakkar’s offensive focal point continues to shine — Justin Poirier is making a meal of QMJHL defences on a nightly basis with his release, whether he is beating goaltenders clean from mid-range or working the half wall with his devastating one-timer.
However, if that was all there was to his game as of late, he wouldn’t feature on this list. Instead, Poirier’s playmaking improvements are the main driver behind his stock rising, as highlighted in my latest game report on the Carolina Hurricanes’ fifth-rounder in 2024:
“He sprinted his routes constantly off-puck, initiated scissor plays on zone entries, and showed some passing flashes, too — hooks under sticks to connect with teammates in-stride, one-touch passes off the cycle… He’s still a shooter first and foremost, and still took a ton of outside shots, but he’s starting to delegate and trust his teammates to do the right thing. Playing so often with (Matyas) Melovsky is having a positive impact on his habits.”
Leave it to the Canes to bank on raw offensive talent in the mid-to-late rounds. So far, Poirier’s growth is giving them reason to continue that trend.
Honourable mentions: Philippe Veilleux (2025), Matyas Melovsky (NJD), Noah Laberge (2025)
Stock Steady ↔️
Matvei Gridin, RW, Shawinigan Cataractes (Calgary Flames)
After being selected in the first round by the Calgary Flames, Matvei Gridin struggled in his first few games in the QMJHL before picking up the pace massively over the last few months. He currently sits ninth in league scoring with 25 goals and 58 points in 44 games—a great step in the right direction.
Despite that, Gridin fails to make the Stock Rising list due to continued concerns around engagement, as our lead scout David St. Louis highlighted in his January 26 game report:
"He operated in space here and wasn't too involved offensively, floating up the ice as his team was defending. But when he did get involved, he showed anticipation, jumping on vulnerable opponents and passes and transforming at least one steal into a rush chance up the ice. Hard to figure out what he could be at the NHL level, but he's starting to score here and has the tools to become an NHLer. Just needs more pace and engagement.”
Gridin’s main separating skill last season was his motor—he outworked opponents along the boards, established proactive contact, and won races back to his zone. He’ll need to find that side of his game again to start improving his stock.
Stock Falling 📉
Matteo Mann, LD, Saint John Sea Dogs (Philadelphia Flyers)
At any level, at 6’6” and 234 pounds, if you crush bodies and block shots, scoring doesn’t really matter. Matteo Mann’s 11 points in 39 games for Saint John are therefore less of a concern. However, Mann’s physical game has not been up to par as of late, and that is certainly a more pressing concern.
The Philadelphia Flyers’ seventh-rounder in 2023 has been getting outworked far too frequently in the last stretch, losing board battles to 5’11” forwards and failing to establish inside positioning at a worrying rate. To make the NHL, there can be zero hesitation in Mann’s physical game. Crush hard, box out with ferocity, pin guys, repeat—that’s the role of a massive depth defenceman. AHL hockey will be much less forgiving, and Mann’s ability to stand out enough to earn a call-up depends on that aggressive approach to defence.
On a more positive note, Mann’s skating has been improving, allowing him to make more composed breakout plays by using his feet to shake pressure. That’s another potential avenue for his game if the “crush everyone” approach isn’t as appealing.