Utah Picks Desnoyers on First Day of the NHL Draft

Desnoyers Excited for Utah

Surrounded by family members and friends in Los Angeles, Caleb Desnoyers heard PGA golfer Tony Finau say his name as the Utah Mammoth’s fourth-overall draft pick. Desnoyers had multiple meetings and interactions with the Mammoth heading into draft night, including a dinner at General Manager Bill Armstrong’s house.

“I didn’t know much before four days ago, but I had the chance to come in and visit, meet more people on the staff,” Desnoyers shared of his experience. “Honestly, I’ve never seen a city as beautiful. It was gorgeous with all the mountains and just the streets, it’s so clean and I can’t wait to bring my family over.”

“I like sometimes to sit with the player, and get a feel a little bit of their presence in who they are and he’s a great kid,” Armstrong explained. “We got to spend time with him out here on his way out to L.A. and he came to see us and have a little bit of dinner and get to know him even better. I think it’s when you spend time with him you realize there’s two things – the player, he’s a great player but the person is also a great person and we’re fortunate.”

Armstrong and the Mammoth were ‘fortunate’ that Desnoyers was still available when Utah was on the clock. Members of the Mammoth’s scouting staff liked Desnoyers for months and wanted him to be the next player wearing Utah’s sweater.

“When you sit in that room and you listen to the scouts, and you listen to their passion about players, he was a pretty consistent passion for the scouts from the midterms all the way through,” Armstrong shared. “He was a big deal in that room the whole time. We’d just never thought we’d get to him, and we were blessed or got lucky I guess, to get the fourth overall pick, and then you wonder if he’s going to be there.”

By adding Desnoyers, Utah has another winner in their prospect pool. He’s a player that elevates those around him and Desnoyers is excited to bring his abilities to the Mammoth.

“I think they loved the fact that I’m a winner and also the fact that I make the players around me better, so I’m looking forward to bringing that to Utah,” Desnoyers explained about what drew Utah to him. “A competitive centerman that takes a lot of pride in all the small details, all these intangibles from my faceoff to creating some plays to making the players around me better in the o-zone and also a good leader, pretty vocal guy.”