Caleb Desnoyers was selected first overall in the 2023 QMJHL Draft Saturday by the Moncton Wildcats.
Desnoyers, the younger brother of former Wildcats and Halifax Mooseheads forward Elliot Desnoyers, had 53 points last season with the Sainte-Hyacinthe Gaulois of the QM18AAA.
Chicoutimi selected Emile Guite second overall and also took Nathan Lecompte and Alex Huang with the fourth and fifth picks, respectively. It was the first time since 1997 to make three selections inside the top five. Blainville-Boisbriand chose Mateo Nobert with the third choice.
1️⃣ Caleb Desnoyers
2️⃣ Émile Guité
3️⃣ Mateo Nobert#QDraft pic.twitter.com/XmsGWBObM6— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) June 10, 2023
Saturday also saw 33 trades made but none bigger than Drummondville’s acquisition of NHL Draft prospect Ethan Gauthier from Sherbrooke for three first round picks, two seconds and a third.
Additionally, Gatineau flipped Noah Warren (ANA), who was the 42nd overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft, to Victoriaville.
Earlier this week, a number of high profile trades were made, most notably by the defending Gilles Courteau Trophy and Memorial Cup winners Quebec. The club traded d-man Jeremy Langlois (ARI) and starting goaltender William Rousseau to Rouyn-Noranda while Charle Truchon was moved to Rimouski.
Furthermore, Chicoutimi moved NHL Draft prospect Andrei Loshko to the Huskies while the Phoenix sent Justin Gill, who had 93 points (44 goals) in 2022-23 to Baie-Comeau and Milo Roelens to Acadie-Bathurst.