After winning a gold medal in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup following a 5-1 defeat of the United States, Canada forward Caleb Desnoyers, the older brother of Philadelphia Flyers prospect Elliot Desnoyers, made hockey history alongside teammates Jack Ivankovic and Matthew Schaefer.
Desnoyers, Ivankovic, and Schaefer all won gold medals for Canada in the World Hockey Challenge, the World Junior Championships, and now the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, making them the only three players in hockey history to win gold in all three competitions.
Desnoyers and Schaefer each recorded assists in their last three games, including Sunday’s gold-medal triumph over Sweden, while Ivankovic was near-flawless between the pipes, denying 51 of 53 shots against Sweden and USA and backstopping Canada to glory.
All three Canadians are top prospects eligible for the 2025 NHL Draft, and it wouldn’t at all be a stretch to say that Danny Briere, Brent Flahr, and the rest of the Flyers’ front office are keeping close tabs on this year’s batch of players.
The Flyers also know that they’ll perhaps not get better scouting reports or advice throughout the year, as they already have their own personal Caleb Desnoyers scout in Elliot Desnoyers. It is worth noting that Elliot is five years older than Caleb, so the two brothers probably haven’t played much hockey together in their lives thus far.
Obviously, if Caleb is as good as advertised and makes it to the Flyers in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft, and if Elliot manages to take another step forward in his development as a Flyers prospect this year, that is something that could change rather quickly.
Caleb is currently Daily Faceoff’s No. 11 ranked prospect for the 2025 draft, so if the Flyers have a similar season to their 2023-24 season, that is exactly the range they will be picking in.
As for the elder Desnoyers brother, Elliot will need to improve on a very disappointing 2023-24 AHL campaign with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, where he scored only six goals, 16 assists, and 22 points in 63 games after threatening to make the Flyers’ NHL roster outright last season.
Desnoyers did score 23 goals and 44 points in his debut AHL season in 2022-23, so the talent and ability to produce in the pro ranks is there.
It’s safe to say the 2024-25 season will be a crucial one for the Desnoyers brothers, but for different reasons.