Devils Issue Press Release on Development Camp, Who has a chance to Shine?

(Photo by Andy Marlin/Getty Images)

According to a New Jersey Devils Press Release:

42 players they invited to their development camp will meet with the team management and the coaching staff on Sunday night July 12, prior to their first on-ice sessions Monday afternoon.

According the organization, while many of the prospects may have been to the Devils development before, this year’s edition will mark their first under new General Manager Ray Shero and new Head Coach John Hynes. Some of the differences with Shero’s camps and Lou Lamoriello’s will be that there will be less emphasis on scrimmaging and more on developing their skills.

Two days of the camp will be open to the public. On Wednesday July 15, at 11:00 AM, the fans will be able to watch the three on three round robin completion. During the three on three tournaments, the prospects will play in rotating seven minute cross ice mini games, capping it off with a championship game. Free tickets for the three on three competition can be found on the team’s website at https://devils.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=106280&navid=DL|NJD|home.

The development camp will conclude with the Red and White Scrimmage on Saturday July 18th from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. The Red and White game will also be available to public, for a five dollar donation to the Devils Care Foundation. Season ticket holders had the opportunity to purchase tickets beginning Thursday while the rest of the public will be allowed to do so beginning Monday at 5:00 PM.

In the two days that the fans will be able to see the prospects in action, they will be able to see some local talent take the ice. Four of the players invited to camp are ether New Jersey natives or grew up in the Garden State.

Anthony Brodeur, the oldest son former Devils goalie Martin Brodeur will be one of the four goalies invited to camp. Matt Gaudreau, the younger brother of Calgary Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau will also be in camp this week. Colton Phinney, an undrafted goalie from Chatham, just completed his junior year at Princeton and Max Novak, of Oak Ridge, who just finished out last season with the Albany Devils following a NCAA career with Union College, will also be attending the development camp.

Shero said about the camp, “We won’t be on the ice every day, it will start with the Sunday meeting and go on to some skill development. There will be some three-on-three. There will be off ice stuff, educationally. It’s more of this is an education for a lot of these players.” He added, “We’re going to be looking for some of these players, guys who have been here before such as Reid Boucher or Damon Severson, to kind of be leaders in their own right and mentor these guys on and off the ice.”

 The Devils mentioned that the camp will be more of an orientation, as opposed to what training camp in September will entail. The prospects will be able to get a first-hand look at what to expect from Shero and Hynes in the future. Shero said, “They ‘re going to see what  it’s like to be a Devil, what practice might be like if they are going to play in New Jersey, but certainly a lot of things off the ice in terms of education about a lot of different things.”

Players like 2015 first round draft choice Pavel Zacha and some of the undrafted free agents will get a chance to get a feel of what to expect if they get invited to training camp in September. The team also said that the prospects with some National Hockey League experience, such as Raman Hrabarenka, Boucher and Severson, will get their first look at the new coaches.

A player like Zacha, drafted with the sixth selection could have the potential to jump into the league right away. The development camp could give him that first taste of life in the NHL. If he does perform well and show the team he’s ready maybe fellow countryman and team veteran, Patrik Elias, could be a nice influence on him.

According to the Devils, in addition to Hynes and Shero, assistant coaches Geoff Ward and Alain Nasreddine as well as goalie coach Chris Terreri and Albany Devil coaches Rick Kowalski, Sergei Brylin and Scott Clemmenson will also get a chance to work the young players.

Shero said, “This will be a great for the coaches to get to know some of these kids and work with them on and off the ice and get to know them in a social setting, so it’s a great experience. A lot of the college kids get invited to these things and then they go back to school.” He added, “They go to one or two different camps during the summer it seems and it’s a great way for teams to get a look at them, and it is a part of free agency, I guess.”