D-CAMP NOTEBOOK: First trip to Florida; Alscher's busy weekend

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. -Talk about a sight for sore eyes.
After a tumultuous two years of uncertainty under the cloud of COVID-19, the Florida Panthers happily kicked off their first development camp since 2019 at the Panthers IceDen on Monday.
"It's great," Checkers head coach Geordie Kinnear said of being able to start getting back to a normal offseason routine of camps and events. "These are very important camps. It's great to get the guys out here back to Florida, back to some normalcy. I thought it was a good first day."

Set to run from July 11-15, the camp's roster consists of 36 prospects ranging from ages 17 to 25. While some of these players have been drafted or signed by the Panthers, many currently do not have any affiliation and were invited to the camp as a chance to make a mark on Florida.
Overall, the roster consists of 19 forwards, 13 defensemen and four goaltenders.
An important step on the road to becoming an NHL player, the camp offers prospects a chance to see firsthand what it's like to be in the big leagues. Unlike rookie or training camp, this week is more about information than evaluation, about giving prospects a foundation for their future.
From strength training to on-ice instruction, prospects will head home with plenty of notes.
"Our goal is to give them concepts to focus and really work on, things that we believe will help them be NHL players at some point," Kinnear said. "It's great to get to know the players, but we also want to make sure we get those concepts in place and give them a good framework."
The schedule for this week currently consists of four days of practice before a camp-ending instrasquad scrimmage on Friday. When they're not at the rink, players will also take part in a couple team-building events, including a community-driven project, a cooking class and more.
On Day 1, the camp's roster was split into two groups that ran through various on-ice drills.
"These are all high-end special players from all over the world," said goaltender Tyler Muszelik, a sixth-round pick of the Panthers in last week's 2022 NHL Draft. "It's cool to meet all of them. They're all high-end athletes. You want to learn from them and get to know them pretty well."
In addition to Muszelik, five other members of the Panthers' latest draft class are in attendance at camp, an enthusiastic and talented group of up-and-coming prospects that also includes defensemen Marek Alscher (93rd overall) and Ludvig Jansson (125th overall), and forwards Joshua Davies (186th overall), Liam Arnsby (214th overall) and Jack Devine (221st overall).
Within the span of four days, those players went from being drafted to on the ice in Florida.
"First camp, and obviously and a big weekend for them," Kinnear said. "That's something you'll always remember and want to build off of. I think it's good that they get here and get acclimated with the organization and with what the coaches are about."
Due to COVID-19, this is also the first development camp for numerous members of Florida's 2020 and 2021 draft classes, including Zach Uens (105th overall, 2020), Mike Benning (95th overall, 2020), Mackie Samoskevich (24th overall, 2021) and Jakub Kos (184th overall, 2021).
For many of the attendees, this is also their first trip to the Sunshine State.
The perks of being a Panther, right? "We're staying at a really nice spot by the beach, so it's been awesome so far," said Muszelik, flashing an ever-growing grin. "There's no better place to spend a camp at than here. I love it."
To stay up to date on this week's camp, follow @FlaPanthers and @JamesonCoop on Twitter.
For a full camp roster, click
HERE
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ALSCHER'S BUSY WEEKEND
I doubt any camper has had a busier few days than Alscher.
The first pick the Panthers made at last week's draft, the third-round selection opted to not attend the event in Montreal and instead chose to stream the event back home in Czechia.
But given that distance, the news he'd been selected was a bit delayed.
"When I got a message from my agent telling me congratulations, I was like 'what?!' said Alscher, who currently plays for Portland in the WHL. "Then I refreshed the website, and my name was there. I think it freaked out my dad. My mom and my sister couldn't watch it. They were so nervous. They just said to call them when I got drafted. It was an amazing moment."
At the time, Alscher said even he couldn't believe the news. By his account, it really didn't even hit him until he woke up the next morning. But when it finally sunk in, he couldn't stop smiling.
"I'm really excited to be here," Alscher said of attending his first of many camps with Florida. "It's been awesome so far. I was really happy it was the Panthers. I had some contact with a few of their scouts and they showed some interest. It was one of the teams I wanted most to go to."
Less than 24 hours after being drafted, he was on a flight traveling over the Atlantic Ocean.
"It went really fast," Alscher said when asked to recount the last few days. "I got drafted, and then the following morning I went straight to Florida. It's all been pretty fast since the draft."
Taking his talents to North America after two seasons in Finland, Alscher was selected by Portland with the 26th overall in the 2021 CHL Import Draft. As a rookie this past season in the WHL, he registered 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in 61 games with the Winterhawks.
Standing 6-foot-3 and 198 pounds at just 18 years old, it was easy to find him on the ice on Day 1 of camp.
"It was probably the best experience I could have," Alscher said of joining Portland. "I decided last year two weeks or three weeks before the CHL draft that I wanted to go there. I'm so glad I made the decision because this year was wonderful. I had amazing teammates, amazing billets, and the coaches were helping me so much. I can just say thanks to them for that opportunity."
As far as early takeaways from his first camp, Alscher said he'll pack a little better before his next visit.
"It's my first time [in Florida]," he said. "I'm enjoying it every day. Every day I wake up and go on the balcony. It's so nice out there. Compared to Europe, it's so hot. I arrived with pants and a hoodie on, so I was all sweat when I was waiting for my car to drive me to the hotel."
Sweating on the ice and off the ice, that's what D-Camp in South Florida is all about!