“We’re always excited when we have the opportunity to get all of our prospects together in one place,” Wild Director of Player Development Brad Bombardir told Wild.com.
“This really is the only opportunity that we get to have them all together. Between the time they depart development camp and our NHL and AHL seasons begin to ramp back up in mid-September, our European and Russian prospects are already playing regular season games and our NCAA prospects are back in school — prepping and training with their teams for their upcoming seasons. So when we do return in September, we essentially have our CHL prospects and first-year pros participating in camps and games.”
Thirty five team prospects and invitees are expected to attend this week and will participate in on-and-off ice sessions throughout the duration of camp. There will be daily on-ice and skating sessions and strength and conditioning training, in addition to important off-ice topics — such as social media and leadership training and nutrition education.
This comprehensive camp each summer serves as an important checkpoint, an opportunity for the Wild’s development staff to see each players’ progress.
“While the benefits of NHL development camps — along with vast improvements in player training and prep — have evolved immensely over the past number of years, they can still be beneficial,” Bombardir said. “It allows our prospects and future Wild players to begin to build a connection within the group and to our organization. It gives us the chance to check in on how their training is progressing, and if they’re making headway on their deficiencies. It also allows us to recognize any areas of concern and still gives us some time to respond to those concerns so they can be in the best possible position to create some early success in their upcoming seasons.”
