-My development camp material is a bit late, but nevertheless here’s a start. The roster has only one notable absence (Mikael Wikstrand), who is presumably out with the same injury that made him miss the World Championship in May. Amelia L (same link) talked about how the Sens camp has evolved over the years and we already have the official schedule posted by the team. There are five goaltenders, eleven defensemen, and twenty-four forwards attending the camp. This is one more goalie, one less defenseman, and four more forwards than last season. For seventeen players this is their first development camp (this includes all seven new draftees, six invitees, and four signed free agents).
-The history of invitees to Sens camp is mixed; Daniel New wound up getting an ECHL deal after he finished college, but most players (like Matt O’Connor or Cameron Darcy) are simply there to fill out the lineup. This year among the non-draft eligible players the Sens invited include Bentley (NCAA) goaltender Branden Komm (2009 eligible), mammoth Ohio (NCAA) defenseman Justin DaSilva (2008 eligible), and Princeton forward Jack Berger (2009 eligible; teammate of Michael Sdao)–none of these players were ranked by Central Scouting in their draft year, so a little background:
Jack Berger served as Princeton’s captain and was a finalist for the ECAC’s Hockey Student Athlete of the Year Award the past two years. His previous season he was named to ECAC’s All-Academic Team. The big right-winger is a USHL Des Moines grad whose offensive totals slipped considerably in his third collegiate season. The 6’6 Justin DaSilva was recognized as an Ohio State Scholar-Athlete (11/12). The big man is a BCHL grad who only has 7 points in 64 NCAA games. Branden Komm was an Atlantic Hockey All-Academic and was named to the All-Atlantic Hockey third team (11/12) and was an Atlantic Hockey All-Academic (10/11). His numbers were down in his third collegiate season; prior to the NCAA he played for Northfield Mount Hermon high school.
-NCAA free agent signee Buddy Robinson talked about development camp as well as his experience in Binghamton:
It was good (in Bingo), when I got there I had a week to learn the system and Luke (Richardson) and (Steve) Stirling did a great job, I mean, they just taught me everything. I had a week of practices with the team and the guys were really good to me. It went as smooth as you can get pretty much. Of course it’s a jump to the next level but all the coaches and players made it real smooth for me. I find it’s a much more controlled game, everyone is where they’re supposed to be. If you get out of position one time another team is going to make you pay for it. I feel like I had to work on that part of my game, just being in position more and making everything crisp out there and being ready. I feel good [at development camp] — it’s a lot different. My first camp last year was in Vancouver and I was pretty nervous but I got a few games under my belt and I know most of the guys here so it has been really fun. I’m really comfortable here. Like I said, everyone has made me feel really welcome. It’s been great so far. There [Vancouver] it seemed to me to be more business just because I didn’t know anyone, I came in, didn’t really know anybody and just focused on hockey. Here you focus and everyone works hard but you’re with your friends so it just makes you want to push it even further. I just want to have a great development camp, I’ll have my exit interview here in a few days and then we’ll go to training camp and see what happens. I’m going to work as hard as I can. And you never know — if I come into training camp well prepared and see what happens. Hopefully I can get a few games in here or there. Everyone looks on the paper, they see how big I am before they even see me so everyone is expecting a big, physical game. That’s what I try to do. I want to get in the corners and try to set up plays for guys who shoot the puck in the slot.
-WHL free agent signee Troy Rutkowski talked about his development camp and his season:
It has been good, it’s been a tough experience. I feel like I just finished my season yesterday so to get back out there is good and it’s been fun. It was nice to get that championship that third time in the Western League. The Memorial Cup was a good experience, but it would have been get to get that one at the end there. [Coaches] Mike Johnson and Travis Green did a job in developing not just me but players. I think when I came into the league I was more offensive — I was pretty strictly offensively minded — and over the years that kind of changed into a two-way game. I tried to become more of a two-way d-man. There have been a few great captains there [Portland] and to follow up in that was an honour. It’s [development camp] been good, it’s really friendly here and it’s nice being in a Canadian city. Everything has been good. I knew Wacey Hamilton a little bit, Darren Kramer and I have crossed paths through the years. It’s been good, it’s been fun and everyone has been really nice. I’m just trying to put out my best performance every time I hit the ice and so far I think I’ve done that. Like I said it has been fun.
–Dave Young offers his thoughts on day five of the development camp and apparently while Wacey Hamilton doesn’t do much in actual game action, he looked good at camp. The other comment that stood out was that he was impressed with Jarrod Maidens, which is a good reminder that prior to his concussion he was considered a potential first-round pick.
-On the weird side of things, Jared Cowen is apparently an RFA. It’s an unnecessarily complicated matter, but here’s Travis Yost with the gist of it along with his thoughts on the repercussions:
According to CapGeek, it was Jared Cowen‘s 2010-2011 season that did not slide. Long-term perspective, it seems to me a good thing to have Jared Cowen‘s entry-level contract expiring one year sooner than anticipated, mostly because it comes on the heels of (a) an injury-plagued season that curtailed his production; and (b) upon return, and a proximate result of returning at less than 100%, his play suffered.
It’s clear that Cowen was qualified in time, but the matter slid under the radar enough that most bloggers (myself and Travis included) were unaware of the fact.
–Corey Pronman weighs in with his organisational rankings (you can read his methodology and my thoughts on it here; Corey was dead last in accurately picking the draft this year, but that doesn’t inherently reflect on his ability to judge talent). Ottawa winds up 18th in his list. He writes:
The Senators lost Mika Zibanejad and Patrick Wiercioch to graduation, along with Jakob Silfverberg and Stefan Noesen to trade, but Ottawa still has good depth and a number of players to like. They have quality prospects at all positions, including an elite goalie prospect in Robin Lehner. Defenseman Mikael Wikstrand was a great riser this year, but first round pick Cody Ceci was up and down.
There isn’t much to sink ones teeth into here, so I put it down as interesting food for thought.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
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[…] briefly on Corey Pronman‘s organisational assessment of the Sens from a few weeks ago and his most salient point is […]
[…] A bit of trivia I neglected to mention in my last post: Branden Komm (the Evansville goaltender) was a development camp invitee back in 2013. […]