Jets schooling prospects at development camp

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/07/2015 (3781 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The fourth Winnipeg Jets summer development camp starts today at the MTS Iceplex and five first-round draft picks are expected to be on the ice for the five days of sessions.

The Jets have invited first-round picks defenceman Josh Morrissey (2012), left-winger Nik Ehlers (2014), right-winger Joe Armia (Buffalo’s first in 2011), left-winger Kyle Connor (2015) and centre Jack Roslovic (2015).

Other blue-chippers participating include centre Nic Petan (second round, 2013), goalie Connor Hellebuyck (fifth round, 2012), left-winger Brendan Lemieux (second round by Buffalo, 2014), goalie Eric Comrie (second round, 2013), centre Andrew Copp (fourth round, 2013) and right-winger Scott Kosmachuk (third round, 2012).

The on-ice sessions, two a day today through Monday and then a likely one-session scrimmage on Tuesday, are all open to the public.

The NHL team gathers its top prospects — mainly draft picks, some signed young pros and a few free agent invitees — shortly after the entry draft each summer for five days of on-ice practices to offer a primer on how the Jets like to do things, and off-ice sessions that include guidance on matters like nutrition, media training and social media interaction.

This year, 40 players are expected and the only notable absentee is 2014 second-round pick, defenceman Jack Glover, who has school commitments in Minnesota and is not permitted to attend because of that.

The Jets themselves see intrigue in this camp, mostly because it’s just the latest glimpse into the future of an organization with a fairly strict draft-and-develop model.

The undercurrent will also be opportunity, since the Jets come into the weekend with two or three certain holes in their forward group.

“I hope the players understand that there is opportunity because there is,” GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said this week. “But from our standpoint the message that we’ve been preaching has been the same from Day 1, that you have to earn your opportunities.”

Given that the camp involves young professionals or high-end junior or college players, it can’t help but be at least a little competitive.

But that’s not the point for these particular days, Cheveldayoff said, so be careful what you think you learn.

“Development camp here is not necessarily a tryout camp,” Cheveldayoff said. “We’ve always said that from the start, that it’s a true development camp. We’re here to help them learn the proper methodology of nutrition, off-ice and just being a pro in a lot of different areas. That’s what development camp is all about.

“As an organization matures, some of these guys have been here a couple of times now and it’ll be old hat but that’s kind what you want from a learning aspect.

“This development camp will be real exciting for us because there are going to be a lot of new players as well… through trade or just through the recent draft. It’s exciting for us.”

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And not only is competition not the point for these five days, Cheveldayoff added that he specifically doesn’t want them to be that.

“Tryouts happen at the end of the summer, (in the) fall, and this is still summer and this is a time where a lot of these players won’t have been on the ice and probably shouldn’t be on the ice prior to coming here,” he said.

“This is truly more of a development camp in those regards.

“But come training camp, this is a job, this is their business. We talk about these guys when they sign their pro contracts, we tell them, ‘This is what you do for a living now. You want your living to be good and it’s (about) the amount of time you invest from this point on.’ ”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca