The Flyers annual developmental camp opens next Thursday at Skate Zone in Voorhees and concludes on July 11.
The following day, the rookies and prospects — 34 in all — head to Stone Harbor for the Trial on the Isle.
This camp is overseen by developmental coaches John Riley and Kjell Samuelsson. This is mostly a drills ‘n skills exercise highlighted by a 3-on-3 tournament at the very end.
“This is a week for you to get better,” general manager Ron Hextall said. “We are not going to evaluate you. We’re going to find ways to try and make you better, try and send you away with certain things to work on the rest of the summer to make yourself better.
“So we’re very strict about that. I tell everybody on our staff, no evaluations here. You want to have the kids unguarded where they say ‘hey I feel like I need to work on this’ and bang, John Riley or Kjell Samuelsson give them a template to work on, whatever they need to work on, strength coach. So that’s the time we really want them to try and get better.”
The real “camp” starts with full Flyers training camp in September.
“Training camp is different,” Hextall said. “Kids who played really well in junior have given themselves a leg up in trying to make our team. That’s really the first part of the tryout.”
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This year’s development camp includes nine of the Flyers’ 10 selections from last week’s NHL Entry Draft in Buffalo, as well as the club’s first-round selections from 2013-thru-2015.
A total of 16 forwards, 12 defensemen and six goaltenders are scheduled to attend.
Center German Rubtsov, the Flyers’ first-round pick (No. 22) from this year’s draft, won’t be attending the developmental camp. He was slated to return to Russia before the July 4 holiday.
On-ice is tentatively scheduled for 8:30 a.m. by specific groups, starting on July 7 with goalies. Skaters won’t be on the ice before 10 a.m.
The 3-on-3 tournament on July 11 begins at 3 p.m.
