A draft happened. Now it’s time for Development Camp. That is all I have to say about that.
I was going to write about New Jersey Devils Development Camp, but as I was unavailable Monday and there was no released roster to mull over as of Sunday night, this will be a very short post.
Around the Pool:
- Devils Development Camp opened on June 29th, but despite a flurry of activity on the Devils twitter page about completely unrelated things, nothing was posted about the camp roster as of Sunday night. Hopefully, some news popped on Monday before this article. Here’s the schedule for those interested.
- Oh wait, the Devils did post a bunch of hockey players on the ice at the Prudential Center on Saturday. Did some of the prospects arrive early?
Draft HQ wasn’t the only action today at @PruCenter. We had @PWHL_NewYork first-rounder Casey O’Brien doing some skills and drills with the Jersey Girls Hockey Club! pic.twitter.com/ZF1p7dxOOI
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) June 29, 2025
Oh. Nevermind. That’s a cool event and I’m glad they promoted it, but it would sure would have been nice to know what prospects they are expecting at camp.
- One new draftee seems to be going. That’s one player!
Fondrk will be at Devils Development Camp this next week. He’s highly skilled, can play center or wing and has a big time shot. Very high-end on the hands and skill department. #NJDevils
— Sam Kasan (@samikasan) June 28, 2025
Conclusion
I could go on, but I am going to stop there. I am more than a little annoyed at the lack of a release of invitees on the day the camp supposedly started. Monday was my 18 year anniversary, so sorry Devils, but I was not going to sit around and wait for an update on the second day of camp. Maybe it posted somewhere I missed, but one would think it would either be on the Devils website or their X page and I could not find it on either. Neither could AI when I searched for it. They did post plenty of other stuff though. You can go read about the Devils Manager of Guest Experiences if you like. It’s a well-written, detailed piece. Too bad the interviewer didn’t ask about the Development Camp roster. Then we might have gotten some answers at the start of camp.
I’ll post my thoughts in the comments if I have any. That’s all I got. Please keep it civil in the comments.
An Update on Monday:
The Devils finally got around to posting this on Monday:
Welcome to Camp. We’re not doing any hiking, swimming or arts and crafts. Just hard work and a talent show. Oh, and lunch. pic.twitter.com/jOjpWzGAVN
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) June 30, 2025
Per the comments, I am not the only one annoyed by the Devils’s tardiness. Apparently, Karpovich and Silayev had Visa issues, so will not be attending. The addition of Cole Brown is interesting given it is unclear if the Devils will keep his rights if they do not sign him this summer. Great to see Kaspar Pikkarainen playing hockey again. Hameenaho and Gritsyuk are not there, likely because they played in their professional leagues all season last year. Expect to see them at the main camp. Jimmy Dowd Jr. is nice to see on the roster, even if his inclusion makes me feel old. I’ll have more on this later after this posts.