The Ducks held their development camp from July 1 to July 5, culminating in a 40-minute 3v3 scrimmage on Friday.
The Anaheim Ducks held their annual development camp during the first five days of July. They featured potential future core members of the organization like Cutter Gauthier, Beckett Sennecke, and Stian Solberg.
Though not many significant overarching aspects can be concluded from a five-day skills camp, there were nuggets of insight to be found.
The 2024 Ducks development camp roster nearly consisted entirely of players brought into the Ducks organization by General Manager Pat Verbeek. Verbeek was hired in Feb. 2022. The only exceptions were 2021 sixth-round pick Kyle Kukkonen and 2021 fifth-round pick Gage Alexander, who was traded two days into camp in exchange for Robby Fabbri and a fourth-round pick.
28 of the 30 invitees were brought into the organization through the draft, as a free agent signing, through trade, or by camp invite by Verbeek.
"This is a skating-heavy camp because skating is very important in the NHL. If you look at the finals this year, everybody can skate," San Diego Gulls Head Coach Matt McIlvane said when discussing the overall message of development camp. "We have an element of the camp we’re dedicating to shooting, another element we’re dedicating to puck protection, and one with 1v1 defense. As we were planning, we ran everything by (Ducks) coach (Greg) Cronin."
The pool of prospects is beginning to reflect the aspects Pat Verbeek values and the style of player and play he feels will be successful for a sustainable amount of time.
The players who project to become true impact forwards at the NHL level like Beckett Sennecke and Cutter Gauthier possess quality hockey IQ, elite vision, and can bend defenses to their will.
The majority of the remaining forward group consists of players who can elevate the potential of their elite linemates and complement their games perfectly. They all have some combination of small-area, forechecking, finishing, or defensive acumen. It's not hard to envision future successful lines consisting of Nico Myatovic or Maxim Masse alongside players like Sennecke or Gauthier, for example.
The defensive unit consisted of players possessing a variety of strengths and one common element, a solid foundation of defensive fundamental principles. Every defender who attended camp was well-versed in angling, body positioning, and engaging through the attacker's torso rather than attempting to play the puck.
The goaltending group had one thing in common, size. Every goaltender the Ducks brought to camp was 6-foot-1 or taller and possessed an extremely high athletic floor. Tomas Suchanek and Calle Clang will likely make up the Gulls tandem in the AHL while Vyacheslav Buteyets will likely be the first call-up from the ECHL next season. Damian Clara is set to play for Färjestad BK of the SHL in 2024-25.
"It’s a great room to walk into if you want to feel short," McIlvane said of the goaltending room at development camp. "You’re looking up at these guys who are just monsters."
The one thread connecting every member of the forward, defense and goaltending units represented at the Ducks 2024 development camp was their compete level.
Whenever Verbeek speaks, he mentions his desire to ice a team that competes. That isn't just exclusive to the standings, as he wants his players to compete for every loose puck, area of the ice, and position. He's establishing a culture that displays work ethic at every turn whether it's during games, during practice, or in the gym.
Glancing at the list of Ducks development camp attendees and the roster that will be attending rookie camp in September, Verbeek's ideals are trickling down through the coaching staff and into the locker rooms.
The ideals were proven successful with the Florida Panthers winning the 2024 Stanley Cup, a team that plays a similar system to the one the Ducks attempt to run and whose roster is built similarly to the roster Verbeek is building in Anaheim.