Pair of Ducks prospects soak in first development camp

This week, Austin Burnevik and Darels Uljanskis participated in their first Ducks development camp.

Austin Burnevik and Darels Uljanskis (ool-yan-skees) were the only two picks from the Ducks' 2024 draft class that did not attend the NHL Draft in Las Vegas. But they were in Southern California this week for Ducks development camp.

"I was with my family up at our cabin in Wisconsin," Burnevik said. So I was able to get that call and share the moment with my family and a couple of friends. I actually got the call from my agent first and then got the call from the Ducks organization a little bit later."

Uljanskis said he was watching the draft at home with his family and some friends when he got the call that he'd been drafted by the Ducks. For both players, it's their first time in California.

"Yeah, this is (my first time in California)," Burnevik said. "At least I would consider it my first. I think I was here when I was a baby, but I don't think I would count that. So I consider this my first time."

"Yeah, it's my first time being in California," Uljanskis said. "Not (my) first time in the U.S., but first time in California."

Though he is from Latvia, Uljankis has spent the last three seasons playing in Sweden. The left-handed defenseman spent most of last season with AIK's J20 team, where he had 29 points in 45 regular season games and three points in two playoff games.

"I understand mostly and it's hard with speaking," Uljankis said regarding Swedish. "But I think I understand most of the language."

Burnevik played in the USHL with the Madison Capitols last season but spent the two seasons before that with the U.S. NTDP, playing alongside star-studded names like Gabe Perreault, Will Smith, Oliver Moore, Cole Eiserman, Zeev Buium and Cole Hutson. Those last three names were all selected in the 2024 NHL Draft just like Burnevik.

"Yeah, it was awesome," Burnevik said about seeing some of his former teammates get drafted. Seeing those guys that you know so well having their names called, obviously happy for them."

However, playing with so many talented players has its downsides. Burnevik was unable to crack the top-6 and had trouble finding a consistent role with the NTDP. Thus, the decision to play for the Capitols was made. He had 71 points in 61 games for the Capitols in 2023-24. He had 76 points total in his two seasons with the NTDP.

"I had a great time at the NTDP in terms of being able to develop and make myself better, but there might not have been as much of an opportunity in terms of playing those top-6 minutes and (getting) some power play time.

"I think electing to play another year of juniors instead of going into school (right away) and getting some of those opportunities, I think that helped my development and confidence."

Burnevik will play collegiate hockey next season with St. Cloud State. He grew up in nearby Ham Lake. "They recruited me pretty much from the get-go. It was always a school of interest. I grew up going to games there, both of my parents went to games there. It's close to home and being able to have that to build my relationship with the coaching staff has been great. Looking forward to getting there."

The 2023 World Championships were held in Uljanskis' hometown of Riga in Latvia, but the defenseman wasn't around because preseason had already begun for AIK.

"But I saw all the videos," he said. "All of Latvia was in the streets and it was a really big step for Latvia as a hockey nation."

Artūrs Šilovs, who is one of four Latvians currently playing in the NHL, gained national media attention for his performances at both the 2023 Worlds for Latvia and the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Vancouver Canucks.

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Both players mentioned that they want to improve on every aspect of their game, but Burnevik also emphasized wanting to improve his skating while Uljanskis cited that his defensive work could improve.

"I want to become a better skater," Burnevik said. "I want to become bigger, stronger (and) improve a little bit at everything."

"On every detail, I can work on," Uljanskis said. "But mostly, I can focus on defensive things. That's been hard for me over the last few seasons."