With his junior career behind him, Reece Vitelli is looking for professional opportunities and has been given a shot with the Arizona Coyotes. (Submitted Photo/Mark Peterson Media)

By Rob Mahon

Vitelli To Arizona

Vitelli earns camp invite with NHL’s Coyotes

Jul 11, 2022 | 11:00 AM

Last year, former Raiders captain Reece Vitelli parlayed a strong season in the WHL hub environment into an invite to the Arizona Coyotes development camp. He impressed the Coyotes so much that he got an invite to their main camp soon after.

Apparently, the impression he left on them hasn’t worn off, as Vitelli was among the invitees to the Coyotes development camp this week in Scottsdale. The camp will run from Monday, July 11 to Friday, July 15.

Following his appearance at the Coyotes’ main camp last season, Vitelli came straight back to the Raiders and didn’t seem to miss a beat. Arriving in Regina just in time for the team’s second game of the campaign, he scored a goal in his return to the lineup, setting the tone for what would be a career season offensively.

Named the Raiders captain partway through the year, Vitelli would finish the season with 25 goals and 51 points in 65 games, leading the team in scoring. He would go on to add three goals and an assist in five playoff games against the Winnipeg ICE. He finished his career with 288 regular-season games played, of which 144 were played with the Raiders.

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Typically, a team’s development camp is made up of the team’s own draft picks but because most teams don’t have enough draft picks to completely fill two team rosters for an end-of-camp game, they fill any spots left over by inviting undrafted free agents. These players can come from everywhere from Major Junior to the college ranks to Junior A.

Vitelli is one of three Raiders to earn invites to camps so far, as defenseman Trevor Thurston has been invited to Calgary Flames camp, while defenseman Landon Kosior earned an invite to camp with the Los Angeles Kings (also for the second straight year).

Defenseman Nolan Allan will attend Chicago Blackhawks camp as a drafted player, while forwards Carson Latimer and Ozzy Wiesblatt were drafted by Ottawa and San Jose respectively. San Jose has not officially released its camp roster yet, but Latimer is on Ottawa’s.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP