Five Raiders heading to NHL camps

Also heading to NHL camps are Riley Boychuk and Bennett Kelly, who both attended summer camps in the NHL and have now received fall camp invites. Boychuk will be heading to the Calgary Flames, while Kelly is heading to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

All five camp invited players leave before Thursday’s preseason game against the Saskatoon Blades.

Raiders General Manager Curtis Hunt is excited to see so many players heading to NHL camps, but it does make decisions a little more difficult here in Prince Albert. With five returning players all heading to NHL camps, that means the Raiders won’t be able to have their full regular season squad on the ice until a few games into the season.

“The advantage is that you get a really good look at these kids before you make a final decision on the roster. We don’t know if it’s good or bad yet, we will wait and see.”

That statement was echoed by Head Coach Ryan McDonald, who said that it should give a little more time to the newcomers to find the role they fit into.

“It’s opportunity for guys to step up and fill roles and fill spots where guys might be vacated from for a little bit of time. Again, a real opportunity for the guys who are still here to continue to learn, continue to raise their level, and take advantage of those opportunities.”

With NHL camps also pushing back the final roster decisions, the decision on a leadership group will likely get pushed back past the start of the season. McDonald doesn’t want letters on sweaters to be a rushed decision.

“The best thing is when you got time, you use it, and for us we’re in no rush. We like where things are at. We think some guys have done a tremendous job of continuing to sharpen up their leadership skills and guys stepping up and being more vocal that they didn’t have to be in previous years and leading by example, making sure guys are taking care of off the ice and routines.”

For now, while players are gone to their NHL camps and gaining valuable experience at the pro level, the focus for the Raiders is on getting the players here back into that routine that lead to last year’s Eastern Conference Championship.

So far that return to routine has gone well, and McDonald is enjoying watching last year’s veterans getting the new guys situated with the ‘Raider Way’.

“Guys thrive on routine and our routine when we come to the rink, guys know what to expect. They know where they need to be, they know what they need to do, they come put the work in, but when they put the work in, they’re having a lot of fun doing it. That’s the best part about coming to the rink with your teammates and your brothers is you get to come to battle with them every single day.”

The Raiders play two more games before the start of the preseason, Thursday against the Saskatoon Blades at home, and then on the road Friday against the Regina Pats. McDonald shared what his team is focusing on heading into the pair of games.

“Just continue to keep building on our game, that’s what we’re focused on. We’re focused on us, continue to keep building on our details, our habits, our structure, and just continuing to get a little bit better each and every day. We really liked our practice yesterday (Monday), looking forward to getting on the ice again with the guys today and continuing to hammer home some of the details and some of the structure and again, just continuing to keep improving each day.”

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com

by Nick Nielsen

Five Raiders heading to NHL camps

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