By Drew Wilson

Raiders ramping up plans for training camp

Aug 14, 2014 | 6:50 AM

It’s that time of year again. Raider rookie camp opens Aug. 22 and general manager Bruno Campese says there is a lot to go over before the players arrive.

“Everything from who we have coming to where we see guys (players) as far as moving forward, mapping out and projecting who is going to be in the Regina tournament (Aug. 29 vs. Lethbridge, Aug. 30 vs. Calgary), there’s billets, there’s schools, there’s travel, practice planning, there is a lot going on.”

Part of the planning process is dealing with the six players destined for NHL camps. Campese said they want to make sure those players are prepared so they can hit the ground running when they come back.

“For example, a player like Mckenze Stewart: he’s going to be heading to Vancouver’s rookie camp. We have to make sure we get him enough ice time in certain situations, maybe some different looks that he wasn’t used to last year.”

The big 19-year-old defenseman was selected by Vancouver in the seventh round of the NHL draft. Campese concedes plans can go out the window because of injuries so changing on the fly is a definite possibility.

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The first plan-B situation has already arisen with the news that Joshua Pasault, the Minnesota-based winger who was a strong candidate to make the team, has decided not to come this season. Campese said it’s a risk associated with American players.

“He had signed a contract and everything was a go,” said Campese. “I talked to him numerous times all summer long, everything was very exciting about him coming up, but his high school team in Minnesota has named him captain just in this past week. High school hockey is a big thing in the state of Minnesota, being the captain of that team is a big, big deal so he has decided to stay another year. He has told me that he still plans to come up here next year as a 19-year-old, we will see how that transpires.”

The overage situation is usually unresolved heading into training camp and despite the trade of Chance Braid to Prince George, the Raiders still have six candidates for three final roster spots. The team can carry four until early October. However, Campese said it’s starting to sort itself out.

“There have been some discussions with [Shane] Danyluk and [Carson] Perreaux about potentially looking at playing Junior-A.” said Campese who also pointed out you never know for sure if players heading to pro camps are coming back.

“(Jayden) Hart’s got a tryout with Buffalo, if you remember, we had Jonathan Parker and Antoine Corbin who both went to camps and ended up signing [pro] contracts.”

However, the Raider GM is happy about the potential group of 20 year olds regardless of who comes back.

“We feel very confident no matter what happens we will have three good quality character individuals on our roster here this year.”

The other overage candidates are defenseman Sawyer Lange, centreman Calder Brooks and winger Dakota Conroy.

They will be among the veterans who report for main camp on the Aug. 24. It wraps up with the Green and White intersquad game on Aug. 26. The preseason game at home is Sept. 5 against the Saskatoon Blades.

dwilson@panow.com

On Twitter: @RaidersVoice