Spitfires Looking To Impress At NHL camps
Prospects aim to gain valuable experience, showcase their talents at rookie camps
Tuesday marked the first day that Windsor Spitfires head coach Trevor Letowski could hold a normal practice after a week of settling on the team’s roster coming out of training camp.
It’s not a routine Letowski can savour for more than a day, as four members of the Spitfires head out to NHL rookie camps on Wednesday.
“It could be a lot worse,” Letowski said. “We’re only losing two forwards, a defenceman and a goalie. It’s not like we’re getting decimated.”
OHL goalie of the year Mike DiPietro is headed to Penticton, B.C., for his second rookie camp with the Vancouver Canucks, who will play a tournament on Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets, the University of British Columbia and the University of Alberta.
“I want to enter this year’s camp with a little more confidence in my game,” said the 19-year-old DiPietro, who was a third-round pick of the Canucks in 2017. He signed with the team over the summer. “Hopefully, I put a good foot forward for the future.
“The longer I stay, the better for myself, but I’m not going in with any predetermined expectations.”
For teammates Curtis Douglas, Connor Corcoran and Mathew MacDougall, this will be their first NHL rookie camp.
“I’m full of excitement,” said the 18-year-old Corcoran, who was a fifth-round pick of the Las Vegas Golden Knights in June. “I’m just happy to be going there. It’s going to be nice to be playing with players who have been drafted, so there’s going to be good players and it’s good to get that experience and comeback here.”
The Golden Knights will hold rookie camp in Las Vegas and will host a rookie tournament starting Saturday with Arizona, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Colorado and San Jose to take part. “I’ve still got a long way to go,” Corcoran said. “I’m one step closer, but pretty far away, and I just have to keep working hard. “I want to play in the NHL one day, but you have to take it step by step. Being drafted is the first step, the next is to get signed and be a good player in camp.” Douglas is facing a long trip. He’ll fly to Toronto and then to Chicago before heading to Traverse City, Mich., to compete at the Detroit Red Wings rookie tournament for the Dallas Stars against prospects from Detroit, Chicago, Carolina, Columbus, Minnesota, St. Louis and the New York Rangers.
“I’m definitely trying to just make a good first impression with the thought in mind of being a good player down the road,” said the 18-year-old Douglas, who was a fourth-round pick of the Stars in June.
“I don’t expect to play in (NHL) this year, I’m a realist. I just want to do my best and make a name for myself.”
That’s what MacDougall is hoping to accomplish with the Tampa Bay Lightning, who extended a free-agent invite to the team’s prospect camp in the summer after he went undrafted. Now, he’s headed to the team’s rookie camp in Estero, Fla., where the club will compete in a rookie tournament with Nashville and Washington. “They were the most interested,” the 18-year-old MacDougall said of the Lightning. “They invited me to come to all their events ... It’s what I wanted if I wasn’t drafted. At the end of development camp, at the exit meeting, they invited me to the rookie tournament.”
The Spitfires are hoping to have all four players back in time for the team’s season opener on Sept. 20 against the Guelph Storm at the WFCU Arena. For now, Letowski will work with the players on hand. The team isn’t set to play another exhibition game until Sept. 13 when they face the Sarnia Sting. “This won’t take us out of our rhythm,” Letowski said. “We’ll go business as usual, get our system down and run our team.”
I want to play in the NHL one day, but you have to take it step by step. Being drafted is the first step, the next is to get signed and be a good player in camp.