Ducks rookie camp loaded with blue chippers

The Ducks will open rookie camp today in Irvine ahead of the Rookie Faceoff tournament, which will run Friday through Monday in the Las Vegas area.

Today’s practice will begin at 10:45 a.m. and is open to fans with free admission at Great Park Ice & Fivepoint Arena in Irvine.

Twenty-five budding Ducks will compete in the camp and exhibition tournament, which will entail three games apiece for the six participating clubs. The Ducks will face the Vegas

Golden Knights on Friday at 7 p.m. in Henderson, Nevada, before playing a pair of games in Summerlin, Nevada. They’ll take on the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday at 1 p.m. and then the Kings on Monday at 12:30 p.m. The Arizona Coyotes and San Jose Sharks will round out the six-team field.

The Ducks will stream games online featuring San Diego Gulls commentator Aaron Cooney and former Ducks winger Emerson Etem.

While some franchises’ rookie camps come and go with little fanfare, the Ducks’ development system is overflowing with promise, thanks in part to some lean campaigns for the parent club since 2018.

Already boasting dynamic talents barely old enough to buy a beer at the Honda Center concession stands on their main roster — 22-year-old center Trevor Zegras led the team in scoring while defenseman Jamie Drysdale, 21, will be back after missing almost all of last season with a torn labrum — the Ducks will showcase several up-and-comers they expect to feature prominently for the parent club before long.

This year’s second overall draft selection, Swedish center Leo Carlsson, will headline the participants. Both of the Ducks’ firstrounders from last season will also be on hand: center Nathan Gaucher (No. 22 overall) and defenseman Pavel Mintyukov (No. 10 overall).

Mintyukov was also part of a historic group of prospects that threw down a flush on the blue line last season: He, Tristan Luneau (2022, No. 53 overall) and Olen Zellwegger (2021, No. 34 overall) each won his respective league’s defenseman of the year award, sweeping the top level of Canadian major junior hockey. All three players will attend the Rookie Faceoff.

Forward Nikita Nesterenko and defenseman Jackson Lacombe, both of whom made their debuts late last season after completing their NCAA careers, appeared in a combined total of nine matches for the Ducks last season and were the only players among the 25 to dress at the NHL level. Nesterenko was acquired from the Minnesota Wild as part of the John Klingberg trade. Lacombe was a 2019 second-rounder who skated for four seasons at the University of Minnesota.