Five takeaways from the Vegas Golden Knights’ developmental camp

By Jesse Granger

Published Sunday, July 2, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Updated Sunday, July 2, 2017 | 8:30 a.m.

Saturday’s scrimmage wrapped up the Vegas Golden Knights inaugural rookie development camp at the Las Vegas Ice Center.

After the entire week of action, here are the five takeaways from the camp:

1. Erik Brannstrom is ahead of the curve

He doesn’t look the part — at least not yet. Brannstrom, 17-year-old Swedish defenseman, is listed at 5-foot-10, and that’s being generous. The first round pick isn’t overly impressive during skating and shooting drills and most of his teammates tower over him in team huddles.

But when the puck dropped for the scrimmages, Brannstrom has shined. It was nearly impossible not to notice his dominance on both ends of the ice.

“He was unbelievable,” Golden Knights’ director of player development Will Nichol said. “I thought he had a great week and he has the chance to be real special.”

Brannstrom is a lock-down defender specializing in poke checks, and was one of the most physical players on the ice despite being undersized. On the offensive end he brought the puck up the ice with exceptional speed, set teammates up for goals on multiple occasions and ripped a shot past the goalie during Thursday’s scrimmage for a goal of his own.

He’s still too young for the NHL, but Brannstrom’s future in Las Vegas looks bright.

2. They’re just kids

The group of prospects that made up the Golden Knights’ first development camp was one of the youngest in the league.

Forward Tomas Hyka was the eldest of the group at age 24.

While it is easy to get excited about the future of the franchise with so many talented young prospects, it’s important to keep it in perspective. Most of the kids that took the ice this week will be returning to their junior clubs for another year or two.

“They’re just kids,” Nichol said, “ but I thought our prospects all did excellent and got better this week. This is a baseline and our job is to get them to their ceiling.”

The developmental camp isn’t used as much for evaluating the players as it is improving them. The team gives each individual player things to work on while they’re away from the team.

“If you come back in 12 months and you’re not better or you haven’t committed to the nutrition or strength, then we’re going to have some problems,” Nichol said.

3. There was no lack of competition

It was only a scrimmage in the end of June, but try telling that to the prospects.

The simulated games were filled with bone-jarring checks, players diving to block shots and competitive finishes.

“(Head coach Gerard Gallant) really wanted the point to be made,” Nichols said. “We want it to be competitive and hard-nosed, but no (dirty plays). If a kid has their head down don’t take a run at them. We don’t want fights because we are all on the same team and sometimes that’s hard to get the intensity level up without going over the line.”

In all three scrimmages the losing team pulled its goalie in the final minutes in a desperate comeback attempt – something you don’t usually see in a scrimmage.“You definitely want to win,” first round pick Nick Suzuki said. “There’s no point in going out there to play if you don’t want to win.”

4. The players that were supposed to be good, were

It’s no surprise who the standouts were this week. First rounders Brannstrom, Suzuki and Cody Glass all looked like the top prospects they were billed to be.

“Some of our draft picks stood out right away, but you’re also kind of looking towards them,” Nichol said.

Suzuki scored a pair of goals in one scrimmage and set teammates up throughout all three and Glass made a beautiful pass to Keegan Kolesar for a highlight-reel goal in the second scrimmage.

“I’m more excited now than I was at the start of the week about all of our guys,” Nichols said.

There is still a ton of development needed for the trio to make an impact in the NHL, but there were nothing but good signs this week.

“At one point this week I jumped out of my chair about (each) of our prospects,” Nichol said. “You see some things and they’re kids and they’re raw, so you know that there are a lot of better years ahead.”

5. Alex Tuch is the most NHL-ready

During the expansion draft the Golden Knights had the Minnesota Wild in a precarious situation – with talented defensemen Matt Dumba and Marco Scandella.

General manager George McPhee decided to take a deal, choosing forward Eric Haula in exchange for Minnesota’s top prospect in Alex Tuch.

The 21-year-old forward was a former first round pick and at 6-foot-4, 222 pounds he appears ready to finally make the jump to the NHL.

“I feel really confident,” Tuch said. “I chose to come to the development for a reason – because I knew there were a lot of draft picks that need a veteran presence. I wanted to come in here and show them how a professional hockey player carries himself and plays the game.”

He did just that, and was a man amongst boys during the scrimmages.

Tuch is likely the only player in the camp that has a chance to make the Golden Knights opening roster. The rest will either be back with their junior clubs or with the Chicago Wolves. Tuch will have a chance to earn his spot in September.

“I think my physical play, especially in front of the net, has gotten better and I’m a lot more consistent,” Tuch said. “I’m a big, strong power forward and shoot the puck pretty well.”

Jesse Granger can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Jesse on Twitter at twitter.com/JesseGranger_.