Golden Knights glad to be back in person after virtual development camp in 2021

The Golden Knights, both the front office and their prospects, were excited to get back to their first in-person development camp since 2019 last week.

Technically, though, Vegas held a development camp in 2021. It was just virtual.

When the pandemic forced the NHL to do all forms of communication through Zoom for the past two years, it also limited the in-person dialogue between NHL teams and their prospects, especially those not based in North America.

The Golden Knights didn’t have enough time in 2020 — between the NHL Draft on Oct. 6 to the start of the next regular season in January — to bring their prospects together and work with them in some capacity. Last year, with the league calendar slightly back to normal but still limited in-person, Vegas decided to hold its development camp via Zoom.

“We just weren’t quite to a place as a society where we could bring the kids here for a traditional camp,” said Golden Knights director of player development Wil Nichol. “We all talked about, ‘what can we do?’ We can’t do the on-ice.’”

What the Golden Knights did was bring the courses they already teach off-ice during development camp and brought them to a virtual classroom setting for four days.

For three hours out of the day, the Vegas prospects sat through cooking and nutrition sessions, some elements they’ve long done since the franchise began five years ago.

“It’s not exactly the same, but it’s the best we could do,” Nichol said.

They also held a Q&A session with current Golden Knights players for the first time. Defensemen Zach Whitecloud and Nic Hague were the lead participants last year. Whitecloud led the Q&A again this week with forward Keegan Kolesar.

Whitecloud is a perfect example of someone coming up through the Golden Knights' development ranks and becoming a mainstay in the NHL. The defenseman was an undrafted free agent from Bemidji State and signed with Vegas in 2018.

Four years later, he's one of the Golden Knights' most important players and signed a six-year extension last October.

Nichol asked Whitecloud last year to take part in the Q&A and he didn't hesitate.

"I was happy to do it because [Nichol] has done so much for me," Whitecloud said. "I was in those kids' shoes four, five years ago. Just a chance to give back a little bit. When I was their age, I was like those guys, wanting to listen to [the veterans]. Just good to give them some insight.

"You remember what you're thinking at that time, trying to impress at development camp. It's cool to see. You get to see where your hard work has taken you. It kind of comes full circle having gone through those experiences. It's exciting for me and fun for me because you're going to see a lot of these kids in the league in a couple of years."

Not that a bunch of eager hockey players wanting to be a part of an NHL organization would ever consider playing hooky, but getting anyone — let alone teenage hockey players — to be engaged for hours on end could be a daunting task.

But Nichol said it was a credit to assistant director player personnel Bob Lowes and his staff for finding not just good hockey players, but good people that wanted to learn.

“I wasn’t surprised that these kids were dialed in,” Nichol said. “They wanted to get better. The proof’s in the pudding. I get to watch them this last year and you see it.”

Much of these courses were designed for those players who are living on their own or are staying with their Billet families — families who welcome junior hockey players to their homes during the season, whether cross-country or even in a different part of the world.

“I learned a lot from it and I was talking to the other guys who were with me, and they say the same thing,” said 2020 first-round pick Brendan Brisson. “It was a good experience.”

The cooking class is among the most popular. The players don’t get into the kitchen and try to become the next Wolfgang Puck, but they’re taught basic principles — how to determine how done a piece of meat is, how much and what kind of vegetables to add to a player’s diet, what’s considered a good breakfast, for example.

“Because that’s part of being a pro,” Nichol said. “I didn’t know how to do it. You just assume these kids don’t know how to do it. They may not have a mom or dad to cook, so let’s help them get better.”

It was a valuable time given the situation, but the rookies who took part prefer doing everything in person than a webcam. All three coaching staffs — from the Golden Knights and new coach Bruce Cassidy, to Manny Viveiros in Henderson and Rick Bennett for ECHL Savannah — are getting the chance to work with the players and begin the process of figuring out their rosters.

“It’s a lot better having it in person,” said goalie Carl Lindbom. “It was a good learning experience last year, but this year is totally different.”

Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.