DRILLS & PRACTICE PLANS

2024 Development Camps: The Good and the Bad

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Dan Arel
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The 2024 NHL Development Camps have wrapped up following the NHL Draft, and much like last season, we saw a lot of teams bring out some new and creative drills, and others fall back on some outdated or even useless drills that didn’t do their prospective players any favors.

Yet, before we even get to the good and bad, there is one team that took their development to another level and really tested their players. 

This was the Washington Capitals, who brought out famed skating coach Wendy Marco who put the players through the ringer.


This level of skating took players out of their comfort zones and really did a lot to level the playing field as well. Even some of those noted to be incredible skaters struggled along with everyone else.

Now, how did the rest of the teams fare?

The Bad

The San Jose Sharks ran a rather disappointing drill to work on picking up pucks off the boards.

Mock pressure, and no sense of urgency to make this feel gamelike at all. While picking up a puck off the boards is something worth practicing, at this level especially, there is no reason to do it without any sense of urgency.

The Sharks didn’t stop there though. They ran more drills that lacked game-like urgency and speed and allowed players a lot of time and space to look good. To really see a player’s skill, it’s important to put some panic in their game and real pressure.

The Ottawa Senators brought out a lackluster passing drill that you can see from this clip alone, the players looked bored even doing it.

Giving players too set of a routine to follow and removing all thinking quickly removes any fun from a drill and also loses the desired outcome of seeing what a player is capable of.

Montreal got in on the action of working on rim retrievals, and much like San Jose, left little reason for the players to work hard or move their feet.

The Good

But not all was bad, and some teams even redeemed themselves later. One big theme that came across in the teams that ran good drills was their willingness to move to small area games. This is a trend we are seeing grow more and more each season.

The Sharks redeemed themselves here with this small area 3 on 3. Created competition, restricted their area of play, and then forced them to make decisions and show off their Hockey IQ and decision making skills.

The Detroit Red Wings also got in on the 3 on 3 action at center ice.

And they aren’t the only two teams either. The Boston Bruins ran some cross-ice 3 on 3.

And the Flames went with some 2 on 2.

The Colorado Avalanche got creative with this fast moving, many parts passing drill. I love the skaters moving and the chaos of it, you have to be ready and thinking fast among so many moving pieces to make this work.

And finally, the Seattle Kraken, now helmed by Coach Dan Bylsma did not disappoint. Bylsma has long been a proponent of small area games and his teams records seem to speak highly of his ability to get a lot out of his players.

This unique small area game forces players into a small zone in the slot and makes them battle one on one. It moves quickly so players are not standing around for long, and seemingly has even those watching engaged as they cheer on the battle they are watching. 

I could not represent all 32 teams here, but wanted to highlight the work that I feel makes good teams good, but great teams great. The thought process that goes into not just evaluating your prospects but also developing them so they are always getting better each time they touch the ice is what separates those teams who go on runs and those who watch from home.





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