Five Takeaways: Day 2 of Prospects Development Camp

Prospects Development Camp returned to PNC Arena for a day full of on- and off-ice action on Thursday.
Here are five takeaways from the second day of Prospects Development Camp.

1. Skills & Speaker
The group designated as "rookies" hit the ice first at 9:45 a.m. this morning for a skills session conducted by Mark Metzger. The "veterans" were up next at 10:45 a.m.

"I've told these kids: nobody is making the team this week," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "It's more us to get to know [them] and them to know what we expect as an organization."
Special guest Scott Darling spoke to the group of prospects afterward at lunch.

"I put myself in their shoes. When I was that age, whenever you had a veteran player who had been around a long time or especially a current player for the team, it's cool," Brind'Amour said. "It's neat … for the kids to look up, see them and hear the stories."
2. Swivel Vision
In the two skills sessions this morning, the goaltenders were sporting some eyewear underneath their masks. Shades because the future is so bright? Yes, but no. I tracked down goaltending coach Mike Bales for the answer: they were wearing
Swivel Vision glasses
, which are designed to train goaltenders to "utilize [their] optimal field of vision at all times to promote proper tracking, hand-eye coordination, focus and enhanced reaction speeds."
In essence, the glasses overemphasize puck tracking, forcing goaltenders to move their body with their eyes in order to visually track the puck with precision and speed. Cool little gizmo and a great teaching tool for this week.

3. Veterans Lead
Defenseman Jake Bean is participating in his third Prospects Development Camp. If you can say this about a 20-year-old, he's one of the "veterans" of the group.
The first year, he said, he didn't really know what to expect. The second and third years are an easier transition.
"Just being more comfortable. It's an advantage," he said. "There's tons of knowledge out on the ice. Not being nervous and just playing my game. That's the most honest way to get an assessment of myself and see what they want me to improve on."

Already knowing what is expected of him and being familiar with his surroundings helps a player like Bean stand out in the various drills.
"You can kind of see the ones … who have been here before. When you talk about drills, they're speaking up," Brind'Amour said. "Those are the guys who have been here before, and that's what you expect."

Though the drills or the staff or even some of the players are familiar, new faces come to camp each and every year. Andrei Svechnikov, the Canes' second overall pick, has a few extra eyes on him.
"It's a lot of fun every year to see the new faces come in. You get to meet a lot of great guys," Bean said. "[Svechnikov] is a great guy off the ice. He's super nice, very humble and fun to be around. On the ice, he's unbelievable. He's got tons of skill. He sees the ice very well. He looks like an NHL player."
"There are a few kids that look really good," Brind'Amour said. "You're looking at everything, how hard they do a drill or whatever. It's the little things that add up and the habits they have. You want to see if they have a lot of good habits. … We've got really good kids, and I'm really excited about the group we have."

4. A Sigh of Relief
It was early in the evening session when, in a one-on-one drill, Martin Necas hit a rut and crashed into the end boards. I was watching the other end of the rink but certainly heard the collision, and Necas seemed to be in pain getting back to his feet. He skated off to the dressing room, but everyone breathed a sigh of relief (and there were even a few cheers in the crowd) when he reappeared shortly after - he didn't even miss a drill and was back at the white board in time for the next set of instructions.
Whew.

5. More Power Skating Fun
I imagine power skating drills work muscles that are otherwise underutilized in typical hockey practices. They're a lot of fun to watch but perhaps a little less fun to actually do, especially at the end of another long day of on- and off-ice work.
If the legs were feeling OK on Wednesday, they were probably hurting a bit on Thursday.

"Some guys actually took a step back today because I think they're sore. We kind of put them threw a bit of a grind yesterday," Brind'Amour said. "Long day today, too. That's all to be expected."
"It was a tough day, but it was a lot of fun. You're in it with a whole bunch of guys who I'm hoping all felt the same," Bean laughed.
Up Next
The Hurricanes' prospects will practice as a team from 10-11 a.m. on Friday, a session that is free and open to the public and will be live streamed on Hurricanes.com for those unable to attend. Friday afternoon's schedule consists of off-ice instruction and a team-building trip to Epic Games (the creators of Fortnite) in Cary.
"Me and Geeks (Morgan Geekie) - that was our thing to do in Tri-City," Bean said. "We're both looking forward to it."
A full schedule and additional information regarding Prospects Development Camp and Summerfest can be found
here
.