DEV CAMP: News & notes from 2026 Oilers Development Camp

EDMONTON, AB – A total of 27 players (14 forwards, eight defencemen & five goalies) attended Oilers Development Camp from June 29-July 2 at Rogers Place to take part in fitness testing, medicals, information sessions, on-ice practices and off-ice team building.

Camp concluded Thursday with a Billy Moores Cup three-on-three tournament.

All five of Edmonton’s 2026 draft picks were on the Camp roster, which included a trio of women’s hockey players in PWHL Seattle Torrent second-overall pick & USA gold medalist Abbey Murphy, University of Minnesota’s Chloe Primerano, and Canada National Women's U18 standout & University of Minnesota-Duluth’s Caitlin Kraemer.

• OILERS FULL 2026 DEVELOPMENT CAMP ROSTER

View all the news, videos and updates on the prospects from Development Camp as Oilers TV and EdmontonOilers.com provided coverage of the event.

ALL DAY 3 CONTENT

GALLERY

• Dev Camp Day 3 (Jul. 1)

ALL DAY 2 CONTENT

GALLERY

• Dev Camp Day 2 (Jun. 30)

VIDEO

• DEV CAMP | Caitlin Kraemer (Jun. 30)
• DEV CAMP | Chloe Primerano (Jun. 30)
• DEV CAMP | Beau Akey (Jun. 30)
• DEV CAMP | Connor Clattenburg (Jun. 30)
• DEV CAMP | Connor Ungar (Jun. 30)

DAY 1

MURPHY, PRIMERANO & KRAEMER JOIN CAMP

What a whirlwind few weeks it's been for Abbey Murphy – and it keeps getting better.

Fresh off being the second overall pick of the Seattle Torrent in the PWHL Draft, the USA Olympic gold medalist and leading scorer for the University of Minnesota found her way to Oilers Development Camp after receiving an invitation from the General Manager & Exec. VP of Hockey Operations Stan Bowman, along with her NCAA teammate Chloe Primerano and the University of Minnesota-Duluth's Caitlin Kraemer.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Murphy said. "Maybe it comes back here and there, but when he reached out to us, it was. It was very hard to decline it. I think we're all super ecstatic to get that, and it was an obvious yes. Just to be here with all these guys, getting to meet them and know them a little bit more, has been super fun.

"Being around the Oilers organization, you know, you're talking to all these people, the staff, and getting to know them and how much work they put into this to make it happen and to be one of the best."

Murphy had 66 points (40 goals) in 33 games for the University of Minnesota and seven points (two goals) in seven games as the USA earned gold at Milano-Cortina 2026.

Primerano, her University of Minnesota teammate, had 10 goals and 20 assists in 34 games and was the first woman selected in the CHL Prospects Draft in 2022, when the Vancouver Giants took her in the 13th round.

Kraemer posted 30 points (15 goals, 15 assists) in 36 games as a sophomore for the University of Minnesota Duluth this season and is the all-time leading scorer for the Canadian National Women's U18 Team with 53 points (37 goals) in 32 games.

Canadian defenceman Erin Ambrose, who won the Walter Cup with the PWHL's Montreal Victoire this past season, is serving as a coach at Camp for the second consecutive year.

ROBINSON EVOLVING HIS GAME

Oilers Director of Amateur Scouting Rick Pracey joked after the Draft that he hoped defenceman Andrew Robinson would slow down his late-season surge last year with the OHL's Windsor Spitfires, and thankfully, it all worked out to land him in Edmonton.

The 18-year-old defenceman was taken in the sixth round at 133rd overall by the Oilers after recording nine goals and 15 assists with a plus-36 rating in 63 games for Windsor, and a second-half push saw him reach nearly half those totals in the playoffs with two goals and six assists in 13 postseason games after resetting over the Christmas break.

"I think it showed in the second half," he said. "I was doing a ton of video with the coaching staff, getting on the ice before practice, leaving after everyone's gone, getting those kind of extra reps in, and I think that really helped my development throughout the second half of the season."

As a defensive defenceman, Robinson takes pride in being one of the first names over the boards for Windsor to shut down opponents, and believes the added offence late in the season as a nice bonus won't take him away from what's made him successful as he  enters his first Development Camp.

"Yeah, that's something I take a ton of pride in," he said. "It's always something that I talk about where we could win a game, and if I'm on for a goal, I'm still pissed off.  It's one of those things where that's the biggest thing for me as a defenceman. I know I should contribute offensively, and I do, but I'm a defenseman.  I gotta make sure that goals don't go in when I'm on the ice.  And that's just something I take a ton of pride in.

Robinson is committed to play for Providence College (NCAA) in 2026-27.

RUDY TO USE SIZE TO HIS ADVANTAGE

First time getting drafted, first time in Edmonton – it's all led to an incredible first experience at Development Camp for Oilers' second-round pick Rudolfs Berzkalns as he looks to take the next step into becoming a dominant two-way centre in the NHL.

The Latvian was in Buffalo this past weekend to hear his name called by the Oilers early on Day 2 of the Draft, then found himself on a flight to Edmonton for the first time to attend Development Camp, where he stands out as one of the biggest forwards on the roster at 6-foot-4 and 203 pounds.

"This is my first time in this part of Canada, so I didn't know anything about Edmonton," Berkalns said. "I've just heard a lot of good things about the fan base, and that they're super passionate, so I'm looking forward to that."

Playing his sophomore season with USHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks, the 18-year-old felt more comfortable in his bigger frame and produced 13 goals and 12 assists in 48 games, while also registering a goal for Latvia against Canada in the 2026 World Juniors.

Berzkalns is hoping to carry that confidence forward into Development Camp, where he already showed some of his offensive touch by scoring two terrific back-to-back goals during a two-on-two drill on Tuesday. Having made big strides defensively in recent seasons, he wants to have more impact offensively as he prepares to make the jump to Boston College in 2027-28.

"I think I just felt more confident using my size," he said. "I think that's what gives me success – just using my size and just being that two-way center who can play on both sides of the puck. I think for this upcoming season, I'm looking forward to being more offensive. I feel like I've always had that in the past. I've always been more of a points guy, but then the past couple of years I just picked up that D game and then I'm just trying to get to that complete two-way center."

MORE INTERVIEWS FROM DEVELOPMENT CAMP (DAY 1)

ALL DAY 1 CONTENT

GALLERY

• Fitness Testing & Medicals (Jun. 29)

WRITTEN

• Murphy, No. 2 pick in 2026 PWHL Draft, among 3 women invited to Oilers development camp (Jun. 29)

VIDEO

• DEV CAMP | Rudolfs Berkalns (Jun. 29)
• DEV CAMP | Malcom Gastrin (Jun. 29)
• DEV CAMP | Andrew Robinson (Jun. 29)
• DEV CAMP | Caden Harvey (Jun. 29)
• DEV CAMP | Ryan Cameron (Jun. 29)