Fitzgerald is one of 26 players at camp looking to make Team USA's roster for the 2017 World Junior Championship in Montreal and Toronto.
"I'm trying to just keep it simple out here," Fitzgerald said following practice on Friday. "Just make the smart play, work hard, have the work ethic. You can't teach that, so it's just coming in with a positive attitude and just working your tail off."
Fitzgerald is currently in the midst of his sophomore season at Boston College, where he's tallied five goals and eight assists in 13 games. His coach at BC is former Sabre Greg Brown, who is also serving as an assistant coach on Bob Motzko's staff with Team USA. Brown praised Fitzgerald's speed and ability to read situations on Friday, and Motzko spoke of the young defenseman in a similar light.
"He's had a really good first half, that's one thing, and he's a sophomore so he's not a rookie at Boston College," Motzko said. "He can eat minutes, he can play offense, he's solid defensively … He's got the ability to play a lot of different roles for this team."
Fitzgerald proved his ability on the international stage in 2015, when he won gold with Team USA at the IIHF World U18 Championships in the Czech Republic.
"There is a lot of guys on this team that were on that team with me, so it's definitely special being back here with them," Fitzgerald said. "We all have a bond that can never be broken and we'll take with us for the rest of our lives so it's great to have a lot of guys from that team here and we'll hopefully capture something like we did then."
Other players from that gold-medal team are already making a splash in the NHL, namely Auston Matthews and Fitzgerald's cousin, Matthew Tkachuk. Tkachuk is one of several of Fitzgerald's family members to play in World Junior tournaments, a list that includes another cousin, Jimmy Hayes of the Boston Bruins, as well as Fitzgerald's own father, Tom, who represented Team USA in 1986-87. Brown was also a member of that team.
"It's obviously very special for any kid," Fitzgerald said. "You grow up watching it every Christmas, the World Juniors, since you can remember so it's definitely surreal to be here now. We've got a lot to work on as a team, just trying to make this team right now, working hard every day and trying to make my teammates around me better."
Fitzgerald turns 20 in February, so he'll be back to watching next year. That tournament will be held in Buffalo, including an outdoor game between the USA and Canada at New Era Field. Other games will be played at KeyBank Center and HarborCenter, the latter of which has already impressed after day one at camp.
"I mean look at the terrific city, the transformation of what's happening downtown," Motzko said. "I was here for the draft this year, this past summer, this is really becoming a destination hockey spot in the United States very quickly. Maybe you've had it all the time here but I'm new to the area outside of the USA events, and this is just fabulous. It's a great place for us to hold a camp."
