Many of the Nashville Predators’ top prospects – including 2017 first-round draft pick Eeli Tolvanen, 2016 first-rounder Dante Fabbro and many of the players selected by the club at next weekend’s 2018 NHL Draft in Dallas – will participate in the team’s 2018 Development Camp from June 25-29 in Nashville.
The camp officially opened on Monday, June 25 with team meetings, off-ice testing and the first of the week’s three on-ice sessions. Prospects will also hit the ice for practices on Tuesday, June 26 and Thursday, June 28 at Centennial Sportsplex.
The camp will culminate with the Future Stars Game on Friday, June 29 at 7 p.m. CT at Bridgestone Arena. General admission tickets to the game are on sale now and are available for a $10 donation (free for Season-Ticket Citizens by request) to the Ford Ice Center Scholarship Fund. A plaza party presented by Lee Company will begin at 5:30 p.m. and all fans in attendance will receive a Preds giveaway item.
The purpose of the camp is to educate and direct players in their pro development and conditioning programs. The week’s events will be headed up by Predators Director of Player Development/Milwaukee Admirals GM Scott Nichol and Strength and Conditioning Coach David Good, with assistance from the rest of the Nashville Predators and Admirals’ (AHL affiliate) coaching and hockey operations staffs. The training itinerary features a variety of on- and off-ice testing, dry-land activities and workouts, on-ice fundamentals work, video sessions, media and nutrition education and team-building activities. The prospects will also receive instruction on training principles such as sport-specific power and strength enhancement, flexibility and off-ice conditioning.
