Summer is in full swing. The hockey offseason can feel long and vapid. Though the PWHL is in offseason mode currently, a lot has happened between expansion, player signings, and the draft.
But there was still hockey played in some parts of North America last week.
The NHL held their annual development camps after their own draft occurred on June 26. Some of these NHL teams invited NCAA and PWHL players and coaches to camp. While coaching at NHL development camp has been a thing, having actual women’s hockey players take part has not.
The Edmonton Oilers did something never seen in NHL development camp before: they invited three women’s college hockey players to camp. Abbey Murphy, the second overall pick at this year’s PWHL draft and former University of Minnesota captain, along with her Gophers teammate Chloe Primerano and University of Minnesota Duluth standout Caitlin Kraemer became the very first women to ever take part in an NHL development camp. They were joined by Walter Cup champion Erin Ambrose as a coach in Edmonton, too. For all four women, NHL development camp is a stepping stone for them and all of hockey.
So what is development camp?
After the NHL draft, every team (usually) will hold a development camp. The camp varies from team to team. Some teams do a full week of camp and others do a few days. Some focus on one-on-one work while others will do that and add in a scrimmage or tournament to end camp.
What development camp essentially is is a way for NHL coaching staffs and sometimes their AHL staff to evaluate players in different ways. The players will do off-ice testing, skill-specific activities, and drills. That allows coaches to pinpoint what players are doing right or can improve on. For players, dev camp is a chance to receive feedback from coaches at the pro level and a chance for them to get to know other players from different schools and levels, pick their brains, and raise their confidence.
For Edmonton’s camp, they specifically stated the following for their camp:
“After taking part in fitness testing & medicals on Monday, the Oilers prospects will participate in information sessions, on-ice practices, and off-ice team-building activities over the Camp, culminating on Wednesday in a three-on-three tournament.”
Though the trio of players who participated in Edmonton may not play in the NHL, taking part in dev camp is a huge step. It helps Murphy as she enters her first pro season. It also helps Primerano and Kraemer in their upcoming college seasons and as they continue to work on their game with Hockey Canada as well.
How did this come to be?
Oilers general manager Stan Bowman said he had the idea of inviting the women’s hockey players during the Olympics. He added he’s known Murphy for almost 10 years.
“We were actually talking among the GMs and we were remarking how impressive and how talented these girls were, and that’s when I got the idea where it would be great to try and bring some of them here and be part of our group at development camp,” Bowman told NHL.com. “Obviously, Abbey is turning professional herself, the other two are still in college, much like some of the other players we’ve invited here. They are trying to learn about how to get better.”
Kraemer told the Edmonton media that Bowman texted her a month prior to the start of camp to invite her. “I thought it was spam, but it turned out to be legit,” Kraemer explained. “It … didn’t ever feel like this was going to happen, so surprising, but really excited for this opportunity.”
Murphy said this opportunity was “once-in-a-lifetime.” The Olympic gold medalist added it was hard to decline the offer when Edmonton extended an invitation. “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.”
Kraemer added the men’s players were supportive and have been great with the women. “It’s been fun getting to know them, and it felt very welcom[ing].”
Women in a brand new environment
Primerano isn’t a stranger to men’s hockey. She grew up playing with fellow Oilers draft pick and dev camp attendee Tommy Lafreniere. In 2022, she became the first woman skater to be selected in the Canadian Hockey League Prospects Draft. She was drafted by the Vancouver Giants in the 13th round. Primerano told Edmonton media she was grateful to be out at camp and called it a cool opportunity for the three skaters. She added what she had seen and learned from the organization in her first few days with the team.
“There’s so much leadership and just everything’s earned, nothing’s given,” she said. “This is just the first step and just learning from all the amazing staff here and all the people and resources. There’s so much that you can learn here. It’s so professional and top-notch [here].
“You just see the facilities and everything that’s provided here. It’s something I’ve never seen before, so it’s really special.”
With her former teammate and captain also at camp, Primerano mentioned how happy she is for Murphy and how exciting it is to see her enter an evergrowing PWHL.
“She’s such an amazing player and an even better person. She’s going to do so well in Seattle and [I’m] so happy for her to see her go there,” Primerano said. “It’s awesome to see the PWHL expanding and growing even more.”
A champion coach: Erin Ambrose
The PWHL expanded by four new teams this offseason, former Montréal Victoire defender and Walter Cup champion Erin Ambrose knows about expansion firsthand. The 32-year-old will suit up for the new PWHL Las Vegas team next season after signing a contract in early June. But before Ambrose could focus on the new PWHL landscape, she was also at Oilers camp as a coach. It was the second straight season Ambrose was on the ice with the Edmonton prospects.
“Having the opportunity to meet a bunch of young athletes, I was really lucky enough last year to kind of get to know a lot of them a little bit more. Try[ing] to get a little bit out of my shell as well and have conversations,” Ambrose explained in a video posted by the Oilers.
She also mentioned there’s no difference between any of the players on the ice. She went in knowing the players she spent last summer with would be accepting of the women joining them for camp this year as attendees.
“I think more than anything, the guys are going to sit there and be like, ‘They’re one of us,’” Ambrose said. “[It] doesn’t matter if it’s men’s hockey or women’s hockey, it is hockey.”
A familiar face at camp
Primerano and Kraemer know Ambrose well from their time training and playing for the Canadian Senior National team. Primerano and Ambrose are good friends and she was happy to see her at camp even if in a different capacity.
“[I’ve] only played with her before and never been coached by her, but it’s so fun to have her here. It’s awesome,” said Primerano.
While Ambrose was happy to be back at dev camp with the Edmonton prospects again, she was just as excited to see the women’s players join the group. That excitement was mirrored by Kraemer who liked that Ambrose was there too.
“She’s one of the best minds I’ve ever met in hockey,” Kraemer told reporters during dev camp availability. “It was such an honor to be her teammate this past year … going through the Olympic cycle with her and to pick her brain, and it’s even better to be able to pick her brain here in this kind of environment.”
The ins and outs of development camp
All 27 players at Oilers camp began the first day with fitness testing and taking part in medicals. Though Kraemer admitted she was nervous to start camp, there was also a lot of excitement because she was achieving a dream in a way.
“I’ve never been in this atmosphere. It’s something girls dream of [when] growing up.” she said. “Before there was the PWHL, it was like, ‘Oh, I want to make an NHL team,’ even though it was kind of unrealistic, but it’s kind of fun to live out that dream a little.”
Kraemer enjoyed the fitness testing but called it tough. “It kind of reminded me of my first skate with the senior women’s team, just another level,” she said. “That’s something that you’re excited [about] because it pushes you. It was fun to just be with the guys and kind of push each other and just see where we’re at, especially because we’re kind of halfway through [the] offseason.”
A supportive environment
And while Ambrose had high hopes the men’s players would welcome the women’s players — she was right. Murphy said they were great during fitness testing.
“Just to be here with all these guys, getting to meet them, getting to know them a little bit more has been super fun,” Murphy said in a video posted by the Oilers. “Going through fitness testing, it’s different. Obviously being one of four girls here, but the boys are awesome. They’re kind of yapping at us to keep going and stuff like that. It’s been amazing.”
The next few days involved on-ice practices and drills for all players. They were able to work on specific skills with different coaches and learn from those around them. The camp concluded on its fourth day with a three-on-three tournament.
All three players took part in the Billy Moores Cup tournament and did not play on the same team. Primerano scored two goals and helped her team to the semifinal. Kraemer looked solid on the ice as did Murphy who played in the final matchup. Unfortunately for us fans, the sole team with no women won the tournament. Jokes aside, all three women played with and against men’s players and didn’t look out of place.
But if you’re someone who spends even a second online, you probably saw people say the opposite.
Maybe you’re just a hater and don’t know what dev camp actually is
A lot of the discourse online when these players were invited to camp were as misogynistic as one can get — and as blatantly wrong, too. Development camp is not the same as training camp. No one here is being evaluated for a spot on a pro roster in the fall. These three players were not taking the place of “more deserving” men’s players because there isn’t a limit to how many players you can have at dev camp. Some teams have a lot of players and others have very little. The New Jersey Devils, for example, had 14 players at camp this year while the Los Angeles Kings had 40.
A majority of those players were either drafted by the team and will return to their NCAA or CHL team. Some have very little pro experience and will begin their first full pro seasons later this year. The players who are invited either go back to their previous programs or pro teams but do not expect to get a contract in any form because they took part in a dev camp with a team. In the past few years, many different players from all sorts of programs have taken part in numerous dev camps. That doesn’t guarantee them anything at the end of the day.
There’s also whacky stuff that happens at dev camp because it’s not the most serious time of the offseason.
The Flyers played ultimate frisbee on the ice.
While the Flames danced thanks to skating consultant Danielle Fujita.
That should give you a better glimpse into dev camp. It’s like a summer camp, just much more specific and a little more serious when it comes to player development.
Addressing the oil-shrouded elephant in the room
Hockey, especially men’s hockey, has a culture problem. If you’re someone who knows even an ounce of what has happened over the last few years in men’s hockey you probably know what I’m inferring here. There’s no need to get into details here — this story is about celebrating women. But we can mention that the Oilers aren’t the most morally-correct team in hockey. Bowman, who credited himself as the mind behind inviting the three women’s players to dev camp, isn’t a good person.
The timing of the invitation of these players also happened just a week after the team hired Mike Babcock as their newest head coach. Babcock has had a lot of problems in his time as a coach and the Oilers’ interest in hiring him led to an investigation by the NHL on his time as a coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Even former players spoke out about their dislike of him, seven years ago in 2019 and now in 2026 describing how terrible Babcock was. Of course, when asked about his past controversies, Babcock deflected blame and didn’t apologize, either.
Conflicted feelings are normal
Many thought Kraemer, Murphy, and Primerano’s invitation to camp was a PR move to make the team look great and keep comments about the Babcock hiring at bay. At least it gave every loser a chance to spend time complaining about women in their team’s sacred hockey space. For others, it was gross to realize that three women who have been worthy of a dev camp invitation for years could be used as pawns to make an organization look and feel better.
It feels normal — almost expected — to be a hockey fan and have mixed feelings about all sorts of topics, teams, and happenings. It is normal as humans to feel conflicted feelings about things that we love and people that we admire and a sport we like to call our own. I understand that completely.
But let me remind you that it’s a huge deal for women to be at an NHL development camp in any capacity. It is a huge deal to see women playing alongside other prospects in a game and to know they took part in development camp the same way the men did.
That’s what we should also remember: this means a lot to these players and it is a huge stepping stone for them and the sport. And maybe, in the future, a team will invite women’s players to a development camp to learn and gain new knowledge and not for any other reason.
Why these players being at camp still matters
The Oilers had the idea of inviting three women’s hockey players and were the first NHL team to execute it and that’s pretty cool. The fact these players took this opportunity and found new ways to grow their game and learn from others is incredible.
Bowman added, “It’s a development camp for Oilers prospects, and we thought that they could learn some things and take it back to whatever team they go back to and be better for it being a few days at an NHL camp.”
Why it matters to the players on the ice
What could these men’s players learn from the women? A lot. Murphy is a decorated college and international player who skates well and has an incredible offensive touch with moves that are fantastic to watch. Primerano is a great defender and has a lot of skill. Kraemer is another talented skater who also has a great offensive touch. The Canadians were in contention with the Canadian Olympic team too and no one can act as if just any player can make an Olympic team.
These players could have been too nervous and declined or been fearful of being in an environment with an NHL organization that they’ve never been part of before. Yet, they accepted and were accepted amongst their peers and with the Edmonton staff as well. Of course, having Ambrose there probably made that a bit easier, too.
No one has had this chance before. So it’s really cool to see Murphy, Primerano, and Kraemer take this huge step. They also showed it’s not a big deal for men to share the ice with women. These players and plenty more did so growing up. The ones who have a problem with it are the fans hiding behind a screen typing away a mean message because they suck.
Plain and simple.
Elsewhere around NHL development camp
Edmonton wasn’t the only location with women’s hockey players and coaches in attendance at dev camp.
Toronto Sceptres assistant coach Rachel Flanagan joined forces with the Dallas Stars at their camp as well.
Isn’t it interesting to watch this video where Flanagan is working with players, giving them advice, teaching them specifics, answering their questions — and every guy on the ice is listening?
So cool.
Flanagan is part of the NHLCA Female Coaches program. It’s a program that began in 2020 that “aims to support female coaches in several areas including skills development, leadership strategies, communication tactics, networking, and career advancement opportunities,” according to its site.
Vancouver Goldeneyes forward and Olympian Jenn Gardiner was at Vancouver Canucks development camp as well. She talked to the media about her experience.
The Seattle Torrent’s new head coach Christine Bumstead was part of the Seattle Kraken’s camp.
Venla Hovi, an assistant coach from Harvard University was a coach for the Boston Bruins development camp. You can read about her time at dev camp here and here.
Some members of the Minnesota Frost lent a helping hand to the Chicago Blackhawks prospects at the team’s dev camp, too.
Final thoughts
Let’s put aside all the bad stuff and think about the good right now. This experience has me wondering who else should be on an NHL team’s radar for future development camps. Maybe some more incoming PWHL players after next year’s draft, or second and third year college players, too? It would be great to have this moment be a message to other NHL teams that they can and should invite women’s players to take part or coach development camp.
As Ambrose said to the Oilers media, the women are just as capable.
“All that we ever ask for in women’s hockey is that you don’t look at us any differently.”
“We can still do everything that you guys do. It might look a little bit different, but we’re just as capable.”
I say, why don’t we keep building off that thought?
