The Vegas Golden Knights 2022 Rookie Camp is officially underway.
For some prospects, this week is a first experience. Others have attended camp before, but they all have much to prove if they hope to secure a permanent role with the main club.
Henderson Silver Knights defenseman Kaedan Korczak and forward Zach Dean of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League spoke with the media following Thursday's practice to discuss the first practice of camp.
Both prospects feel they have grown in their games over the offseason. Korczak, a second-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, had attended development camp back in July and already feels he has improved since.
"I feel definitely a lot better," Korczak said. "Obviously a good two-and-a-half months of training there in between, and I just feel a lot stronger and a lot more powerful, and overall, I'm just feeling really confident about myself."
Dean, the 30th-overall pick of the 2021 NHL Draft, felt similar about how his game has progressed.
"Me, personally, I think I got a lot bigger and a lot stronger, so I think that's just going to help me overall in all areas of my game," Dean said. "I think my speed and my shot has really improved too over the last little bit. And also just my all-around game with defense and stuff like that as well."
Korczak has even had the benefit of attending some Golden Knights captain skates over the summer.
"I felt good," he said. "I felt like that I kind of fit in and kind of where I want to be, and hopefully everything sorts itself out."
Korczak is now eager to show the coaching staff what he has learned over the span of this offseason.
"I'm super excited," he said. "This little week here is kind of [to] get your feet wet and get ready for main camp next week."
While the two prospects have prior experience with the club, with Korczak having played a game with Vegas last season and Dean having been to rookie camp before, a revised Golden Knights coaching staff brings some unfamiliarity to the table.
"Obviously with Vegas getting the new coaching staff, I think there's a new system, so we needed to go over that, especially for the guys that will move on to main camp and kind of need to know the system," Dean said. "So there was a lot of other learning today, but I think that's good. It's pretty cool when you get to come in, you get to see how different coaches coach. So I'm looking forward to this weekend and the games and having some fun."
The Golden Knights rookie team is set to take on the Arizona Coyotes rookie team on Friday at 4:30 p.m. PST.
More must-reads: