Takeaways from the Stars' 2023 Development Camp

The Stars' Development Camp is one of the more important events of the season because it helps coordinate the summer for a significant pool of prospects.

This year's event finished up on Tuesday in Frisco, giving 31 players a nice jump-start on their offseason. Among the group were all six players drafted this year, as well as a group of past draft picks and signed players.

"It's great to have all of these guys here. It's important," Stars GM Jim Nill said. "It's been kind of a whirlwind after the draft. We get a chance to know them now."

The introduction was great for 2023 draft pick (61st overall) Tristan Bertucci.

"It's just learning," said the 17-year-old defenseman. "We have meetings on stuff like nutrition and then taking all of that good stuff and using it to get better when we get home."

The Stars development team has been led by J.J. McQueen for years, and he continues to be a leader, along with Director of Player Personnel Rich Peverley. This year, former Stars goalie Ben Bishop returns and will fill the role of Director of Player Development. That's a big push for the organization, as Bishop will not only help with goalies but also all the players.

"It's not just what he's going to bring to the goaltenders," Peverley said. "He talks to everybody, he's working with the forwards. From the goaltending perspective, he probably sees the game a little different from everyone else. That can have its advantages as well."

And that's one reason why the recent camp is so important. Bishop will be traveling to meet these players either in Cedar Park or at their respective junior teams or colleges, so getting to know them now is key. In addition, the development team will be communicating with players through texts or emails to help coordinate and motivate during the offseason.

"It's a natural progression," Peverley said. "It is July 1st, and some players maybe ended their seasons early while some kept playing for a while. I think now the guys can go home and get a good rest and start training again. It's setting a base for the summer, where they can go back and start training. Maybe they want to start skating a little bit more. It depends on the players, but this kind of sets them up going into Traverse [City]. We've still got two and half months, so being here is a good start."

Peverley said the communication is especially important for players from Europe. They don't get as much face-to-face time, so experiences like this can be even more important. Lian Bichsel, the team's first-round draft pick from 2022, broke his ankle and was still recovering off the ice. However, his time in meetings and getting to know future teammates was crucial. Bichsel will go back to Europe to fully recover, but then is expected back in North America for training camp and possibly to play in the AHL next season.

Those are big steps.

"It's a great opportunity for all of the Euros who have never been over here," Peverley said. "Lian not being on the ice, he was probably disappointed by that, but just being here as a group, getting to know everybody, it's really good for the European players. It's a good icebreaker and it kind of leads into what's coming next and their comfort level. So, it's a good week for us in that sense."

The team held meetings and "seminars" with development coaches and AHL coaches. In addition, the players were tested on all manner of "measure-ables," and given the information.

"We do evaluations on everybody so that we have numbers we can look at and do comparatives," McQueen said. "We can say, Here's where you're at, and here's where the average is of the group.' Then we take another level and say,Here's where the NHL guys are and here's where you are.' So then they have something they can focus on."

The players have to do a lot of growth on their own. As much as the camps and emails help, the players are in charge during the offseason.

"We send them all with notes, and they know what they need to work on for the rest of the summer," Peverley said. "It's a process for some of the guys. For the draft picks we just got, it really sets a base of what you're going to go home and work on."

"They have to earn it," Peverley added of the slogan players wore on their T-shirts at camp. "It's on all of their shirts. `Earn It.'"

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.