DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills wraps up the team’s coverage of the Wings’ annual Summer Development Camp at Little Caesars Arena with a circumspect review this morning:
Getting a great look at the organization’s next wave of young talent, the Detroit Red Wings concluded their 2026 Development Camp at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center last Thursday.
“At the end of the day, it really is an educational camp where we try to give them everything we can and hopefully, they absorb as much as they can,” Red Wings Assistant Director of Player Development Dan Cleary said. “We have great people here. I just want to say how important it is to have the behind-the-scenes people that make this thing run very smoothly, and I can’t thank everybody enough.”
The Red Wings’ 2026 Development Camp roster consisted of 20 forwards, 11 defensemen and six goaltenders, including the seven new players the club took at the 2026 NHL Entry Draft at KeyBank Center last weekend. Additionally, all eight of the club’s picks from 2025, five from 2024, five from 2023 and two from 2022 were in attendance for the four-day event.
Sure, Development Camp has evolved over the years, but its purpose hasn’t changed: help these young skaters learn, grow and embrace what it means to be part of the organization.
“There’s a bunch of NHL and Detroit legends here that have way more experience than all of us,” Carter Bear said. “We got to listen to them, listen to what they say and what they want us to work on…I think it’s just unreal and pretty cool to have those people around the rink. Seeing what they did with the Detroit Red Wings back then and seeing them now is pretty special.”
“It’s the best players in the world trying to fight for a limited amount of space,” [JP Hurlbert,] the 18-year-old forward said. “We compete pretty hard here. Learning what I need to get better at, I think it’s everything to play in the NHL. I have high standards for myself, so I know what I’m capable of and to keep improving in all aspects of my game to make the NHL.”
Creating that kind of environment is exactly what Cleary and the Player Development staff strive to accomplish each summer, helping prospects build the foundation they need as they work towards their future goals.
“I thought [this year’s Development Camp] was great,” Cleary said. “That’s not because of me, but I have great people to work with. We’re very organized and they’re just excellent people. They’re smart. They’re hardworking. We all try to be like a family… Everybody is so important and has their own area, which makes everything run very smoothly.”
The Wings also posted a 1:40 clip of Hurlbert “Mic’d Up” at development camp:
