‘It’s probably been the best two weeks of my life’: 2024 Draft Picks Experience Canucks Development Camp | Vancouver Canucks

Both Patterson and Alcos mentioned that they were nervous coming into camp but that the first few days helped open everyone up so they could form relationships with their fellow Canucks prospects.

Wednesday night brought an interesting evening as the players took part in an improv performance. This helped the group let their guard down and begin to have fun together.

“On Wednesday, we did improv together. That was a huge step for us all,” said Patterson. “We were all laughing together and embarrassing ourselves in front of each other. That brought us much closer together. By the end of the week, everyone is chatting with each other and all that.”

This year saw much fewer prospects than we have seen in the past years of Canucks development camps. Samuelsson and Komisarek worked with Canucks Assistant General Manager Cammi Granato throughout the year to create a camp that had every drill be a three or four-to-one player-to-coach ratio.

“It is pretty special, and your ears are definitely wide open throughout the time here because anything the coaches say, you definitely want to pay attention and try to use in your game,” said Patterson.

“With me, we were talking a lot about puck protection, as well as time for engagement and separation. That’s a specific thing that I can continue to improve on. It was nice to focus on that this week and just understand ways to use my body.”

Now, the prospects head back home to continue with their offseason. They were able to build the foundation for relationships with the Canucks staff, players, and coaches. Those relationships will be huge over the coming years as these players take the necessary steps to achieve their goal of becoming NHL players.

This is just the first step for the Canucks’ 2024 draft class. There is a long road ahead of them, but they now know that they have the support of Samuelsson, Komisarek, the Sedins, and every other person in the organization.

“It’s all been so nice and all the stuff we’ve done has just flown by,” said Patterson. “It’s probably been the best two weeks of my life.”

Now that the whirlwind has passed, the work is set to begin. These prospects will feel the support on every step of their young hockey journeys and continue to work so that they can one day throw on the same jersey that they were given on draft day but do it in front of a sold-out crowd at Rogers Arena.