The Wings opened their annual development camp on Tuesday, inviting all of the prospects in the organization to town. For some, it’s their first visit. For others, it’s an opportunity for them and the team to assess the strides they’ve taken in the past year.

“You want to get to know the kids a little bit and try to set them up, educate them if they need it,” Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman said. “They all have varying experiences as far as training and eating properly, so they’re all at different stages from different countries and different backgrounds.

“We want to educate them on what they need to be doing on the ice and off the ice this summer. The ones we get to bring back in September, make sure they have a good summer. The ones we don’t get back, who are in college or play in Europe, make sure they understand what they need to do, the lifestyle, the dedication, the work ethic, the training, to get to the NHL.

“Our camp will be more about education and development instruction.”

Tyler Wright, Detroit’s director of amateur scouting, echoed Yzerman’s words.

It’s 100 percent a learning process,” Wright said. “I like the fact that we have it right now. You test them. You get some kind of baseline value of where they’re at physically and what they need to work on. And you continue to test them as they come back.”

For the returnees, the proof is in the pudding, so to speak.

“You don’t have to tell us how much work you’re doing,” Wright said. “When you come back and do the test, we know how much work you’ve done. There’s no hiding it.

“In this day, development is such a big process at the National Hockey League level. You’ve gotta be able to draft right. You’ve gotta be able to develop. You’ve gotta sit there and cross your fingers and hope the players turn out.”

The last thing the Wings can afford to do is project a player too much and rush him into a role he’s not prepared to fill.

“The danger is we all want our draft picks playing as soon as possible,” Yzerman said. “It helps justify the picks a little bit. But ultimately you really have to make sure you’re doing what’s right for these kids. They’re playing at a level that they can be competitive and improve and excel at.

“There is stress. They’re 18 years old. Very few 18 year olds play in the NHL today. Now that they’re in the fold, we’ll try to set them up as best as we can, educate them and provide them with resources to develop and then we’ll see.

“If it’s one year, two years, three years - some of these kids will be five years. It doesn’t mean they’re not going to be good players. But it’s going to take five years for some of them.”

Qualifications
Tuesday was the deadline for NHL teams to make qualifying offers to their restricted free agents. The Wings opted to qualify defenseman Joe Hicketts, goalie Patrik Rybar and forward Dominic Turgeon.

Forwards Martin Frk, Dylan Sadowy and Axel Holmstrom and defenseman Libor Sulak were not presented qualifying offers. Both Holmstrom and Sulak have already signed contracts to play next season in Europe.

Schedule Released
The Red Wings 2019-20 regular-season schedule was released Tuesday by the NHL. The Wings will open Oct. 5 at Nashville. They play their home opener at Little Caesars Arena the following night against the Dallas Stars.

Three of Detroit’s first four home games will be on home ice, including a Saturday, Oct. 12 meeting with the Toronto Maple Leafs that will put the Wings on Hockey Night In Canada.

The Wings will visit Edmonton to face their former GM Ken Holland on Oct. 18. The Oilers come to Detroit on .

The New Jersey Devils and Jack Hughes, the NHL’s 2019 first overall draft pick, visit LCA on Oct. 29. The Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues make their only trip to Detroit on Oct. 27.

Hall Of Fame
Two former Wings were among the Hockey Hall of Fame’s class of 2019 that was announced Tuesday.

Forward Vaclav Nedomansky played with Detroit from 1977-82 and posted back-to-back 30-goals seasons in 1978-79 and 1979-80. Pittsburgh Penguins GM Jim Rutherford, inducted as a builder was a long-time Wings goaltender.

Rutherford is one of four in franchise history to serve three tenures as a player with the Red Wings. Two of the others were also Hall of Fame goalies - Terry Sawchuk and Dominik Hasek. The fourth is current Detroit assistant coach Doug Houda.

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