Week of camps opens
NORTH BAY, Ont. — A total of 29 hopefuls are expected to take to the ice Monday as the North Bay Battalion opens a three-day development camp for the Ontario Hockey League club’s younger prospects.
After medicals and fitness testing, Team Green and Team White practices Monday evening are to be followed by intrasquad games at 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Tuesday and another at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday before the camp ends and the club’s main training camp kicks off later Wednesday.
“We’ve changed the format to include development camp before the start of our training camp on Wednesday,” said Adam Dennis, director of hockey operations.
“Having the last two draft classes on the ice together will give us a great opportunity to focus on our young prospects and the progress they’ve made in their offseason workouts.”
Fifteen forwards, 10 defencemen and four goaltenders will skate at the development camp, with forwards Ryder Nobes and James Rosenberg and goaltender Cole Vreugdenhil unable to participate. Nobes, a ninth-round pick in the 2026 OHL Priority Selection, is in Europe, while Rosenberg was a 14th-rounder in 2025.
Vreugdenhil, a fifth-round choice in 2025 who played in six games with the Battalion last season, is recovering from offseason surgery after incurring a knee injury away from the rink. He’s sidelined on a month-to-month basis.
Nobes is the only absentee among North Bay’s 17 Priority Selection picks this year, while forwards Grady Dale and Wyatt Marks, the Troops’ two choices in the 2026 OHL Under-18 Priority Selection, are to attend. Ten on-ice campers were 2025 Priority Selection picks.
Apart from Vreugdenhil, the only development camp participant who has seen OHL action is forward Lincoln Edwards, a fellow fifth-rounder in 2025 who scored one goal and added one assist for two points in seven games in 2025-26.
The goaltenders include Owen Loftus, the Battalion’s first-rounder in June from the Don Mills Flyers U16s, and Simon Godin, a 13th-round pick from the Greater Kingston Gaels U16s. Gavin Zepp, chosen in the 12th round in 2025, served as a backup in four games last season. Jonathan Barreca is a free-agent invitee who played in 2025-26 with the Oakville Rangers U18s.
All intrasquad games are open to the public, with free admission to Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens.
