USHL prospects headline Flames’ 25-player development camp in Calgary

The Calgary Flames opened a 25-prospect development camp at WinSport with the USHL sitting right in the middle of the room, not on the edge of it. Jack Hextall, Mace'o Phillips and Tobias Trejbal were the clearest junior-hockey markers in a group that also included Ethan Belchetz, Caleb Desnoyers, Cole Beaudoin and Cullen Potter.

The camp began with on-ice evaluations at 8:15 a.m. MT on Wednesday and ran through July 3, with off-ice workouts folded into the first two days. Calgary closes the week with a 3-on-3 Snowy Cup on Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. at WinSport, a compact finish that turns development camp into a competitive test instead of a pure skate-and-shake event. The Flames said the schedule times were subject to change, but the structure was clear: conditioning first, then instruction, then a live final day.

That setup matters because Calgary did not stock the roster with only one kind of prospect. Hextall and Trejbal arrived as first-round picks from Youngstown, while Bode Laylin came in as another USHL draft piece from Tri-City. Put next to players from other junior and college routes, the USHL trio showed how the Flames are building a pipeline that values multiple paths to the NHL, not just one.

Conroy said after the draft that he was looking forward to getting the class to development camp "in a couple days," and the Flames’ draft haul reflected that urgency. Calgary used six forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender in the class, and it did not hide its enthusiasm for the USHL end of the board. Trejbal went 42nd overall, Hextall went 30th, and Laylin added another USHL name to the organization’s list.

Trejbal’s numbers explain why he is more than a camp invite. The Youngstown goalie was named the USHL Goalie of the Year after going 30-9-3-0 with a 2.12 goals-against average, a .916 save percentage and three shutouts in 42 games. He also finished third among North American goalies in NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings, a reminder that Calgary brought in a player who already looks close to pro-caliber in the net.

Hextall’s season was just as instructive. He helped Youngstown finish atop the league and posted 58 points as the Phantoms racked up a franchise-best 91 points. For Calgary, that kind of production from a USHL forward is exactly the point of camp: see whether a player who dominated junior hockey can carry that pace into an NHL development environment.

The league-wide numbers back up why the Flames’ roster looked this way. The USHL said 44 players with league ties were selected in the 2026 NHL Draft, while the NHL credited the league with 32 direct selections. The USHL also pointed out that more than half of NCAA Division I men’s hockey players and nearly a quarter of NHL players have USHL experience. Calgary’s camp roster fit that reality neatly, with the USHL standing alongside major junior, college and European routes as a legitimate funnel into the organization.