Golden Knights unveil prospect-heavy development camp, open to fans
Vegas packed camp with three recent first-round picks, public ice sessions and a Catholic Charities visit as Ryan Craig took over the NHL bench.
The Golden Knights announced their 2026 development camp roster on June 28, and the clearest message was that Vegas wanted the week to look like a real pipeline test, not a private skate. The four-day camp was scheduled to run June 29 through July 2 at City National Arena, presented by Martin-Harris Construction, with every on-ice session open to the public.
The roster carried 30 players, split into 16 forwards, 10 defensemen and four goaltenders, and the headliners told the story better than any list could. Trevor Connelly, the 19th overall pick in 2024, was back after signing a three-year entry-level contract on April 1, 2025. Jakob Ihs-Wozniak, taken 55th overall in 2025, gives Vegas another recent premium pick who is already moving from draft value toward a real AHL conversation. Juho Piiparinen, selected 29th overall in the 2026 draft out of Tappara of Finland’s Liiga, arrived as the newest project after playing 29 games for Tappara in 2025-26.
That’s the part of camp that matters for Henderson. Connelly is the most advanced name in the group because the contract is already done and the organization can start mapping him to a pro role. Ihs-Wozniak is the next clean candidate to watch because he is close enough to the front of the system to make a summer week meaningful. Piiparinen is a different tier, more polish than urgency, the kind of player Vegas can afford to let breathe while it measures how his game translates against older pros and other top prospects.
The timing added another layer. Vegas reached the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in franchise history in 2026 after sweeping Colorado in the Western Conference Final, then named Ryan Craig its fifth head coach on June 17 after he spent the previous three seasons coaching AHL Henderson. That matters because the voice guiding the NHL team now comes from the same development pipeline the club is trying to strengthen. Craig’s move from Henderson to Vegas makes this camp feel less like a stand-alone summer event and more like the start of a tighter handoff between the minors and the main roster.
The organization also kept the week tied to the city around it. On the morning of Wednesday, July 1, camp participants were scheduled to visit Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada to prepare and serve meals for more than 600 vulnerable men, women and children. Vegas used the same basic model in 2025, with open sessions and the same community stop built into prospect week, and the repeat says plenty about how the franchise wants its development culture to work: visible on the ice, structured in the building and present in the community.
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