The Anaheim Ducks held their annual development camp from June 30 to July 2. This year’s camp was shorter than the last couple of years, typically a five-day camp concluding with a 3v3 scrimmage.

The camp is used more as an instrument that allows newly drafted prospects to familiarize themselves with the organization, meet staff and potential future teammates, and take a nugget or two back home to train for the summer before rookie camp begins in Sept.

Though most of the drills are done at half or three-quarter speed and don’t necessarily simulate game situations, players were available to the media, and there were on-ice takeaways to be had from each player.

Anaheim Ducks Development Camp Takeaways: Roger McQueen on Another Level

Mikael Granlund Is Ready to Help the Ducks Start Winning

Report: Teams Have Called the Ducks about Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger, Pat Verbeek Said 'No'

The Ducks selected Beckett Sennecke with the third overall pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. The pick came as a surprise to most, including Sennecke himself, who gave one of the most genuinely shocked reactions after hearing his name called by NHL and Ducks legend Scott Niedermayer.

Sennecke went on to dazzle during his draft-plus-one season, quickly silencing many who doubted his selection that high in the draft. Despite producing at a torrid pace, initially being omitted from Canada’s World Junior selection camp, gaining an invitation shortly after, and ultimately not making the team, Sennecke seemed to use that rejection as motivation and continued to grow and refine his game during his third full junior season.

Ducks director of amateur scouting and assistant general manager Martin Madden sat down with The Hockey News’ Anaheim Ducks site in May to discuss Sennecke and a myriad of prospects in the organization.

“Really well. I think we're all very pleased with his development. He had to deal with a lot from the start, from the draft on,” Madden said when asked about Sennecke’s 2024-25. “So, lots of different ways that he had to adapt and become aware of his own reactions and his own emotions related to everything.

“Off-ice reactions, on-ice. How do you deal with the spotlight? How do you deal with (being left off the World Juniors squad)? How do you rebound after that? How do you lead your team in the playoffs? How do you come back from injury? He grew as a person, he grew as a prospect. He had a terrific season.”

Sennecke finished his 2024-25 campaign with 86 points (36-50=86) in 56 regular season games for the Oshawa Generals of the OHL and added 32 points (14-18=32) in 18 playoff games en route to a second consecutive finals appearance against the London Knights. Sennecke, once again, saved his best hockey for last, and when it mattered most, elevating his impact on a shift-by-shift basis, constantly involving himself in plays throughout the entire 200-foot ice surface, and tactically manipulating defenders with superior skill and processing ability.

There isn’t much more, if any, room for Sennecke to grow his game at the CHL level, and there isn’t much more to learn at that level. He’s in an unfortunate position, as his Jan. 2006 birthday means he won’t be eligible to play in the AHL during the 2025-26 season. Despite the new CHL/NCAA agreement that has allowed several CHL stars to further their careers playing in college, Sennecke is ineligible for that as well, as he signed his three-year ELC with the Ducks during the Ducks’ 2024 development camp.

Sennecke will either have to play for the Ducks or head back to the CHL for his 2025-26 season. Madden seems to believe that the only aspect of his game that is holding him back from a full-time role in the NHL is of the physical variety, that his skill, compete, and IQ levels are there.

“He's close. He's one really good summer away from being able to compete physically with NHL players, in my mind,” Madden said. “There's no doubt he's got the talent to make the jump. Now, he just needs to seize the opportunity, and that comes with pressure. Let’s see what the team looks like in September, October, and where he fits at that point. It's his to take, I think.”

At this point in the summer, with the additions of Chris Kreider and Mikael Granlund, the Ducks' top nine forward group looks full and may leave Sennecke on the outside looking in unless there’s an injury between now and the start of the season or one of the players currently listed in the top-nine is given and accepts a role on the fourth line.

Given what we saw at development camp (which again, isn’t telling of where a player is developmentally in terms of game situations), Sennecke seems physically ready or extremely close to physically ready enough to challenge for one of those top-nine spots on the Ducks roster. Adding strength has been an area of emphasis for him since he departed Ducks’ training camp in the Fall of 2024, and he’s seemed to physically and mentally grow into his now 6-foot-4, 195-pound frame.

“I think I got a lot better at puck protection. I feel like I got a lot stronger (since) last summer and I was able to keep guys on my him and create more time and space for myself with the puck,” Sennecke said. “Something I can still improve on is my quick release. I think I try and get so much on my shot and get the perfect shot. When you’re shooting on bigger NHL goalies, it’s going to be something you can’t do. It's more quick over power, and if you can do both, you’re going to be a good goal scorer.”

Refining a shot and learning how to score on NHL goaltenders is a luxury problem to have in one’s development on a macro level in just their second summer after being drafted into the NHL. With a few more months of strength training, the doubt that Sennecke will at least begin the season in the NHL with the Ducks will have further shrunk exponentially.

He can play a maximum of nine NHL games before a year is spent off his ELC. Teams can send players in his situation to the AHL for conditioning stints, like the Seattle Kraken did with Shane Wright in his draft-plus-one year, before ultimately sending them back to junior.

The onus will be on Sennecke to play well enough (too well) for the Ducks not to keep him in the NHL all season. Judging by how he utilizes and is fueled by challenges, as displayed by his playoff performances and how he played after being omitted from the World Junior Championship roster, smart money would be on Sennecke rising to the occasion and playing the entirety of his 2025-26 season in the NHL.

Lukas Dostal, Drew Helleson File for Salary Arbitration

After Tearing ACL, Tomáš Suchanek Is Happy to Be Back

Opinion: Pat Verbeek's Inability to Leverage, Cause for Concern

Photo Credit: Patrick Present-The Hockey News