FAMILIARITY ALLOWING JANDRIC TO THRIVE AT DEVELOPMENT CAMP
Jul 5, 2023By Warren Kosel
It’s been a productive week thus far at Buffalo Sabres Development Camp at LECOM Harborcenter.
The organization’s prospects, consisting of draft picks from over the years, including those selected in last week’s NHL Draft in Nashville, combined with those currently in the organizational pipeline, have gathered from all over the globe this week in Buffalo with one goal in mind: to become more familiar with the professional work habits and standards expected to play at hockey’s highest level.
Comprising this year’s roster includes defenseman Chris Jandric, who is entering his rookie season with the Rochester Americans, Buffalo’s American Hockey League, affiliate, this fall. But unlike several of those in attendance this week, Jandric has a game of professional hockey under his belt. The undrafted forward joined the Amerks on a professional tryout following his senior season at the University of North Dakota, recording an assist in his pro debut while helping the Amerks to a 5-1 win over the Utica Comets back on April 8.
Despite being one of only a dozen or so players with any kind of professional experience, Jandric, like the others, is making the most of his opportunity at development camp to further immerse himself in the organization and take advantage of the resources that are available this week.
This isn’t the first development camp for Jandric, so the expectations – for both himself and that of the organization – shouldn’t be too surprising.
And the other benefit is the instruction in this week’s camp is being provided by Amerks head coach Seth Appert and development coaches Nathan Paetsch and Tim Kennedy, all of whom he’s certainly familiar with.
For Jandric, the level of familiarity and comfortability with the staff is just an added bonus.
“There’s always going to be new things, but it’s a lot of the same kinds of drills as well,” said Jandric. “Hockey hasn’t changed much, so I saw the same drills, but it was cool to see a lot of familiar faces here though. We have a lot of guys here back from Rochester and a lot of draft picks, too.”
The familiarity also extends beyond Rochester. Jandric was teammates with fellow Sabres prospect Matteo Costantini, Buffalo’s fifth-round in 2020, the last two years at the University of North Dakota.
A big emphasis of the annual week-long event, aside from on-ice development, is fostering off-ice relationships as well. Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams made it a point when addressing the prospects at the beginning of camp that off-ice togetherness is just as important, if not more, than the on-ice relationships, especially in the short time they’re together.
Jandric, similarly, attributes his time with the Amerks during the team’s unprecedented run to the Eastern Conference Finals this past spring as valuable despite not cracking the lineup. Simply being present and being around the team during such a crucial part of the season aided in his acclimation process to the pro game.
“Being around the guys, especially at the point of the season, was just awesome for me,” said Jandric looking back on Rochester’s longest playoff run in nearly 20 years. “Just kind of getting acclimated with everyone and figuring out what practice was like, what the competition is like in practice as well, and then just seeing such a great group of guys go as far as they could.”
As Jandric and the other Sabres prospects continue through the grind of the week, they remain focused on improving their individual games and applying what they learned when they return to their respective junior, collegiate or pro clubs this fall.
“For me, as a defenseman, we did a lot of pivots and turning and I really want to utilize that for this year and do less of the crossing over, which is kind of hockey-specific, and learn to shoot off certain angles to confuse the goalie.”
After a tough few days of practice and off-ice workouts, the camp culminates with the highly anticipated 3-on-3 tournament Thursday at LECOM Harborcenter.