Going undrafted into the NHL can be devastating for an up and coming player.
For goaltender Rylan Toth, having no expectations helped ease the pain.
“I watched the whole thing, but I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to go,” admitted Toth. “I wasn’t really too worried about it, I just wanted to hopefully go to a camp, that was the important thing to me.”
Toth, who spent two seasons with the Battlefords AAA Stars, got his wish shortly after the draft was over.
“It was about two hours after the draft a member of the Calgary Flames organization called me,” he said. “It didn’t really matter to me where I went. It definitely would have been cool to go to a city I’ve never been before, but it was still cool to go to such an up and coming team and so close to home.”
After being flown in to Calgary by the team, Toth was able to put on an NHL jersey, as a player, for the first time.
“It was exciting, I learned a lot. It was definitely a tough week, but I enjoyed it,” he said.
NHL prospects camps don’t only include on-ice testing. Teams will go out in the community, attend workshops and team bonding sessions as well.
“We had a workout everyday, there was a nutrition seminar, media training, security meeting, we went to the stampede one day and we also when hiking in Banff. It was a busy week,” he said.
Media training is something all professional athletes are given, to make sure they don’t make some perhaps obvious mistakes when speaking to the media.
“Just sort of the do’s and don’ts of social media,” Toth explained. “With post game interviews just making sure that you give an appropriate answer to all questions.”
Teams bring in prospects from all around the globe for camps, whether it’s players they’ve drafted or invites like Toth. Not knowing anyone else at the camp isn’t really a big deal though, Toth says.
“Going in I hadn’t personally met anyone there,” Toth admitted. “I knew who Sam Bennett was, obviously. There were a few other guys who played in the WHL that I knew of but had never met. I met a few really good guys. The first couple days were pretty quiet, but guys start warming up to each other after that. They kind of stay in their groups, there’s guys from Sweden or the Czech Republic so you find something you have in common with guys.”
Even though summer is in full swing, fans still come out in droves to watch players who might never put on their team’s gear again.
“Even just for practice there are tons of people, tons of kids and lots of cameras. It was pretty cool to see and they definitely watch closely,” he laughed.
At the conclusion of the camp, each player had an exit meeting with Flames general manager Brad Treliving.
“I had a sit down with the GM and (Flames assistant coach) Craig Conroy and they gave me some tips of what to work on and to keep improving. They said they’d be watching. I also talked to the goalie coach for the Flames and their AHL team and they were both really good guys.”
Toth says he wants to recharge a little bit for the rest of the summer before heading back to Red Deer for training camp.
“Just workout and work a bit,” said Toth, who is giving goalie camps over the summer. “Hopefully go to the lake and just relax before I head back.
Toth’s Rebels are hosting the Memorial Cup next season, giving them an automatic berth into the tournament, something he is excited to work towards.
“I’m excited to get back. As much as being home is nice you get kind of sick of it,” he said. “You’re ready to go back and get into games.”
Toth appeared in 56 games for the Rebels last season posting a 2.84 GAA and .904 save percentage. He played in all five playoff games, improving his numbers to 2.34 and .934 respectively.
Toth will look for even more improvement during the 2015-16 as he gets a once in a lifetime chance to win a national championship.
