Once Caitlin Kraemer realized the text she received inviting her to the Edmonton Oilers’ development camp was legitimate, the excitement started to set in. “I thought it was a scam (at first),” the 20-year-old said Monday, recalling getting a message from Oilers general manager Stan Bowman a month ago inviting the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs forward to the three-day on-ice session with a group of the National Hockey League team’s prospects. Kraemer, Chloe Primerano and Abbey Murphy – all women’s hockey standouts in U.S. college hockey – received invites to the camp at Edmonton’s Downtown Community Arena along with 24 Oilers prospects. It’s the first time the Oilers have invited women to participate in one. Kraemer said she “definitely” felt nervous “but a lot of excitement” stepping onto the ice for the first on-ice session on Tuesday. “It’s something girls dream of young,” the forward told media afterward. “Growing up before there was the (Professional Women’s Hockey League) was like, ‘Oh, I want to make an NHL team,’ even though it was unrealistic, but it’s fun to live out that dream a little.” Kraemer has played two seasons with the Bulldogs, scoring 15 goals and 15 assists in 36 games last season following a debut NCAA campaign in which she scored 31 points (18 goals, 13 assists) in 31 games. The Kitchener, Ont., native represented Canada twice at the Under-18 world championships, in which she scored 10 goals each time, records for a Canadian in a single international tournament. Primerano, a defender for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, was impressed by the Rogers Place facilities – “it’s so professional and top-notch,” the 19-year-old Vancouver native said – and appreciative of the chance to work out with the Oilers’ players. “It’s such a cool opportunity and experience for Abby and Caitlin and myself to be here,” said Primerano, who scored 30 points in 34 games last season. “(I’m) grateful to the Oilers for having us out here.” The 24-year-old Murphy, a member of the U.S. Olympic women’s team that won gold in February, was drafted second overall earlier this month by the PWHL’s Seattle Torrent after a five-year NCAA career with Minnesota. Kraemer categorized Tuesday’s on-ice session as “tough.” “It kind of reminded me of my first skate with the senior women’s team, just another level, but something that you’re excited because it pushes you,” she said. Top Oilers pick ‘excited to be here’ Rudolfs Berzkalns said he’d heard “nothing about good things” of the team that took him with their second-round pick, 58th overall, in last weekend’s NHL Draft in Buffalo. “It’s such a good organization,” the 18-year-old told media after on-ice training Tuesday. “It’s had a lot of success in the past few years.” The six-foot-four, 205-pound forward of the USHL’s Muskeon Lumberjacks scored 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points in 48 games last season in the American junior circuit and added 39 penalty minutes. The Latvian, who is committed to NCAA Boston College for 2027-28, said his expectations for the coming year “are just to be the best player that I can possibly be.” “Obviously work hard on and off the ice and just become a better person,” Berzkalns told CTV News Edmonton. “It’s really a development year this next year for me, just get to that complete two-way centre role.” The camp continues Wednesday morning with two on-ice sessions. It will wrap up with a three-on-three tournament on Thursday afternoon. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Evan Klippenstein
