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5 Bruins To Watch At Development Camp

BOSTON (CBS) -- It's that time of year again.

This week, the Bruins' top prospects from below the professional ranks will descend upon Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington for the club's annual development camp. This camp started in the latter stages of last decade and was the start of the pro careers of the likes of Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Tuukka Rask.

More than in any other point in time since the start of this camp, the prospects pull is vital to the Bruins' attempt to be successful again. And maybe more than any other time before, this year the Bruins might even be looking at which prospects will have a chance to crack the NHL roster in the fall. After all, there are a couple of openings both up front and on the back end, and if the Bruins have been drafting as well as they think, there should be some players ahead of the curve.

Without digging too deep into the lineup of prospects scheduled to participate in this camp, here are the five prospects, for various reasons, I'm most interested in seeing this week:

1. Charlie McAvoy, D

The Bruins' first pick in the 2016 draft (14th overall) already has a leg up on many of the other prospects because he's familiar with the city from his time at Boston University. But now we'll see how he handles the spotlight as the go-to guy in the locker room and one of the prospects with the most of the franchise's future riding on his shoulders. Just based on his status as a high draft pick, McAvoy will be looked upon to be a leader. And for those of us with busy weekends who haven't seen him skate at BU, it'll be interesting to see some of the aspects of McAvoy's game that made him so attractive to the Bruins. Although he's still a work-in-progress and is ticketed for another season with the Terriers, we might even see some skills in McAvoy that are lacking with the Bruins these days.

2. Jakob Zboril, D

One year ago he and fellow first-round picks Jake DeBrusk and Zach Senyshyn showed up to camp weeks after their draft day and failed the conditioning tests. That wasn't a big deal in terms of their ability to be future hockey stars, but it showed how far they had to go to becoming responsible pros and how much the Bruins had bet that making three picks in one first round would pay off. Zboril played six more games last season than in 2014-15 but he dropped from 33 to 20 points. There are whispers he might not return to St. John's of the Quebec Major Junior League and further talk he's not developing like the Bruins had hoped. Now we get to measure Zboril this year against what we saw last year.

3. Jake DeBrusk, F

Despite some injuries, DeBrusk had a pretty good season with 65 points in 61 games for Swift Current and Red Deer in the Western Hockey League. He got to play in the Memorial Cup. Now with his 20th birthday coming up in October, he should be able to take the next step to the American Hockey League. DeBrusk needs to show improved skills and has to emerge as a leader as one of the high draft picks with development camp experience.

4. Daniel Vladar, G

The 18-year-old (he'll turn 19 in August) just signed his first pro contract after spending just one season in the United States Hockey League. His next stop is unknown, but first he'll get to show how far his game has come since last season's development camp. Vladar (6-foot-5, 185 pounds) is a giant in net and he's reportedly mature beyond his years. We'll see how many pucks get behind him this week.

5. Trent Frederic, F

Like Senyshyn last season, Frederic was picked in the first round way ahead of projections by everyone outside of the Bruins' front office. Now we'll get to see what this kid's got and how he handles the criticism. After all, it's not his fault the Bruins picked him so high. Some of his intangibles might not show up in a camp atmosphere, but he'll at least be able to show that his skills belong and could take a leadership position as well, as he starts on his mission to prove the Bruins were right to reach for him at 29th overall.

Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.

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