{"id":773552,"date":"2026-07-01T15:32:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T15:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/773552\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T15:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T15:32:12","slug":"why-the-oilers-brought-womens-hockey-players-to-their-development-camp-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/773552\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Oilers brought women\u2019s hockey players to their development camp this week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three women\u2019s hockey players \u2014 Chloe Primerano, Abbey Murphy and Caitlin Kraemer \u2014 are participating in the Edmonton Oilers\u2019 development camp this week.<\/p>\n

In recent years, women such as Marie-Philip Poulin and Kendall Coyne Schofield have been on the ice during NHL teams\u2019 development camps as guest coaches \u2014 Poulin with the Montreal Canadiens, Coyne Schofield with the Chicago Blackhawks. But in this case, this trio of players will be full participants.<\/p>\n

Oilers general manager Stan Bowman had the idea to invite elite women\u2019s hockey players to camp after watching the Milan Olympic women\u2019s hockey tournament as an assistant general manager with the U.S. men\u2019s team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were putting on a show for everybody,\u201d Bowman told The Athletic. \u201cIt was really high-level hockey on display and I was so impressed by it, that\u2019s when it came to me \u2014 we should take some of these players and try to bring them to camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowman contacted Murphy, Primerano and Kraemer in May asking if they\u2019d like to attend the week-long camp, which began on Monday. Kraemer told reporters in Edmonton on Tuesday she thought the text from Bowman was spam. Primerano also had difficulty believing the invitation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took me a couple of times to read it over to realize what was going on,\u201d Primerano said in an interview with The Athletic. \u201c(I\u2019m) just super excited he did that, and it\u2019s awesome that the Oilers brought out a couple of girls. It\u2019s been really fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abbey Murphy\u2019s competing with the boys at Edmonton Oilers Development Camp \ud83d\udc40 <\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfa5 @jojolats<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/2ge6QzNU3t<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 World Hockey Report (@worldhockeyrpt) June 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Bowman already knew Murphy, a standout forward for the University of Minnesota who won Olympic gold in Milan and was drafted second overall by the PWHL\u2019s Seattle Torrent last month. She\u2019s been a mentor and role model for Bowman\u2019s 14-year-old daughter Graycen, who plays for Murphy\u2019s youth program, the Chicago Mission. Murphy is also one of the most purely skilled forwards in women\u2019s hockey and had some of the best highlights of the college hockey season.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has become a big sister to my daughter,\u201d said Bowman. \u201cShe has high hopes to play in the Olympics one day and follow in Abbey\u2019s footsteps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Primerano, one of the most promising prospects in women\u2019s hockey, was also an easy choice. She became the first female skater ever selected in a Canadian Hockey League draft when she was drafted by the WHL\u2019s Vancouver Giants (268th overall) in 2022. Primerano was also the first female skater at CAA Sports\u2019 annual camp in 2023, and began playing at the University of Minnesota at just 17 years old. A defender, Primerano is an elite skater and puckhandler with a really high IQ.<\/p>\n

\"Caitlin<\/p>\n

\n Caitlin Kraemer is expected to be a top pick in the 2028 PWHL Draft. (Edmonton Oilers \/ Michela Naccarato)<\/p>\n

Bowman said he wanted to bring a Canadian forward to complement Murphy and Primerano and asked his executive assistant Tania Kenny, who worked for Hockey Canada for four years, for a few suggestions. That\u2019s how Kraemer ended up rounding out the group.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old is one of Canada\u2019s up-and-coming forwards. She won the 2025 NCAA national rookie of the year in her debut season at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and set a Canadian record for goals in a single tournament with Canada\u2019s U18 team, doing so twice in 2023 and 2024. She was among the final cuts from Canada\u2019s Olympic roster and should become a big piece of Canada\u2019s new-look roster at the 2026 Women\u2019s World Championships, along with Primerano.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s awesome,\u201d said Primerano, who played with Kraemer at U18s in 2024. \u201cShe\u2019s fast, battles hard, competes, scores so much. She\u2019s a great person too. It\u2019s just so much fun to have (Kraemer and Murphy) here and to hang out with them through this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Setting up Camp \ud83c\udfd5\ufe0f #LetsGoOilers<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/rAbjFVJ0Tz<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) June 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

According to Bowman, they had five women\u2019s hockey players lined up to join development camp, but two couldn\u2019t make it work because of their schedules. Canadian national team defender Erin Ambrose, who will play for the PWHL\u2019s expansion team in Las Vegas next season after winning a Walter Cup with the Montreal Victoire, also returned to development camp as a guest coach for a second straight year.<\/p>\n

The motivation behind the invites, Bowman said, was twofold. First, to give the female players a new experience and all the resources that come from being at an NHL camp, so they can return to their pro or college teams with some new tools or knowledge. Second, to give his own prospects, including all five of Edmonton\u2019s selections in the 2026 NHL Draft, the opportunity to share the ice with elite women\u2019s hockey players.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the biggest thing is recognition for how much work (the women) put into it. They\u2019re no different than the boys,\u201d said Bowman. \u201cThey work just as hard, they\u2019re just as talented. And when you see it on the biggest stage, you notice that the level of hockey is impressive, and you\u2019re hoping that you give everyone a better appreciation for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hopefully going to be a positive experience for everyone to just elevate the profile of women\u2019s hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday, Primerano, Murphy and Kraemer participated in all the team\u2019s off-ice activities, including fitness testing and sit-down sessions about mental performance and analytics. On-ice sessions began Tuesday with mostly skill-based work, where the three female athletes were full participants. The Oilers prospects, Primerano said, were supportive during fitness testing and have treated the trio \u201cjust like anyone else that\u2019s at camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

The camp will wrap up with a three-on-three tournament on Thursday. Until then, Primerano\u2019s goal is to soak in the NHL experience before returning to the University of Minnesota in the fall. She and Kramer are expected to be top picks in the 2028 PWHL Draft.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing how the professionals are treated here, it\u2019s amazing to be able to experience that for a little bit,\u201d she said. \u201cAll the staff are amazing here and so supportive, they want to help everyone get better and reach their goals. So I think just learning from them, being around our peers, and making friends, and getting out of our comfort zones a little bit is just what we want to do with this camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy, Primerano and Kraemer might not be the first to attend a camp like this \u2014 Canadian star and Hockey Hall of Fame forward Hayley Wickenheiser attended the Philadelphia Flyers\u2019 rookie camps in 1998 and 1999 \u2014 but it\u2019s still rare to see women participate in these kinds of events. It\u2019s also something Bowman hopes can be a \u201ccontinual thing\u201d for the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it should happen more,\u201d Bowman said. \u201cI hope the recognition will be great for (the players), and people will realize it\u2019s a good thing. \u2026 It\u2019s all about trying to look forward and do things that can help the sport of hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n