Ty Smith

NEWARK – Do you remember when Ty Smith scored a hat trick at his first development camp scrimmage?

Should Smith end up crafting a successful NHL career, that’s the sort of nugget that could become part of his legacy. A hat trick in his first scrimmage after being a first-round pick by the New Jersey Devils? Of course he was going to be great.

That all three of those goals came when the scrimmage downsized from 5-on-5 to 4-on-4 late in each half will most likely be forgotten. So too will the reasons why members of the Devils organization, from management to the coaching staff to Mr. Devil himself Ken Daneyko, were so excited about Smith after his first week “on campus” so to speak.

The organization is excited for Smith because he looks like such an advanced prospect. The goals aside, Smith stood out Saturday at the Devils’ practice facility because he showed off all the traits of a slick modern NHL defenseman.

He dictated entire shifts with his skating, poise and accurate outlet passes. He’s not a big guy, so there will be questions about his ability to hold up in defensive zone battles. Well, he absorbed a challenge from Yegor Sharangovich — listed at 6-foot-2 and 196 pounds and two years older than Smith — along the boards behind his net and successfully won the battle and started a transition in the other direction.

There was plenty to like about Smith beyond a few shifts in a rookie scrimmage.

All of the Devils prospects helped build bicycles for underprivileged kids Thursday. When the event was over, the entire group left for lunch … except for Smith. He lingered for an extra few minutes, taking a couple of photos and exchanging high-fives and handshakes with kids and their parents.

This isn’t a slight on the other players — they were all commendable for taking the bike building seriously and spending time with the kids as well. It was just a brief couple of moments, a quick glance at Smith wanting to do something extra.

He wasn’t trying to score brownie points with anyone, but it’s not likely that it went unnoticed. Just like when he met with two sons of a Devils employee shortly after the scrimmage ended Saturday for a quick chat and a photo.

Not to make too much of a couple of brief encounters and a couple of short chats with members of the organization, but it is easy to see why Devils scout Andy Schneider thinks Smith might end up as the captain for Spokane in the WHL this coming season.

Earlier in the week, Binghamton coach Rick Kowalsky said everyone on the Devils’ staff is always looking for little tidbits about these players, and sometimes they can come in random moments — like after building some bikes for kids.

Those are the types of morsels that management and the coaching staff will note over the course of the week. Others might be how players interacted with each other, whether it was playing ping pong, riding go-karts or grinding out shuttle runs.

“We want to have a strong curriculum that shows them what it means to be a Devil,” Devils coach John Hynes said. “Most importantly [GM Ray Shero] is active with it and our NHL coaching staff is active with it. It’s really two things. We want them to understand what type of people we want. We have a pretty strong criteria of the types of players we want to draft with what they do on the ice. The next part is then, ‘what is our culture going to be here?'”

Members of the Devils’ coaching staff spoke on multiple occasions about how this week isn’t a tryout, or it’s not a competition. The Athletic’s Justin Bourne had some valuable insight recently on that idea.

It’s not a competition, but impressions are taken from how guys compete. It’s also a time to build on what Hynes was talking about.

Shero and Hynes have been piloting this franchise for three full seasons. The NHL roster has been reshaped with players that better fit a specific style of play on the ice and the all-encompassing “culture” off the ice.

This camp was made up almost entirely of players drafted since Shero and Hynes arrived. All they know about the NHL is what the Devils want from them. Development camp presents a chance to learn and connect with members of the organization in a slightly less stressful setting.

“Every year you can’t stop learning,” forward Brett Seney said. “You can always learn new things and play with different players. You can get to know them, because these are the guys you’re going to be playing with. Just try to build relationships with them and the coaching staff and be a sponge — soak in as much as you can.

“It’s very competitive. Everyone knows that come September there are going to be jobs open so everyone is working. It’s a friendly thing because we’re all working towards the same goal and pushing each other.”

There are 31 NHL teams that talk about creating a culture that leads to success, and building an identity on the ice. For some teams, it’s mostly boilerplate hockey lingo and doesn’t have the impact as others. For others, it clearly inspires an extra level of commitment and belief.

Three years into the Shero/Hynes era, it’d be hard to not count the Devils in latter group.

Blake Coleman trains in the offseason with players from other NHL teams, and he spent a few weeks in Denmark with the United States team at the world championships. Their scouting report to him about his team?

“I kept hearing, ‘Man, you guys suck to play against. You were just all over us.’ It is cool to hear the other side,” Coleman said. “You always focus on your side and the bad stuff, but I think we definitely have respect. Guys hate playing against us, and that’s great.

“This was the first year I’ve heard, ‘Playing New Jersey sucks,’ and I love it.”

The Devils try to use the time at development camp to further illustrate that to future members of the roster.

“One of the things that they’re really good at here is making it clear what the identity of the team we have is,” forward Blake Speers said. “It’s a) we’re going to be a hard team to play against, b) we’re going to have a bunch of competitors and c) we’re going to play fast and with heart and with speed. You put all of those things together and it makes for a real tough competition. If I was going to sum it up in one word, it’s just compete — at all times and in all facets of life — on the ice, in the gym, watching video, the entire time you have to be dialed in.

“It’s everything we talk about and with good reason. I think everyone has heard the phrase ‘talent loses to hard work if you don’t work hard.'”

This past week was about teaching more than 30 prospects about the organization’s ideals when it comes to culture and identity. And it was about getting to know everyone a little better — the players with each other and the players with the coaching staff and management.

Several of the team’s top prospects stood out on the ice, and in a setting where they are facing their peers, they probably should. Guys like Fabian Zetterlund and Aarne Talvitie stood out because of their advanced physique.

From one of the top prospects, Jesper Boqvist, showing off his tantalizing skills, to camp invite Bobo Carpenter making a strong impression with his speed and tenacity, there will be plenty of positives to take away from this camp.

And there will always be Smith’s hat trick — and everything else he did so well to portend a potentially bright future.