A couple of pre-camp notes on this Friday morning, beginning with the Washington Times' Corey Masisak taking a look at Rink fave Chris Bourque, one of the early arrivals to camp (he's here for full - not rookie - camp), who knows that "this year is a big year for [him]" as he looks to keep progressing after an eye-opening 25-goal sophomore campaign in Hershey.And north of the border, a number of QMJHL GMs are wondering whether they might lose their best players to the NHL, and they've presumably got that concern in B-C:
Baie-Comeau’s Francois Bouchard is in very much the same situation [as Flyer prospect Claude Giroux]. He was actually a second-round pick in 2006 but improved exponentially last season with the Drakkar and ended up winning the QMJHL scoring title. If the Washington Capitals decide he is better than the grinders they have pegged for their third and fourth lines, Bouchard might get a shot.While that shot is certainly a long one (and I'm not sure a skill player like Bouchard fits in with the third or fourth lines the Caps are assembling), one wonders how much another year of dominating the Q as a 19-year-old would help Bouchard's development.