DULUTH — Minnesota Duluth sophomore wingers Jayson Shaugabay and Callum Arnott have become quite the duo during their season-plus as Bulldogs.
Last year as freshmen,
the teammates and roommates got matching tattoos.
This summer prior to their sophomore year, they took a trip together to Florida.
Ok, it wasn’t just any trip. Both took part in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s annual NHL prospect development camp. Shaugabay, 20, is a 2023 fourth-round draft pick of the Lightning. Arnott, 21, is an undrafted free agent who received an invite by the team.
Shaugabay is coming off a freshman season in which he finished tied for second on the Bulldogs in goals with 12, and tied for third in points with 26. Arnott posted six goals and four assists bouncing around the line chart, sometimes centering the third or fourth line and sometimes playing wing opposite Shaugabay.
Both returned this week for the second appearance together on the
Duluth News Tribune’s Bulldog Insider Podcast
with News Tribune college hockey reporter
and the voice of UMD hockey on My 9 Sports, Zach Schneider.
Here is an edited excerpt from this week’s episode:
Matt Wellens: How does a player get invited to an NHL development camp when they go undrafted, especially when it’s your favorite team?
Callum Arnott: Growing up, that was my favorite favorite team. I loved Steven Stamkos growing up. It happens pretty quick. They watch all the games and stuff like that. My experience with it is you get a phone call, unknown number, you answer it. They’re like, ‘Do you want to come to camp?’ And you don’t turn that down. It happens quick after the season.
Wellens: Jayson, you’re going to the Tampa Bay camp whether you want to or not, you don’t have the option.
Cal, did you have other options to go to other camps? Or was this the only team that reached out?
Arnott: This was the only team that reached out and right away, I said yes, like a little prematurely, but I was excited.
Wellens: What do Tampa’s camps all involve? These use to be more uniform, but now teams are mixing it up a little bit. Some teams, I found out talking to guys, they don’t even skate anymore. They just do informational and team building stuff.
What does Tampa Bay Lightning camp all involve?
Minnesota Duluth forward Jayson Shaugabay (13) skates with the puck against Western Michigan defenseman Samuel Sjolund (33) on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group
Jayson Shaugabay: We’re down there for a week. We skate twice a day, work out. We do medical stuff. We have a day where we go to Top Golf, or do something like that with everybody.
But for the most part, it’s very developmental focused. We have a lot of skating coaches and skilled days and the last two days are scrimmages, like three-on-three and stuff like that.
The workouts aren’t easy. Workouts are very tough, actually. I think they take it very serious as a developmental camp.
Wellens: Cal, have you been to other development camps before besides Tampa’s?
Arnott: Yeah, after my last year of juniors, I went to St. Louis’s camp.
Wellens: How did the two camps compare — St. Louis and Tampa?
Arnott: We skated a lot more in Tampa, which I enjoyed. St. Louis’s we didn’t really work out. Tampa was like Shaugs said. It was pretty tough, which was maybe not as fun in the moment, but looking back, it was a good time. Those were the main differences that I kind of noticed.
Minnesota Duluth forward Callum Arnott (25) celebrates after scoring a second-period goal against Arizona State on Friday, Feb. 14 at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group
Zach Schneider: It’s only a week versus an entire season, but how do they compare to what you’re doing here at UMD, like the on-ice stuff, off-ice stuff? How pro-comparable is what you’re doing throughout the year here in Duluth?
Shaugabay: I think it’s a lot different because the skates (with Tampa) are more for skating and for skill work and stuff like that. Here, we practice as a team and do team stuff. It’s a lot different in the sense that they’re trying to make us individually better when we go to camp. Here, it’s more team focused.
Check out the full episode for more from Callum Arnott and Jayson Shaugabay. You can find the Bulldog Insider Podcast at
DuluthNewsTribune.com/BulldogInsider
, and on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop Thursdays throughout the UMD men’s and women’s hockey seasons.