Goal: to make it to Broadway

“It was probably the toughest camp I’ve ever been in,’’ said the 18-year-old winger, who’ll be headed to Boston College in September to start his freshman year. “I mean, it was very grueling. No question, everyone was pushed to the limit.’’

Which, of course, is what development camp is all about. NHL clubs quickly immerse their newbies in the rigors of pro sports training, which had the 6-foot-2-inch Kreider and his brother baby Blueshirts put through demanding on- and off-ice conditioning tests, including a 3-mile run.

“It came down to them wanting to see competitive edge,’’ said Kreider, who played the last two seasons at the prestigious Phillips Academy in Andover. “That’s what they were looking for. A few times, coach [John] Tortorella was telling some of the players, ‘I want to see you buckle down, don’t let anyone pass you!’ It was intense, an eye-opener, but I definitely enjoyed it.’’

Kreider was selected 19th overall in the first round, one slot after the Canadiens chose hometown boy Louis Leblanc with their first pick. The hootin’ and hollerin’ over Leblanc had barely died down among Habs fans in the Bell Centre, and all around the city, when the Rangers followed by picking Kreider. The Habs stalled for a couple of minutes before choosing Leblanc, possibly because they were torn over whether to take Leblanc or Kreider.

“They were right there with Kreider,’’ noted one veteran agent. “The Habs loved the kid.’’

It was the same night that Montreal general manager Bob Gainey learned the Lightning wouldn’t cut a deal that would have brought Vincent Lecavalier home to Montreal. Perhaps if they had landed the Big Vin, it would have taken the pressure off picking Leblanc and Kreider would have been selected by the Habs.

Moments after Kreider became Blueshirt property, an enthused Gordie Clark, New York’s director of player personnel, gushed over Kreider’s elite skating skill, noting that the kid had “Alexander Mogilny kind of speed.’’

“First time I’ve heard that,’’ said Kreider, reached at home in Boxford late last week. “That’s quite a compliment whenever you are compared to a pro player. I never saw Mogilny play, but I have seen a clip or two of him, and I know I used him in a video game once or twice.’’

There were times during development camp, said Kreider, when he felt his legs were keeping up, but other times when his speed, always there in abundance during high school games, didn’t seem to translate to the on-ice demand.

“Sometimes I was confident,’’ he said, “and then there were other times when it was painstakingly obvious to me that I had things I had to work on.’’

In a one-on-one drill against a defenseman, with the blue liner forced to skate backward against Kreider’s straight-ahead speed, he felt fine.

“That’s an overspeed drill that we practiced a lot at school,’’ he noted. “I was able to get by the defenseman smoothly. I felt confident there.’’

But when forced deep into his end, with the puck-carrying team turning up the heat, it was a different story.

“A couple of times I felt like I wanted the play to stop so I could ask a question about coverage - you know, who would pick up who out there,’’ he said. “And the battles in the corners and along the boards . . . not much space to move there, so learning how to maintain puck possession in those situations was something new, too. I never had anything like that in school.’’

All things to work on before he gets to The Heights. But before he opens the books and shakes out the equipment bag in Chestnut Hill, Kreider will head to Lake Placid, N.Y., for the Team USA tryout camp for the upcoming season’s world junior tournament.

“That’s exciting, something that popped up just before the draft,’’ he said. “I’m guessing that will be another eye-opener.’’

Acquiring Pronger means Flyers have gotten meaner

Absolutely correct, but Bourque and Orr were mean enough, a skill they both intelligently modulated for all the right reasons. The two Boston icons rarely fought, their Hall of Fame careers defined by skill rather than right crosses and uppercuts.

“We’ve never had a guy with all that [meanness] come through here,’’ added Clarke.

Right again, and a point worth remembering when the puck drops in October. The Broad Street Bullies had buckets of toughness and willingness when Dave “The Hammer’’ Schultz (535 games/2,294 penalty minutes) worked the wing in their glory years. But the 6-foot-6-inch Pronger, even though he will be 35 in October, is vastly more skilled and now could make an already-surly Flyer lineup the meanest in the East, with the retooled Maple Leafs a close second.

Meanwhile, to clear up some confusion about Pronger’s seven-year contract extension that is worth just under $35 million: Even if he retires late in the deal, the Flyers will have to carry his annual cap hit (just shy of $5 million) all the way through 2016-17. Pronger arrived in Philly, acquired in a trade with Anaheim, with one year left on a pact that will pay him $6.25 million next season.

The common misconception is that cap money can disappear upon retirement as long as a player signs a new deal prior to his 35th birthday. The fine print of the collective bargaining agreement actually stipulates that if the player turns 35 in the season in which a new deal begins, or prior to the new deal beginning, then that retirement loophole disappears.

Pronger will be 42 when the new pact expires. And even if he is tucked away in a log cabin for the final 2-3 years of the deal, the Flyers will be carrying his full cap figure through the spring of 2017.

The same goes for Tim Thomas, by the way. He agreed to his new no-trade deal with the Bruins prior to turning 35 April 15, but because he has bridged the game’s “senior’’ plateau prior to the new deal commencing, his $5 million cap figure will be on Boston’s books for all four years no matter when he plays his last game.

Etc.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.