WILMINGTON -- The Bruins' prospects have already seen a good amount of the Ristuccia Arena ice as the team holds both July's development camp and September's rookie camp each year. The former is a minimal-pressure affair, as draft picks come to town to get familiar with the organization, with some power skating sprinkled in for good measure. For the latter, the stakes are a bit higher. As rookie camp opened on Friday, that much was clear.

These days, the youngsters are all about one thing: earning a roster spot. For some, attaining it is more concievable than for others. Skill and NHL-readiness play a large role and two seem close in 2010 second-round picks Jared Knight (32nd overall -- a pick acquired in the Phil Kessel trade) and Ryan Spooner (45th overall).

"Development camp, it's more of getting to know the guys, make them friends with you, get their twitters and whatnot," Knight said Friday after rookies went through fitness testing and a pair of on-ice sessions. "This camp, it's all about making the team. There's no friends out there. You're going out there and you're competing against one another."

It's certainly a competition, and one that each player will welcome. For players under 20 (which applies to Spooner, Knight and ninth overall pick Dougie Hamilton, among others), they will return to their OHL teams unless they make the Bruins, as they will not be eligible to go to the AHL. Though the players enjoy their OHL teams, it's safe to say they would be happy to stick with the Bruins rather than returning. As such, the players who participated in last year's main camp (Spooner and Knight lasted deep into camp a season ago) haven't been slacking in their push to impress the higher-ups.

Spooner, who was told by the Bruins a year ago that he needed to put the effort in to improve his conditioning, is a perfect example. Last year, general manager Peter Chiarelli told Spooner that he had to put the time and effort into staying in better shape. The team wanted him to get his body fat percentage down and Spooner said that he's got it down by two and a half percent.

"Ryan Spooner came in in better shape," said assistant general manager Jim Benning Friday. "His body fat was down, his weight was up, his strength was up. That's the learning process we talk about with young players. He's put in a lot of work this summer, and so far it's shown up. I would expect that the further we go into camp, we'll start to see the results from the work he's put in."

Benning said he was impressed by the strides made by all the players, and that nobody disappointed in their testing. Now it's a matter of what the players can do on the ice, and Spooner and Knight will certainly be among the players to watch.

"They went through the process last year, so they understand the size and the speed of NHL players and American Hockey League players," Benning said of the two forwards. "They've shown up in excellent shape, both of them, and I'm sure as we go through camp, they'll be able to show everything that they've got as players, because they've given themselves an opportunity to show by coming in in such good shape."

This year, the player whose conditioning has been closely monitored has been 2011 second-round pick Alexander Khokhlachev. The team wasn't wowed by the shape he was in at development camp, but they've seen improvement over the last two months.

"Prospect camp is a learning experience for a lot of these kids. He learned a lot from that. He came down a lot in his body fat from two months ago, so he's really worked hardfrom two months ago til today," Benning said Friday. "It's been good. We'll see if it translates on the ice for him. He looked a little quicker out there today, but it's a learning experience and a process for all these young players."

Khokhlachev, who turned 18 on Friday, is still raw and shouldn't end up near the discussion of which players could push for a spot this year, but those who impress in rookie camp will get a chance to make the team by participating in main camp. It's once players are in main camp that things get interesing. Both Knight and Spooner had a chance to compete against NHL competition thanks to their experience in Bruins' camp last year. This time around, Benning said they don't have a set number of rookies they'll invite to main camp, noting that all it takes is for the players to impress each day.

"All the players are going to be given a fair opportunity in these exhibition games coming up," Benning said. "From there, the guys that we feel deserve to be at main camp will get invited to main camp. We're going to sit down after these games and we're going to decide who deserves to come. If you put in a good showing and you do the work, you're going to get to come."

Even if players advance to main camp and prove themselves to be NHL-ready, it might be hard to actually find a place on NHL roster. With Benoit Pouliot seemingly replacing Michael Ryder, a gaggle of players including Jordan Caron and Chris Clark will compete for the spot left vacant by the retired Mark Recchi. Benning doesn't feel players should get caught up in that, noting that impressing Chiarelli and coach Claude Julien can go a long way.

"The one thing about Peter and Claude is that if a player deserves to be on the team, they find a way to get the player on the team," Benning said. "With time, that will work itself out."