Bryn Mawr’s Ajay White grew up a huge Flyers fan. He lived out a dream last week at their development camp.
White, a 19-year-old goalie who will play for the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League next season, got to don the Flyers jersey and strut his stuff as a camp invite.
Ajay White was watching the second day of the NHL draft on television when his phone rang that Saturday.
On the other end was his agent.
“I went to the [New Jersey] Devils’ dev camp last year,” White recalled of the conversation during the later rounds of the day. “And he just kind of told me, ‘Hey, you got invited to another dev camp, but it’s going to be a little shorter drive this time.’ That kind of narrowed it down for me, but that was a pretty surreal experience.”
The 19-year-old was an overager in this year’s draft but was not selected for the second straight year. But for a kid from Bryn Mawr who grew up a Flyers fan, he won the weekend at development camp. Because, while all eyes were on guys like Alex Bump, Porter Martone, and Jack Nesbitt, goaltender White was the one tasked with stopping them.
“Grew up a big-time Flyers fan,” he told The Inquirer. “You always hear about [development camp]. I’ll see it on my phone, all the posts from the years past, and now to be a part of it, it’s pretty cool. Just seeing the guys that I’ve watched [get] drafted, I’m like, ‘Oh.’ I always like to play GM in my head, like, ‘Oh, that’s a pretty good pick.’ And now I’m getting to see these guys, and it’s been awesome.”
White spent the majority of the 2023-24 season playing for Chippewa (Wis.) of the North American Hockey League, a Tier II junior league in the United States. He went 16-11-3 with a 2.90 goals-against average and .910 save percentage and played two games for Iowa-based Sioux City in the United States Hockey League, winning one and losing the other in overtime.
This past season, with the Madison Capitals of the USHL, he went 14-6-2 with a 2.78 GAA, .899 save percentage, and one shutout in 24 regular-season games. .
“I‘m a big guy. I take up a lot of net, but I want to be just more of, kind of like, a blocking-style goalie, that some of these bigger guys are,” the 6-foot-3, 205-pounder said, joking that he may be on the smaller side at Flyers camp.
“I want to be able to move. I want to be able to be in the best position I can, hit my spots, just play aggressive and use my size to an even bigger advantage.”
In early May, White was traded to the Fargo Force and has already participated in their “tryout” camp. “I got traded there, but I didn’t really take it as an automatic spot. ... I had to be prepared for that,” he said.
White will play for the Force in 2025-26 before suiting up for the University of St. Thomas, in St. Paul, Minn., which became a Division I hockey program five years ago. The Philly-area native is taking his hockey career year-by-year, but is expected to head to the school in 2026-27.
“First things first, I’m here to compete,” White said about the Flyers’ development camp. “I’m here for a reason. I know that. I’m trying to walk the line of taking it all in, but also trying to stay focused and do my best on the ice.
“I thought I’ve done a pretty good job with that, and I don’t really have time to take a step back when I’m out there — the play’s coming in on me too fast. But it’s been cool to see everything. I thought I have adjusted well to the speed of the game here.”
Although it may be the fastest hockey he’s seen, White did not look out of place. He led his three-on-three team to the final — it lost in the last 50 seconds on a streaking goal by Jack Murtagh — and was in net for Team Brière’s dramatic 4-3 come-from-behind overtime win the next day in the five-on-five scrimmage that concluded camp.
“My first favorite player was Danny Brière when I started cheering for the team,” said White, whose family moved to the area in 2010 from Cleveland when he was 3 or 4 years old. “Him and Matt Read, my two favorite players; I really liked Matt Read’s celebration.
“And then once, I was kind of like, hey, I’m going to be a goalie, my first favorite was Steve Mason. I wear [No.] 35, that’s kind of my number because of him. I really liked watching him growing up.”
White started playing hockey around the age of 7 or 8, skating on the little pond rink in Springfield, Delaware County. He played for the Haverford Hawks at the start, and when he went to his parents, Bill and Jennifer White, and said he wanted to be a goalie, they were on board.
“His mom and I didn’t grow up playing hockey, so we had no idea,” Bill White said with a chuckle. “So when he said that, we were like, go for it. All the other hockey people were telling us we were nuts.”
It all paid off, culminating with the former Junior Flyer and St. Joseph’s Prep goalie sharing the ice in Voorhees with top prospects for the team he grew up rooting for.
Bill White was spotted at the Flyers Training Center every day last week watching his son live out a dream. His mother and his sister, Maeve, left a trip to Ohio visiting family early to watch him play on the weekend.
“Goes without saying, it’s pretty awesome,” the proud dad said. “Just all the work that we’ve seen him do through the years and the ups and the downs. It’s been his dream, and to see it [and] to take this step is pretty cool.”
It was also cool for the Flyers staff to see.
“Yeah, they get a chance to put on the jersey. I think it’s pretty cool,” Flyers director of player development Riley Armstrong said with a big smile. “I saw, just skating out here, some family members, and they’re coming up and they’re banging on the glass. So I think that’s a pretty cool moment. ...
“I think it’s great for that support and also to build more Flyer fans for life. They’re constantly trying to grow the game. And I think this is part of it right here.”
White was not the only local player invited to the camp. There were Collegeville native Nick DeSantis, a forward at Cornell University; Justin Solovey, a forward from Holmdel, N.J., who plays for Harvard; and Berwyn’s Ryan Cameron, who, at just 17, was recently named USA Hockey’s Dave Peterson Goaltender of the Year. He posted a 1.35 GAA and .948 save percentage for Lonestar in the NAHL and is committed to Boston College in 2026 after he heads to Iowa to play for Cedar Rapids of the USHL this year.
And, of course, those dreams can grow into contracts. Last year, Emile Chouinard was a camp invite and impressed so much that he signed a two-year deal with Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League and was invited to rookie camp that September.
“I think the door is always open when it comes to [signing a deal]. That’s why you bring them in and you allow them to battle and compete and play in the game at the end, to kind of show what they have,” Armstrong said.
“And then, in doing that, too, they kind of put themselves on the map. When I’m out traveling around, watching guys play, maybe you pop in and watch them play, go down and say hi to them after the game. You kind of keep that door open for them as well. So it’s just a great way to get eyes on guys.”
And now maybe Armstrong will pop in next season and say hello to White in Fargo, N.D. — hopefully with a cheesesteak.