The 2018 NHL Draft is now less than a month away, which means teams will be coming together over the next few weeks with their scouts to finalize their draft lists. It鈥檚 the culmination of months of hard work for an event that takes just two days.
The Canucks released a video of one of those scouting meetings on Wednesday, giving a brief behind-the-scenes look at how they put together a draft list.
鈥淪couting is a group effort for us,鈥� when I spoke to him in January. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no one person that drafts. If there鈥檚 a player we like, we have long discussions about that player. It鈥檚 definitely a group effort.鈥�
You can see the group effort in the meeting. Brackett directs the discussion but the 16 scouts in attendance, along with Jim Benning, John Weisbrod, and Trevor Linden, all chip in at different times.
These types of videos are always carefully edited both to avoid revealing a strategy or preference for a particular player, but also to prevent anyone from looking bad. Sometimes something will sneak through 鈥� a video of Laurence Gilman in 2013 鈥� but the whiteboards and computer screens in this video are carefully blurred to avoid giving anything away.
It鈥檚 also hard to tell at times what is genuine and what is said knowing that there are cameras in the room.
The video starts with a clear stated purpose: 鈥淏uild through the draft.鈥�
鈥淐hampionship teams usually have 10, 11, 12 home-grown players,鈥� says Benning. 鈥淎ll good teams build through the draft.鈥�
There鈥檚 an obvious exception in the Stanley Cup Final right now, unless you include the expansion draft in with the entry draft, but the Vegas Golden Knights are a special case. The Washington Capitals certainly fit the bill: Of the 20 players who have played a significant part of the playoffs for them, 11 are home-grown players that they drafted. Four others that they drafted have appeared in one or two playoff games.
The Canucks, on the other hand, had just eight home-grown, Canucks-drafted players in their lineup for at least 10 games last season.
鈥淚鈥檓 gonna try to get more picks if I can,鈥� says Benning. 鈥淢ake sure that you get that order right, because if we do get more picks going into the draft, it鈥檚 going to be important, the work you do in the room right now.鈥�
Acquiring picks heading into the draft can be difficult, as it鈥檚 often the time when teams value their picks the highest. Unlike at the trade deadline, when teams are focussed on the here-and-now, trying to make the playoffs, heading into the draft teams are having the same type of meetings seen in the video. That means every team is well aware of what trading away a draft pick means 鈥� it means they don鈥檛 get one of the players they鈥檝e been obsessively discussing and ranking.
Still, it can be done; it just often means that the price is high, though it depends on the pick. The Canucks traded down at the 2017 draft to get an extra pick in the sixth round, one of which was used to acquire the . Occasionally a blockbuster deal can be made as well, such as when Cory Schneider got the Canucks the ninth overall pick used on Bo Horvat.
Brackett then takes over, running through the process they will use to make their list. They start with the centres, which is written on the whiteboard as 鈥淐ENTER/CENTRE鈥� to perhaps accommodate the American scouts in the room.
The process seems fairly straightforward: Brackett puts three or four centres on the board, perhaps players that they have in a similar tier, and they then rank them according to a series of attributes: 鈥淧layer type, future potential, hockey sense, character/compete, skating, skill.鈥�
There may be other attributes that they use that are edited out of the video. Presumably they do this again and again, putting a new group of three or four players up each time, until a full list is made.
鈥淲e鈥檝e really made it a point of speaking the same language and using the same terms,鈥� says Brackett, 鈥渞eally identifying characteristics or criteria that are gonna be the building blocks of the players we want.鈥�
Some of the most fascinating elements of the video are the interactions between the people in the room. An early discussion of one player鈥檚 skating teases out some interesting insight into how those involved view how players can develop.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a strong, powerful skater,鈥� says Ron Delorme, pantomiming with his arms.
鈥淏ut when we talk about the game and the direction it鈥檚 going and the pace,鈥� responds Brackett, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 see him having separation speed or anything that鈥檚 going to push him past average.鈥�
鈥淏o Horvat didn鈥檛 have separation speed when he was that age,鈥� replies Delorme.
That is something frequently brought up by fans when a scouting report criticizes a prospect鈥檚 skating. Horvat, however, is an exception rather than the rule. Not all players can develop their skating the way Horvat has and Ryan Johnson suggests a reason why.
鈥淲ith Horvat, his skating was probably 75 or 70% mental,鈥� says Johnson, 鈥淛ust figuring out you can鈥檛 plant anymore, you can鈥檛 glide through the neutral zone. Once he got mentally 鈥� like, Gaudette鈥檚 gonna be the same type, in the sense of once he mentally figures out he鈥檚 got to hit holes, when he gets the puck in the neutral zone he can鈥檛 plant and look for passes.鈥�
The video takes some time to speak to a few individual scouts about what they look for. Wyatt Smith emphasizes 鈥渉ockey sense, work ethic, compete,鈥� while Derek Richard talks about 鈥渂ody language.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 a big believer in body language,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 watching his interactions with teammates, coaches, on the bench, how he interacts against opponents.鈥�
In some ways, that kind of language and the emphasis on 鈥渃haracter鈥� and 鈥渃ompete鈥� can be concerning, bringing up images of , where they talk about liking guys that 鈥済ot a little hair on their ass鈥� and discounting a player because of an 鈥渦gly girlfriend.鈥� But Brackett talked about why character was so important in January: because you鈥檙e not just looking at who the best player is now, but who will become the best player years down the road.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e 17, 18 years old, and it鈥檚 not just drive,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the willingness to accept coaching or to make changes with your body and what you fuel it with. Maybe some feel like they don鈥檛 need to do this or there鈥檚 a corner to cut, and it hurts them down the line. It鈥檚 not just the will and the drive 鈥� that鈥檚 part of it 鈥� but it鈥檚 also being receptive, being coachable, and also having enough skill to still make plays.鈥�
In that sense, character and even body language can matter, though you want to be careful how you weight those attributes in comparison to on-ice speed and skill. A player that takes coaching well and works hard to improve on their flaws will become a better player in the future.
The one time the video shows what鈥檚 on the whiteboard is when Brackett is writing down numbers, ranking the player in each attribute. It鈥檚 clear in that moment that 鈥渃haracter/compete鈥� is just one attribute, rather than two separate ones. The players on the board get all 2s and 3s across the board, though it鈥檚 unclear if a lower or higher number is better and what kind of scale they鈥檙e working on.
鈥淲hat are the deficiencies that make him a three?鈥� asks Weisbrod.
鈥淚t鈥檚 more power, speed-based game, it鈥檚 not a wide-vision, distribute the puck, get my wingers involved,鈥� replies Brackett. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not that he struggles there, but it鈥檚 not鈥︹��
鈥淭his guy is a clear playmaker,鈥� he adds, pointing to another player on the board. 鈥淭his guy is making plays offensively. I think his offensive bent is higher than his.鈥�
鈥淵ou want to be strong-minded, but not pigheaded,鈥� says Weisbrod after. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we鈥檙e all in here together.鈥�
There鈥檚 another intriguing interaction towards the end of the video, as they discuss a centre that they originally didn鈥檛 like.
鈥淔irst round pick, you know, I was kind of sour,鈥� says Dan Palango about the player, 鈥� but then I ground out what these guys told me, then we watch him with a different eye and the fact that his character鈥檚 so high, he won me over.鈥�
鈥淏y the end of the week, probably he鈥檚 going to be our biggest jumper,鈥� says Brackett. 鈥淭his guy was not on our 45, was on the player type, and I think even in the two-way player type he was down quite a bit, and he鈥檚 pushing into the top-six among centres right now.鈥�
It鈥檚 a telling moment, confirmed a moment later by Weisbrod. The Canucks will come out with a list of 45 players for the draft, supplemented by positional lists. That seems like a small list 鈥� 217 players will get selected at the draft 鈥� but this is evidently not unusual across the NHL.
A portion of these scouting meetings across the NHL is dedicated to rejecting players rather than selecting them. If they鈥檝e determined that one flaw (or a group of flaws) will prevent a prospect from making the NHL or being an impact player, it鈥檚 understandable why they would just leave him off their list entirely. Perhaps that prospect would be someone you would consider in the fourth round, but if he鈥檚 a likely second-round pick, why bother putting him on your list?
Still, 45 players is a short list and it makes you wonder where late-round picks like Palmu and Matt Brassard were on that list last year. and he鈥檚 the type of swing-for-the-fences pick that I would like to see more of in later rounds.
So, who is the centre that went from outside their list of 45 players (and low on their list of two-way players) to near the top of their list of centres? There鈥檚 simply not enough information in the video to even make an educated guess, but if the Canucks grab a centre with a third or fourth-round pick, the speculation will surely begin that he was the one.
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