NHL Scouting: The Minds Behind The Scences

During the past couple of seasons, like none in recent memory, the league has exhibited a great amount of parity.

Whether by luck or by design, it has been exciting for fans in most markets to have a reasonable chance of seeing their team in the playoffs.

The Cap Effect

In light of the new salary cap rules, general managers have been locking up their young stars to contracts that boggle the mind of the most seasoned sports fans.

Just in the last year, we have seen contract terms of 12-15 years in places like Washington, Philadelphia, and New York (Islanders).

In light of the recent economic conditions, contract terms like this may seem risky.  However, it makes sense that the General Manager would want to solidify his “core” group of young stars to build a franchise around. This long-term strategy helps to prevent outlandish offer sheets (Kevin Lowe) being thrown at younger free agents, raising the price of “labor” for all teams.

What About The Rest of The Team?

If so much effort and money is spent on securing a core group to build a franchise around, how does a team fill out the rest of its roster without breaking the bank?

We have recently seen many NHL veterans become victims of this exact scenario.  There are numerous ex-NHL players scattered throughout Europe, many making excellent money in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League.

The of filling out a roster with qualified professionals without sacrificing the almighty dollar is left to the true unheralded heroes of the National Hockey League. The ones whose names mean nothing to the average fan and whose faces you wouldn’t recognize from television. The scouts!

Kevin Allen of USA TODAY reports:

With all due respect to Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin, the true real MVPs in the NHL these days are guys like Tim Burke in San Jose, or Jim Nill in Detroit or David Conte in New Jersey and others who shepherd scouting staffs on premium teams.

When the salary cap was introduced, the league was supposed to be about younger free agents moving from team to team.

Instead, it’s probably more about scouting and drafting than it has ever been.

I think that Kevin is correct to a certain extent.

The league will always be dominated by the superstar players and fans will always flock to see them play, but the successful teams that win championships and go deep into the playoffs on a regular basis will do so because of scouting success.

Keeping the Pipeline Full

Now, I am not proclaiming that great scouting is something new. It has always lead to success – see Detroit.  However, in a market where a core group of players can use a large percentage of the salary cap, the job of scouting becomes a whole lot more important.

As time progresses and the General Managers get used to the salary cap system, it will be interesting to see the different strategies that they utilize to leverage their scouting system and develop young players.

Which team has the deepest pipeline of young prospects?
How effective are the individual minor league programs in developing young talent?

These are questions that fans must start asking themselves about their team.

It’s not just about the superstars anymore!