Confirmed with Link: Oilers Hired Michael Parkatti as Senior Director, Data & Analytics

[joestevens29]

Lowetide was pretty ecstatic about this move. Really didn't shut up about it lol

Was weird though that he said Parkatti wouldn't be on his show because he's an Oiler employee.

Lowetide can't have Oiler employees on his show?

 

[brentashton]

Not to want to go too OT here but the NHL was PURPOSELY allowing large market clubs that were missing the playoffs to get into the playoffs. This was the NHL changing rules on the fly, and doing it in the most cynical manner. The NHL basically rigged the system with the play ins that year allowing non playoff placed clubs to be in them.

This. They weren’t even trying to be coy.

They bought an extension to the CBA at the time by dangling the carrot in front of the PA to give more membership the chance to win a Cup in the COVID truncated season.

I believe we will see play ins permanently not too far down the road. The zeal to sell extra tickets between the reg season and true playoffs is just too great for the owners to discard the notion.

 

[joestevens29]

I’m glad that if we are hiring a stats blogger it is a guy who seems to have an actual background in analytics and isn’t just a guy with free time, an excel spreadsheet and a huge ego.

We will probably never really know the extent of his impact, but I’m always interested in how analytics get folded into decision making.

Just another tool in the toolbox for the scouts, coaches and GM's to use. Now with that being said they don't use that tool I have a feeling you'll be replaced with someone that is open to it.

This was Jackson's comment yesterday.

“Analytics are another good tool to use. If you have a toolbox and you don’t have one part of the toolbox, or you lost your one tool and you’re not using it, it’s going to hurt you. We want to get that toolbox full and use analytics, but you have to use all the other stuff as well, including watching games in person and using your own sights and smell test on players. Feeling all the intangible things with players is all very important, but what the analytics can do is, you can build programs where you drive focus on whether it’s amateur scouting, pro scouting, player contracts, and using it to find out when guys are at peak performance. All that sort of stuff can’t be done without the data, so that’s where we’re going to use it. But we’re also going to continue to use the traditional methods of player evaluation because that’s not going anywhere.”

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Not to want to go too OT here but the NHL was PURPOSELY allowing large market clubs that were missing the playoffs to get into the playoffs. This was the NHL changing rules on the fly, and doing it in the most cynical manner. The NHL basically rigged the system with the play ins that year allowing non playoff placed clubs to be in them.

Practical reasons too like existential threat from loss of revenue likely also partnership fulfillment for league broadcasters and sponsorship agreements. Now back to regularly scheduled Oiler news of the day!

 

[russ99]

Glad the Oilers have set up an analytics department, and seems like a good hire, Parkatti is a smart guy with lots of practical experience with data.

However, taking with this cautious optimism, since the lead of this department will need to use resources to create new models, and apply the mountains of tracker data coming in to reach conclusions, and this is the guy who blocked me on twitter for daring to question the validity and accuracy of xGA.

He'll need to innovate new metrics, not stick in the mud and assume current shot metrics can tell us everything.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

The Drop Episode 1 gave us a glimpse of how our brain trust operates. It showed the TDL where we acquired Brassard. Essentially the decision was made by a board room consisting only of:

Kieth Gretzky - AGM / Bakersfield GM
Paul Coffey - Special Advisor to Katz
Bill Scott - AGM / Cap Cruncher
Archie Henderson (at the time) - Head of Pro Scouting
Tyler Wright (at the time) - Head of Amateur Scouting
Bobby Nicholson - Director of Hamburger Naming

And….

Justin Mahe - Manager of Analytics

So we’ve had “analytics” before. But how much did Holland consider them for his moves? You can get a sense watching how they deliberate decisions. Regarding Brassard, Holland goes over it with the board room as they contemplate the move:

“Well you’ve (Archie?) seen him a lot this year, and you’ve (Scott?) known him since he was 18 , he scored 16 pts in 30 games, that’s a 40 point pace, he can play center, he can play wing…. Oh and Justin what does your numbers say?”

Justin looks at his laptop and replies “Pretty good defensive rating”

That’s it. So on the home stretch to making a TDL addition. Essentially minutes away from making the decision on whether to trade for Brassard. Holland finally gets his analytical analysis input and it amounts to “Pretty good defensive rating”.

So while the Oilers finally look like they’re going to take Analytics seriously with this Parkatti hire, our GM and decision making process needs to actually use them. It needs to be ingrained in the process from the get go. It shouldn’t be just asking at the very last minute after a decision has already been made by eye test and reputation how do the numbers look. Holland may just be too old school to truly make analytics an important consideration. I think this again signals that Holland will be retired as GM soon. And for this new analytics era of the Oilers to really kick off, we may need him to.

So you’re basing your opinion on a short video with barely any context where they were discussing the acquisition of a 13/14 fwd?

How do you know there was no previous discussions in the days or weeks before this particular discussion? Or that there aren’t some sort of analytic report produced before hand for potential targets leading up to the deadline and in this instance Holland is just asking if there is anything analytically he should be aware of?

I’m just wondering what, if any intimate knowledge you have of the inner workings and conversations that are being had on a day to day basis or is it just a short video about a spare player acquisition from a few years ago.

 

[TheNumber4]

So you’re basing your opinion on a short video with barely any context where they were discussing the acquisition of a 13/14 fwd?

How do you know there was no previous discussions in the days or weeks before this particular discussion? Or that there aren’t some sort of analytic report produced before hand for potential targets leading up to the deadline and in this instance Holland is just asking if there is anything analytically he should be aware of?

I’m just wondering what, if any intimate knowledge you have of the inner workings and conversations that are being had on a day to day basis or is it just a short video about a spare player acquisition from a few years ago.

I don’t know that. But I do know exactly what I stated happened, which is Holland asked last minute how the numbers looked. And “pretty good defensive rating” was the satisfactory accepted answer. Why would Holland ask that if he had already considered the analytics? He wouldn’t. Maybe others considers the analytics, like Justin, but that’s irrelevant when the buck stops at the GM.

 

[brentashton]

Lowetide was pretty ecstatic about this move. Really didn't shut up about it lol

Was weird though that he said Parkatti wouldn't be on his show because he's an Oiler employee.

Lowetide can't have Oiler employees on his show?

Oilers own the OilersNow property on CHED, not CHED. Pretty standard that they wouldn’t want a competitor local radio broadcast outlet to have access to info and people that they want for their own vehicle.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

I don’t know that. But I do know exactly what I stated happened, which is Holland asked last minute how the numbers looked. And “pretty good defensive rating” was the satisfactory accepted answer. Why would Holland ask that if he had already considered the analytics? He wouldn’t. Maybe others considers the analytics, like Justin, but that’s irrelevant when the buck stops at the GM.

Like I mentioned, it’s quite possible that a broad report was generated earlier outlining basic analytics on a list of players and in this moment he’s just asking the analytics guy if there’s anything from an analytics stand point that really stands out about Brassard in particular. Second, this was a very minor acquisition, he was basically brought in to be a rental 13/14 fwd, it’s not like this was a franchise altering trade that needed to be dissected from every angle.

Would you spend the same amount of time and resources analyzing the purchase of a coffee maker as you would the purchase of a car?

As I stated, I definitely think they’ve under utilized advanced analytics but I don’t think a 2 minutes conversation on a very minor rental acquisition is much proof of anything.

 

[CupofOil]

I'm not a big analytics guy but this is great for the organization. This organization has suffered badly from old school tunnel vision for way too long so it's about time that they brought some creative, new age thinkers into the fold.

It's all about balance and bringing the modern minds to counterbalance the Hollands of the world. If they had done this immediately after McDavid was drafted perhaps the Oilers would have a Cup or two by now, or hell, if they did nothing but draft BPA in the 2015 draft and not chase an Oil King who had no place in the modern NHL then perhaps it would be different but what's done is done. Better late than never, I welcome our new Analytic Overlords.

 

[joestevens29]

Oilers own the OilersNow property on CHED, not CHED. Pretty standard that they wouldn’t want a competitor local radio broadcast outlet to have access to info and people that they want for their own vehicle.

But Jackson was on Gregor's show yesterday. Someone that competes directly with a ched show

 

[joestevens29]

I'm not a big analytics guy but this is great for the organization. This organization has suffered badly from old school tunnel vision for way too long so it's about time that they brought some creative, new age thinkers into the fold.

It's all about balance and bringing the modern minds to counterbalance the Hollands of the world. If they had done this immediately after McDavid was drafted perhaps the Oilers would have a Cup or two by now, or hell, if they did nothing but draft BPA in the 2015 draft and not chase an Oil King who had no place in the modern NHL then perhaps it would be different but what's done is done. Better late than never, I welcome our new Analytic Overlords.

Lowetide was pumping Brad Holland's tires on this today too. About how he's a new age thinker.

Have to think that helps a guy like Kenny being more open to the new age of thinking and the changes that are happening.

 

[Paralyzer]

Lowetide was pumping Brad Holland's tires on this today too. About how he's a new age thinker.

Have to think that helps a guy like Kenny being more open to the new age of thinking and the changes that are happening.

It bodes well for us because you look at how teams are progressing and you can see that you need a mix of old and new, so you can get a feel for every system. I like that we got a nice healthy mix in our Management, and you can see it's working on the ice for us.

 

[5 14 6 1]

Absolutely love the hire men, Jeff Jackson's mandate for this organization to be top of the line in everything they do is beginning.

 

[brentashton]

But Jackson was on Gregor's show yesterday. Someone that competes directly with a ched show

True. But I’d suggest Jackson as CEO, former principal in an agency and a lawyer is a lot more media savvy and knows what info to not to toss out there when on a competitor’s show. I’m guessing he was generic and somewhat guarded in his appearance. He’s been on Bob’s show at least 3x since he was hired. Probably didn’t let anything out with Gregor that he hasn’t stated already on OilersNow.

 

[Beerfish]

 

[McDNicks17]

I'm not a big analytics guy but this is great for the organization. This organization has suffered badly from old school tunnel vision for way too long so it's about time that they brought some creative, new age thinkers into the fold.

It's all about balance and bringing the modern minds to counterbalance the Hollands of the world. If they had done this immediately after McDavid was drafted perhaps the Oilers would have a Cup or two by now, or hell, if they did nothing but draft BPA in the 2015 draft and not chase an Oil King who had no place in the modern NHL then perhaps it would be different but what's done is done. Better late than never, I welcome our new Analytic Overlords.

It still all comes down to the GM.

The Oilers were one of the first teams to use a third party analytics firm(Dark Horse Analytics in Edmonton) and were also one of the first teams to adopt SportsLogIQ.

They've always had access to analytics, but they've also always had dinosaurs in charge that thought they were witchcraft. Hopefully Jackson gives everyone in the organization a reality check.

 

[5 14 6 1]

Oilers trend of hiring extremely qualified candidates continues. Parkatti's resume

 

[McAsuno]

Jeff Jackson accomplishing more good stuff in a smaller time frame compared to jackass Bob Nicholson.
Great f***ing hire.

 

[GOilers88]

Alright guys you got me. I’m Michael.

His name is Michael Parkatti

 

[The Nuge]

Lowetide was pumping Brad Holland's tires on this today too. About how he's a new age thinker.

Have to think that helps a guy like Kenny being more open to the new age of thinking and the changes that are happening.

We can’t know for sure how truthful he’s being, but he’s got a pretty good outlook on it imo based on his interviews. He’s much more modern than a guy like Burke. Advanced stats are not as definitive as someone like Oilerbear claims, but it’s a useful tool that you can’t ignore

Oilers trend of hiring extremely qualified candidates continues. Parkatti's resume

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Everything seems very positive with this hire. Definitely better than hiring some random guy because he had a cup of coffee with the team in the 80s

 

[Leonardlizard]

I'm just happy we're adding tools to the toolbox instead of toys to the play bin.

 

[brentashton]

Oilers trend of hiring extremely qualified candidates continues. Parkatti's resume

rock solid CV for sure. But maybe he just needed to get out of Calgary…

 

[GrumpyKoala]

Can he establish a correlation between Schwartz and goalie regression?

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Jeff Jackson accomplishing more good stuff in a smaller time frame compared to jackass Bob Nicholson.
Great f***ing hire.

Dont disrespect his Burger like that.