Flyers finally hire Finnish scout

[Appleyard]

Front Office Staff



His first official staff role after retiring two years ago.

Click to read more...

 

[Hakroach]

 

[Hakroach]

Front Office Staff

Hey, there's also a new Czech dude. Or did Vaclav change his name to Jan?

 

[Appleyard]

Hey, there's also a new Czech dude. Or did Vaclav change his name to Jan?

Well spotted. I would guess that Vaclav retired maybe... and this is the new guy:

Jan Slansky at eliteprospects.com

 

[Appleyard]

 

[Appleyard]

If Nolet and Slansky have retired that means that the only amateur scouts left since before 2013 are:

Dennis Patterson (OHL) 1983-1990, 1994-present
Mark Greig (WHL) 2007-present
Todd Hearty (QMJHL) 2008-present
Ken Hoodikoff (Russia) 2009-present
Jack McIlhargey (WHL) 2011-present


Joakim Grundberg (Sweden) 2013-present
Nick Pryor (USHL) 2013-present
Rick Pracey (OHL) 2014-present
Jan Slansky (Czech) 2018-present
Juuso Riksman (Finland) 2018-present

New guys now half of the staff. And I would guess Grundberg, Pryor and Pracey have a lot of pull...

 

[Tripod]

Maybe we can finally tap into a market we have ignored for too long.

 

[Hiesenberg]

Maybe I missing something, but why wouldn't we have a Finnish scout? It's not like that's a baron market.

 

[Appleyard]

Maybe I missing something, but why wouldn't we have a Finnish scout? It's not like that's a baron market.

They have not had an amateur scout there since Niittymäki.

Finnish scouts:

Kauto: 2008-13
Niittymäki: 2013-15

They had Sinisalo for a long time too, but I believe that his focus was on pro scouting.

 

[Bill_Meltzer]

Maybe I missing something, but why wouldn't we have a Finnish scout? It's not like that's a baron market.

Antero Niittymäki left a few years ago to become GM of TPS Turku, and he wasn't replaced until Riksman came in. The late Ilkka Sinisalo was a pro scout for the Flyers but kind of did whatever the Flyers asked of him in terms of scouting and he was, of course, deeply connected within Finnish hockey at all levels. The Flyers previously had Matti Kautto on the European scouting staff but he was gone by the point when Niitty expanded from goalie scouting specialist to general scouting.

 

[FatTugboatFlahr]

Tragic.

 

[pit]

Tragic.

Indeed. I hope it was good terms (such as retirement). Nolet was fantastic for us.

 

[deadhead]

Problem is the scout is a goalie, can goalie's evaluate talent?

 

[Deadpool8812]

Losing Nolet is a big loss but I'm pretty sure he was up there in age. Not surprised if he retired

 

[MacDonald4MVP]

Makes you wonder what Brett hextalls role is. Did he go directly from college hockey to player development?

 

[Ghosts Beer]

Pretty sure Jan Slansky was listed as a scout before the 2018 draft. I noticed it wasn’t Vaclav anymore & did a double-take. I assume it’s his son.

As for Riksman, I assume he’s probably been working with the Flyers informally as a consultant before the official hire.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

Makes you wonder what Brett hextalls role is. Did he go directly from college hockey to player development?

Brett played a season with the Phantoms, then retired to move to the Midwest with his wife who was a medical resident there. I guess he’s back.

 

[Appleyard]

Losing Nolet is a big loss but I'm pretty sure he was up there in age. Not surprised if he retired

Yeh, he is 76, and Slansky is 71...

 

[Redpath]

In 2002-03, Nolet also recommended the drafting of the seemingly under-scouted Patrice Bergeron in the third-round range of the 2003 Draft but the player (who was not ranked in the Hockey News' top 50 that year) was unexpectedly selected in the second round by the Boston Bruins.

HockeyBuzz.com - Bill Meltzer - Quick Hits: Riksman Hired, Nolet Retired, Alumni and More

Fascinating tidbit from Melzter that I’ve never heard before. Probably going to make me lose some sleep

 

[Beef Invictus]

This has me disgruntled.

 

[Beef Invictus]

Makes you wonder what Brett hextalls role is. Did he go directly from college hockey to player development?

He'll be the PK coach before you know it!

 

[Rebels57]

If only we hired him last summer. Maybe we select the electrifying Nicklas Nordgren over the Nick Grossmann clone Adam Ginning.

 

[RANKKA]

Riksman

 

[DancingPanther]

Antero Niittymäki left a few years ago to become GM of TPS Turku, and he wasn't replaced until Riksman came in. The late Ilkka Sinisalo was a pro scout for the Flyers but kind of did whatever the Flyers asked of him in terms of scouting and he was, of course, deeply connected within Finnish hockey at all levels. The Flyers previously had Matti Kautto on the European scouting staff but he was gone by the point when Niitty expanded from goalie scouting specialist to general scouting.

Bill in the house

 

[deadhead]

My suspicion is local scouts are far more influential on later round picks than the first couple rounds.
The top 60 or so players I'm sure are heavily scouted in this day of age of universal video.
But there's only so many hours in a day, and lesser players aren't going to have multiple viewings by out of area scouts.