Jim Bennings Draft Record as Assistant GM in Boston

[sutlaf]

I like how he drafted himself in 2012.

 

[Havre]

Heheh, just like mutual fund managers. . Either way, it was someone else's theory and the burden of proof lies on he who asserts. I'm not going to do the legwork on trying to disprove some unfounded claim.

I understand the "illusion of control" and how most humans think they can influence things more than they actually can, but surprising that no team in any professional sport (I know of) have tested it. Quite a lot of money that goes into scouting.

Even worse when you see how drafting in the end is actually done. How often will you see a big surprise in the first round? Never? How is it possible that every team evaluates players so evenly? Because they all talk to each other, read the same newspapers, listen to the same pundits etc.

So in the end they end up with the same result just having spent a lot of money and resources getting there.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

I don't know about the conjecture re: Bowman, however I think you're hitting on something key, which is that very few GMs seem to be able to duplicate drafting success on their own. Scouting staff are crucial and it underscores how much of the actual management of your staff matters to running a good drafting/development program.

Benning may in fact be a great scout, but if he's a bad manager it won't matter much. It's also worth considering that scouting/development/drafting is a zero sum game, and as the league adapts methodologies that were once successful no longer are. It's highly likely that his methods were great in the early 2000s, and are simply mediocre now as organizations improve and access to information about players/video/stats etc is easier to get.

These are all excellent points that are worth repeating many times over.

Even if it's true that Benning had strategy that made him successful in Buffalo, it is not so that said strategy will make him successful in Vancouver 15 years later. This is what made Linden's "the game hasn't changed in 100 years" quote so scary.

 

[racerjoe]

These are all excellent points that are worth repeating many times over.

Even if it's true that Benning had strategy that made him successful in Buffalo, it is not so that said strategy will make him successful in Vancouver 15 years later. This is what made Linden's "the game hasn't changed in 100 years" quote so scary.

And the fact it has clearly changed so much, from systems, to rules, equipment, rink sizes, really a better question is what has stayed the same?