Confirmed with Link: Keith Gretzky New Assistant GM of Oilers, Frank Jay and PJ Fenton New Amateur Scouts

[CantHaveTkachev]

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/06/27/bruins-draft-trent-frederic-first-round-admit-third-line-grinder/

He essentially admitted to picking a Boyd Gordon type in the 1st round.

I'm still trying to figure out why Bruins fans are upset about him leaving. This guy has made curious pick after curious pick the last couple of years. He might look like the smartest guy in the room down the road but right now, the resume looks underwhelming and it seems like he likes Moroz and Musil type of picks instead of going for higher ceiling players.

this is a good article regarding Gretzky's draft record with the Bruins:
https://scoutingpost.com/2016/08/02/report-keith-gretzky-to-oilers-as-assistant-gm/

In the three drafts since, more optimism accompanied Boston’s efforts. Gretzky and Co. hit immediately on David Pastrnak, who slipped to 25th overall. However, every other player from that 2014 draft class looks promising as well: Ryan Donato enters his sophomore season at Harvard and is primed for bigger things in Cambridge. Danton Heinen has done nothing but impress after being an unknown plucked out of the BCHL in his second year of NHL draft eligibility, posting two prolific scoring years as Denver University. Heinen could win a job in Boston right away given his skill level and versatility. Anders Bjork was a fifth-round find and gem, who led the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in scoring as a sophomore, and even seventh-rounder Emil Johansson shows promise for being a late pick.

Gretzky’s 2015 draft could pay big dividends for Boston as well, even if some of the choices in the first round were not popular ones at the time. With 10 picks thanks to the Dougie Hamilton and Milan Lucic trades, the B’s have a bevy of prospects with a trio of second-rounders who have generated buzz in their own right. Time will tell whether not picking one or two of forwards Kyle Connor, Colin White and Mathew Barzal will hurt Boston in the long term, but Boston’s first six choices all seem to be developing, with 37th overall pick Brandon Carlo having the best chance to play in the NHL this season. Zach Senyshyn and Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson show real promise at key forward positions (RW, C) and the B’s appear to have some potential in huge but lithe goalie Daniel Vladar (3rd round) and agitating winger Jesse Gabrielle. The B’s can’t employ all 10 of their draft picks from 2015, but they’re going to hit on a few at least.

every scout has hit and misses...even the good ones miss more than they hit

tell will tell if Gretzky has the chops to be a good Assistant GM, but it least its not more of the same

 

[CupofOil]

this is a good article regarding Gretzky's draft record with the Bruins:
https://scoutingpost.com/2016/08/02/report-keith-gretzky-to-oilers-as-assistant-gm/



every scout has hit and misses...even the good ones miss more than they hit

tell will tell if Gretzky has the chops to be a good Assistant GM, but it least its not more of the same

It was his comments that bothered me more than anything else. Saying that he knows full well that their 1st round pick wasn't going to be a top 6 player and they drafted him because of high character, toughness and PKing ability. Sounds like Stu MacGregor type of thinking. That's how you end up with guys like Moroz and Musil instead of much higher ceiling players.

 

[Aerrol]

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/06/27/bruins-draft-trent-frederic-first-round-admit-third-line-grinder/

He essentially admitted to picking a Boyd Gordon type in the 1st round.

I'm still trying to figure out why Bruins fans are upset about him leaving. This guy has made curious pick after curious pick the last couple of years. He might look like the smartest guy in the room down the road but right now, the resume looks underwhelming and it seems like he likes Moroz and Musil type of picks instead of going for higher ceiling players.

Hoooo boy. I mean, at least we've always been pretty awful at drafting + developing, so it won't be like we're really downgrading, lol.

That's pretty frustrating to read though. Not even pretending they see upside!

 

[Biltmore]

Actually it was great that GretzK wasted that pick - it left a much better player in Benson for the Oilers at #32.

 

[Raab]

I don't see what was wrong with the Frederic pick. If they get a solid 3rd liner out of him in the mold of Jarrett Stoll thats a win at that spot. Guy had a pretty good U-18's.

 

[Wheathead]

The jealousy of some on this board is hilarious. Seems as if some here think that their arm chair GMing should grab them a job in the NHL.

Gretzky, Jay and Fenton have all paid their dues in various levels of hockey in various different positions. All scouts have hits and misses. Some act as if the groupthink on this board has a perfect record as well.

It's not like the guys we release have better records than the guys we just signed.

 

[Seachd]

I don't see what was wrong with the Frederic pick. If they get a solid 3rd liner out of him in the mold of Jarrett Stoll thats a win at that spot. Guy had a pretty good U-18's.

I'm with you on that one. If a guy can make a career as a good third-liner, the first round is exactly where he should be taken.

 

[Halibut]

Can Buchberger GTFO already? The man is a cockroach.

You just cant keep him down. Made himself a good career in the NHL despite very little talent just guts and hard work. He showed that same lack of talent and hard work in his management role and it's taken him all the way to "VP of talking about the boys on the bus days".

 

[Zaddy]

I don't see what was wrong with the Frederic pick. If they get a solid 3rd liner out of him in the mold of Jarrett Stoll thats a win at that spot. Guy had a pretty good U-18's.

Regardless you don't take a guy with bottom-six upside in the 1st round.

These comments below are just baffling:

“[Frederic] is not going to be a top-two-line guy, we know that,” Bruins director of amateur scouting Keith Gretzky told reporters at the draft, according to Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald. “But he has some jam. He plays hard with the penalty minutes. We were fortunate to get him.

“We believed he was our next guy and we really liked the projection of him as a staff. Everybody raved about him, his character is outstanding. He’s an athlete.”

When the best attributes of a guy you just drafted is that "he has some jam", "he plays hard with the penalty minutes" and "he's an athlete" then you haven't made a very good selection. CupOfOil is right, this is the typical Moroz, Musil type of pick that usually leads to nowhere. It's actually scary close to the Brian Burke way of hockey, you know the guy that drafted Tyler Biggs and Frederik Gauthier in the 1st round. The Frederic pick looks eerily similar to those two. Drafting grinders in the 1st round is not how you create sustained success as a franchise.

 

[Homesick]

Keith certainly sounds like Wayne. I just heard Gretzky on the radio and thought it was him for a few seconds

 

[Raab]

Regardless you don't take a guy with bottom-six upside in the 1st round.

These comments below are just baffling:


When the best attributes of a guy you just drafted is that "he has some jam", "he plays hard with the penalty minutes" and "he's an athlete" then you haven't made a very good selection. CupOfOil is right, this is the typical Moroz, Musil type of pick that usually leads to nowhere. It's actually scary close to the Brian Burke way of hockey, you know the guy that drafted Tyler Biggs and Frederik Gauthier in the 1st round. The Frederic pick looks eerily similar to those two. Drafting grinders in the 1st round is not how you create sustained success as a franchise.

Have you even seen Frederic play? While I doubt he makes the top 2 lines in the NHL, he definitely could. You're making it seem like they took a player who can't skate and has hands of stone. Which in Frederic's case would be completely wrong. Has good size, skating, shot, and passing. Also has good hockey IQ, and is relentless on the forecheck. We could use a couple players like that.

Most likely a 2/3rd line tweener, and I think he has a good chance of hitting that potential. Given the lack of depth in this years draft, any of the guys ranked from pretty much 25-75 could have gone anywhere in that range. It's definitely not as much of a reach as some people are claiming it was.

 

[MoneyGuy]

Can anyone honestly think of a worse hire?

Yeah, Replacement as assistant GM. Or me.

 

[Zaddy]

Have you even seen Frederic play? While I doubt he makes the top 2 lines in the NHL, he definitely could. You're making it seem like they took a player who can't skate and has hands of stone. Which in Frederic's case would be completely wrong. Has good size, skating, shot, and passing. Also has good hockey IQ, and is relentless on the forecheck. We could use a couple players like that.

Most likely a 2/3rd line tweener, and I think he has a good chance of hitting that potential. Given the lack of depth in this years draft, any of the guys ranked from pretty much 25-75 could have gone anywhere in that range. It's definitely not as much of a reach as some people are claiming it was.

I have seen him play a couple of times, never stood out to me as a potential 1st round pick. No one had him even ranked in the 1st round, Bobby Mac had him at #54 and that was the highest anyone had him. Some (FC & HP) had him in the 80's. Even so, if he is so good then why doesn't Keith have anything better to say about him except that "he has some jam"? He doesn't mention anything about skating, shot, passing or hockey IQ. Maybe everyone is wrong and KG is a genius, but it doesn't look too good reaching multiple times in the 1st round in back-to-back years.

 

[Raab]

I have seen him play a couple of times, never stood out to me as a potential 1st round pick. No one had him even ranked in the 1st round, Bobby Mac had him at #54 and that was the highest anyone had him. Some (FC & HP) had him in the 80's. Even so, if he is so good then why doesn't Keith have anything better to say about him except that "he has some jam"? He doesn't mention anything about skating, shot, passing or hockey IQ. Maybe everyone is wrong and KG is a genius, but it doesn't look too good reaching multiple times in the 1st round in back-to-back years.

Everyone at that spot had warts of some type. I mean no one is losing their minds that Toronto took Korshkov two spots later, or when Borgstrom was taken by the Panthers. As I said not much separating guys in the rankings. If one guy stood out in interviews and character, can see why a team might reach a bit for him. The fact the Boston took him at 29 also means they probably knew someone would take him before their next pick at 49th. So they probably weren't the only team high on the kid.

 

[belair]

I don't see what was wrong with the Frederic pick. If they get a solid 3rd liner out of him in the mold of Jarrett Stoll thats a win at that spot. Guy had a pretty good U-18's.

It was a reach pick. He might have gone clear through the 2nd round.

That was his Riley Nash pick.

 

[DreamTheatre]

The Slippery Snake springs to mind.

Cool

 

[joestevens29]

It was his comments that bothered me more than anything else. Saying that he knows full well that their 1st round pick wasn't going to be a top 6 player and they drafted him because of high character, toughness and PKing ability. Sounds like Stu MacGregor type of thinking. That's how you end up with guys like Moroz and Musil instead of much higher ceiling players.

This wasn't Stu MacGregor thinking it was the GM's thinking. MacGregor was quite clear on what direction he was suppose to be looking at. Can blame MacGregor all you want, but in hindsight both clowns that were instructing him on what to do are no longer making decisions.

The funny thing is now that he is gone we are seeing some of picks looking pretty decent. Davidson, Reider, Khaira, Klefbom. Musil and Simpson are two wild cards as well that still have a future.

As for the new hires. really won't have much of an idea for 3-5 years.