News Article: Rick Pracey Hired as Director of Amateur Scouting

[DrDrai]

Tyler Wright is out.

RELEASE: Oilers hire Rick Pracey as Director of Amateur Scouting

Click to read more...

 

[DavidHasselhoffsFist]

Hmmmmmm……looking like kens definitely out next year.

 

[AddyTheWrath]

Pretty huge news. Jackson making changes already?

Anyone know anything about the guy?

Saw this on Twitter:

 

[unicornBLOOD]

have not been impressed with Wright's picks so far, I think it was time for a change.

 

[JordanGalhanth]

For those who didn't read the article... Former director of amateur scouting for the Avs and Flyers.

Not versed enough in the Avs and Flyers cupboards to know if this is a good, bad, or meh hire.

EDIT: Late to the party.

Nice picks with Barrie and O'Reilly obviously, but not sure who else he's found.

 

[K1984]

I'm surprised Wright is out, he seemed to be a favored son. Maybe he was more of a Holland favored son and Jackson thought otherwise.

 

[Tarus]

That's a bit out of left field considering Wright was Holland's guy coming over from Detroit.

This Pracey guy had a rep of being able to find talent with the Aves a decade ago, but looks like he was fired from that same job for too many high profile misses and ignoring the euro market. Generally takes half a decade to see how an amateur scout pans out, so hope this is a good hire because it'll heavily impact the team's success down the road.

Edit - looks like he hit a homerun in his first season, then managed to get just 3 NHLers in the next 5 drafts, two of which were drafted in the top 3(Landeskog/McKinnon). How the hell did this guy get a rep of "finding talent"?

 

[KlefDown]

wonder what his influence in Philly was because their drafting has been shambolic, not sure about avs either other than 2009

 

[Beerfish]

Tough to look good when you have no draft picks. I was never a big fan of Wright but holland frittered away a lot of picks many on guys that did nothing.

Change is good but hiring this guy now indicaes to me we have already got the next GM in the building, which makes me nervous.

 

[Slats432]

Interesting. Doing a dive, he was fired from Colorado in 2014 after drafting MacKinnon, Landeskog, O'Reilly, Barrie.....and apparently has a historical aversion to drafting outside NA. Word is Patrick Roy and him didn't see eye to eye at the time.

 

[Mr Kot]

Unironically dominoes.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Whoa. New President setting his course early with a big move in a traditional area of organizational weakness. Ken's hire is gone and likely some shifting away from his influence. I met Tyler Wright and he was a pretty good guy. Wish him well with his future endeavours.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

Pretty huge news. Jackson making changes already?

Anyone know anything about the guy?

Saw this on Twitter:

Everything after 2009 for his tenure with the Avs is very very very uninspiring.

Also the Flyers drafting has been pretty meh as well.

Yikes.

 

[NedPlimpton]

Someone explain to me if I should be outraged or excited.

 

[Tad Mikowsky]

In before the usual suspects don’t like this hire due to body posture or some other dinosaur take.

 

[JLo217]

Pretty huge news. Jackson making changes already?

Anyone know anything about the guy?

Saw this on Twitter:

His only good year. Ya'll are toast. He's awful.

Edit: Some context. He loves the OHL, and really doesn't focus to hard elsewhere. He likes overagers w/ character, guys under 5'10", and just really struggles anywhere on the board.

 

[Paralyzer]

In before the usual suspects don’t like this hire due to body posture or some other dinosaur take.

He's a distant cousin of Kevin Lowe. I hate him already

 

[JLo217]

Someone explain to me if I should be outraged or excited.

Outraged.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Everything after 2009 for his tenure with the Avs is very very very uninspiring.

Also the Flyers drafting has been pretty meh as well.

Yikes.

View attachment 738027

Pasta was drafted 25th overall… this says nothing.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

Lmao pasta was drafted 25th overall… this proves shit.

If you look at that draft in its entirety, the Colorado pick was the only one chosen in the 1st round who didn't play any NHL games. They also passed on alot of significant players who went in the next few picks that i didn't highlight. (e.g. Kempe, Demko, Barbashev)

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

If you look at that draft in its entirety, the Colorado pick was the only one chosen in the 1st round who didn't play any NHL games. They also passed on alot of significant players who went in the next few picks that i didn't highlight. (e.g. Kempe, Demko, Barbashev)

Yah I went through that draft and it was pretty woof for Colorado. However my point is a late late first round pick busting isn’t anything new and 24 other teams passed on Pasta.

 

[joestevens29]

In before the usual suspects don’t like this hire due to body posture or some other dinosaur take.

I mean you usually hate shit due to no reason…..

 

[29Beast97Mode]

My sister will be disappointed. She thought Wright was extremely attractive.

 

[Ceremony]

Pretty huge news. Jackson making changes already?

Anyone know anything about the guy?

Saw this on Twitter:

Hello lads, I saw this thread title in the sidebar and had a giggle.

This was a good first year. It did not go so well after that.

 

[Lacaar]

Looking at our Roster we have 3 whole players that we drafted and developed since the McDavid draft that have HELPED this team win games. Not just show up and tread water.. but HELP win. And only 1 of them has been truly impactful. And that player struggled hard last year till Ekholm came.

1. Even Bouchard - Nice player that I like but he's a defensive nightmare without the right partner. But at least he's helped the team and contributed.
2. Ryan Mcleod - There's something there. He plays and helps the team a bit. Not going to anoint him some amazing pick with what we've seen so far. But a good pick/develop none the less.
3. Desharnais - Helped us a bit when we were poo poo. Then got crushed in the playoffs unfortunately. I like him but if I'm being honest he still has a lot to prove. Cheering for him.

That's it. Those are the only players currently on the roster helping this team win hockey games.

1. Jesse - Bustasauras rex. He hurt this team more than he helped it over the years.
2. Yamamoto - helped the team.. hurt the team..Helped the team.. Hurt the team.. off the team. meh at best. Though I'll buy the shit luck argument about health with him. I really liked him.
3. Broberg - Yah yah still waiting.... If I had to wager I don't think there's much of a player there, hope I'm wrong. Nice skating and not much else beyond the rare nice play. Man would be nice if found those nice plays more often.
3. Holloway - I'm excited but this egg hasn't hatched.
4. Xavier - not going to say anything as this ones a bit early to judge. He's not exactly killing it from what I've heard once you get past the hopium.
5. Schaefer - hell he's probably helped us more than them all from an asset point of view.

I love prospects and have been around these boards for years. But god this team seems like they're always awful at it out of the top 5. The cycle of hope and the slow realization that there's really not much there etc.

I doubt a new head scout will change anything. They've gone through enough of them and nothing really changes. 1 hit every 3 years beyond a top 5 gimme.