When can we start blaming scouting?

[CupofOil]

Who says the head scout gets the final say? Most likely it is the gm, or even the owner.

These guys have been here since the early 2000's. That's good enough for me. Theyve been crap when compared to a good team in our own division (LA). If we aspire to be a good team, then that is who we should be looking to not only equal, but better.

I don't pretend to know what goes on in scouting meetings (although Oil Change gave us a bit of a look). It seems to me that the scouting staff gives their input then the Head Scout either vetoes or accepts similar to a President dealing with his cabinet. Generally, the head of any group is going to get the credit or get criticized so I think it makes more sense to evaluate the Stu regime from 2008 on.

I'm not saying that the drafting record is stellar by any means and they have made some head scratching picks over the years but all i'm saying is that it's too early to evaluate a lot of the recent draft picks, that's all. This place is way too reactionary to prospects good or bad like the Moroz example that i used above where he was a bust according to most last season and now, he's a potential fixture in the Oilers bottom 6 after a hot start to this season.

Again, i think it's a developmental problem more than a drafting problem. I seem to recall being excited about a lot of these picks before they turned pro. A lot of them had really good junior, college and pro (overseas) careers before turning pro then all of a sudden stagnated or regressed. That goes for the big club as well. Even the 1st rounders are having a difficult time rounding out their games and becoming true pros, Paajarvi turned out to be a complete bust here so there is a huge problem developmentally with the lack of stability in Edmonton and with Nelson in OKC.

 

[Luck 6]

Canucks fan here, saw the topic pop up and found it interesting.

It's very difficult to draft quality past the 1st round, some even say it's a crap shoot. The Canuck strategy seems to be draft forwards with early picks, and defensemen round 3 and later. The theory behind this seems to be defensemen tend to peak late, and therefor there are more draft steals to be had at that position (goalies, too). Our fans often complain about our level of NHL talent taken past round 1 as well, I'll give you a list to provide some insight...

2007
None

2008
Yann Sauve - 5 NHL games in 10/11 season, spent last season in ECHL

2009
None

2010 * Did not pick until round 4 this year
None

2011
Frankie Corrado - 7 NHL games so far. Very promising prospect, should be in the NHL now.

I'll stop there as I wouldn't expect any prospects in later rounds from the past 2 drafts to be making the NHL too soon. So that would mean the Canucks have really only drafted one quality player in the later rounds since 2007; we have some that are showing promise, but how their talent translates to the NHL is unknown.

Your odds of drafting a player past round 1 that will even play an NHL game is about 35%. Your odds of picking a regular roster player past round 1 in a draft is about 9% (based on myself just reviewing some past drafts). So really, I wouldn't get overly discouraged, the stats suggest if you get a decent roster player every 5 or 6 drafts you're above the curve.

 

[missinthejets]

Again, i think it's a developmental problem more than a drafting problem. I seem to recall being excited about a lot of these picks before they turned pro. A lot of them had really good junior, college and pro (overseas) careers before turning pro then all of a sudden stagnated or regressed. That goes for the big club as well. Even the 1st rounders are having a difficult time rounding out their games and becoming true pros, Paajarvi turned out to be a complete bust here so there is a huge problem developmentally with the lack of stability in Edmonton and with Nelson in OKC.

I would agree with this. How many people on the Oilers actually came through their farm system rather than making the jump straight from jrs? Petry and Dubnyk anyone else? You draft guys with good tools and they can't translate that into the NHL maybe just maybe you're not developing these people right.

 

[skorf]

How much can we blame it on scouting, and how much of it is in how we develop our players... right now we've had several guys in the past several drafts that have shown glimpses of being NHL caliber players. If they dont' develop into it, is it the scouts fault? or our organizations?

2013... Roy looked good this year, some people think he could/should be on our fourth line right now... if he doesn't develop into an NHL player, is that the scouts fault?

2012... Khaira same as Roy... if he doesn't develop... whose fault is that?

2011... Musil and Gernat (Simpson to a lesser extent) have shown glimpses and could be NHLers... if they never make it, is that the scouts or our organizations fault for not developing them?

2010... Pitlick and Marcinin have shown glimpses, same with Hamilton and Davidson

2009... Lander

2008... Haartikainen

2007... Omark

 

[Jumptheshark]

lets look at 7 years beyond drafting in the first round