News Article: Yzerman fires longtime scout Merkosky, hires his own brohter

[waltdetroit]

I think the Euro heavy draft happened because Yzerman leaned on Hakan who likely is staying over Wright and other NA scouts who could be joining Holland in Edmonton.

Could be true, but it's been written in HF before that when SY left for TB, he wanted to take Wright with him

 

[obey86]

Ok but why would i what input from someone that isn't invested in the team long term? Having a competitor make selections for me seems asinine.

Here's a couple articles on firing scouts after the draft. It's football, but the same concept applies.

It wouldn’t be uncommon for a team to shake up its scouting after the draft since the process is too complicated to entrust to a new staff halfway through..

Mike Maccagnan reportedly could be fired after NFL Draft

It's common for new general managers to retain scouts through the draft, because of the ground work that is typically laid before January, but then finish turning over the department once the draft is completed.

2 days after NFL draft, Lions GM Bob Quinn fires scouts - mlive.com

 

[ricky0034]

Could be true, but it's been written in HF before that when SY left for TB, he wanted to take Wright with him

huh? Wright joined the Wings 3 years after Yzerman left

I think you're confusing Wright and Martin here

 

[waltdetroit]

huh? Wright joined the Wings 3 years after Yzerman left

I think you're confusing Wright and Martin here

yep...my bad

 

[Syckle78]

Here's a couple articles on firing scouts after the draft. It's football, but the same concept applies.



Mike Maccagnan reportedly could be fired after NFL Draft



2 days after NFL draft, Lions GM Bob Quinn fires scouts - mlive.com

Just seems really weird to me. But I guess if you're a new gm not coming from another franchise you wouldn't have anything to work with. I probably wouldn't trust em though. Lol

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

This is such a ridiculous non-story.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

Ok but why would i what input from someone that isn't invested in the team long term? Having a competitor make selections for me seems asinine.

These guys are Wings still in their heads. They might be going to Edmonton, but nobody would be okay with giving partial effort. For one thing, it makes you look like a bad scout, which can impact your job security going forward. But it also makes you look dishonest, which is definitely something the Canadian farm boy mentality of hockey frowns on.

 

[Oddbob]

I’ve literally never looked at his site outside of it being linked here. Without this board I’d have no clue who he was

This is how I am with a lot of the stuff that gets posted from unfamiliar places on HF.

 

[Oddbob]

It doesn't make sense to me for this to happen post draft. Why would you not have your scout with you at the draft and on the flip side why would Detroit keep him if this was a possibility?

I think two reasons, first the initial team wouldn't let a guy go before hand with their teams draft board knowledge, and on the flip side you would want the opinion of the new teams guys who have been scouting based on that teams needs all year.

 

[GMR]

Not a big deal. I fire and hire scouts all the time in NHL 19.

 

[InjuredChoker]

Any more details on this? What makes TBL's pro scouts better than what we have done? Huge fan of Dan Girardi or something?

you can take a look at their transaction list from lot of places, like capfriendly. girardi sucks but that's just one player on a limited role, short-term deal that cost nothing but cap space.

some of other TBL FA signings this decade (from other teams, so no re-signings) with cap hit of 1M or more:

dominic moore (2x1.1M, was very good bottom 6er, traded at TDL of the second year for a 2nd rounder)
yanni gourde (signed from AHL, has 48 and 64 point seasons)
pavel kubina (2x3.85M, one ok year, one medicore year, netted a 2nd and a 4th at TDL)
sami salo (2x3.75M, both years were good though got worn down in the end)
chris kunitz (1x2M, 29 points in 71 gp)
benoit pouliot (1x1.8M, 20 points in 34 games, lockout year)
brian boyle (3x2M, 3 solid years as bottom 6er, traded at TDL for a 2nd rounder)
anton strålman (5 yr deal, one of the best FA signings this decade. 3 yrs as top pair guy, 2 as top 4.)
matt carle (6x5.5M, awful deal, 4 ok/medicore seasons and then bought out)
val filppula (5x5, one very good year, one good year, one ok year and then traded for essentially nothing)

i left out some names in the 1-2M range that didn't matter in the big picture. some misses there but more hits than misses.

notable pro player trades (good or bad)
mcdonagh/miller trade
ben bishop for cory conacher
brayden coburn for gudas, 1st and 3rd
jason garrison for 2nd
jonathan marchessault for pretty much nothing (though they let him go in FA for very little)
Anders lindbäck for couple of 2nds and a 3rd.
eric brewer for a 3rd (played well on their top pair when they made ECF)
dwayne roloson for essentially nothing (starting goalie on that ECF run)
4th for simon gagne (40 in 64 and then 12 in 15 at playoffs)

coburn was overpaymet but at least he's been solid for them. garrison's contract ended up being a problem but the player was ok. lindbäck was a bad miss. the rest range from good to great.

 

[InjuredChoker]

Just seems really weird to me. But I guess if you're a new gm not coming from another franchise you wouldn't have anything to work with. I probably wouldn't trust em though. Lol

Raiders send scouts home before draft fearing leaks

Mayock and second-year Raiders coach Jon Gruden sent their scouts home for the weekend and do not expect them to return by draft time, sources told NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport on Friday.

Rapoport added that Gruden and Mayock "don't know who to trust" among the scouts and "wanted to clear the room."

 

[Syckle78]

Raiders send scouts home before draft fearing leaks

Raiders are such a damn hot mess that kinda makes me change my mind. Lol

 

[Syckle78]

Not a big deal. I fire and hire scouts all the time in NHL 19.

That was such a horrible game. First one I bought in over a decade and was hugely disappointed.

 

[Frk It]

That was such a horrible game. First one I bought in over a decade and was hugely disappointed.

You don't like automatic penalties when you poke check?!?!?

 

[Syckle78]

You don't like automatic penalties when you poke check?!?!?

No and I hate how bare bones and a money grab Hut is compared to Mut. I was jacked thinking I would be able to build a mid 90s team through game play like in Madden only to realize you have to spend a ton on packs.

 

[Bench]

No and I hate how bare bones and a money grab Hut is compared to Mut. I was jacked thinking I would be able to build a mid 90s team through game play like in Madden only to realize you have to spend a ton on packs.

Actual issue: The gross and predatory monetization schemes used by EA.

Non issue: Yzerman changing scouts.

 

[Frk It]

No and I hate how bare bones and a money grab Hut is compared to Mut. I was jacked thinking I would be able to build a mid 90s team through game play like in Madden only to realize you have to spend a ton on packs.

I could go on a tangent about this... but HUT ruined the NHL series.

 

[Syckle78]

Actual issue: The gross and predatory monetization schemes used by EA.

Non issue: Yzerman changing scouts.

Don't wanna go much further off topic but I can't really blame the big companies for loot boxing etc when they seen the enormous amounts of money people were spending on pay to win mobile games. This is entirely on the consumer for being stupid, imo.

 

[The Zermanator]

You don't like automatic penalties when you poke check?!?!?

At one point they even had the gall to say it was because players needed to adjust and use it more selectively rather than just spamming the poke check button. So I tried an experiment and played a game without once using a poke check. Still spent 90% of the game either on the PP or PK, 5 on 3s that last half a period because of penalty after penalty, etc.

Ever since the NHL decided to give EA exclusive rights they've had 0 incentive to innovate. It's nothing more than incremental improvements that are years late with a roster update. Absolute garbage. Need to get 2K back in the game so bad.

It's not hockey related but I'll always hate EA for what they did to my beloved BioWare.

 

[Gniwder]

LVG, WSH, TBL, COL (past 3 yrs), DAL (couple of bad misses though), STL. then there are a group of teams that have avoided bad mistakes/contracts but haven't really made good moves in the pro scouting department either.

canucks have been clearly the worst but we belong in that fairly large group of the next worst pro scouting teams.

I think that post was sarcasm, but WSH has certainly done a good job under GM BM.
- Nikanen - UFA
- Orpik UFA (then traded to COL, bought out and brought back which is hilarious)
- TJ - Trade
- Jensen - Trade (which was a fair trade for both teams)
- Connolly - UFA
- Ellers - Trade
and Smith-Pelly helped win the Cup last year, though he hasn't done much since
Winning the Cup pretty much proves they did a good job of scouting.

Vegas on the other hand traded for Tats, though GM GM's TDL trades have always sucked. He always overpays (Erat for Forsberg, lol.) Not sure that's on the scouts though.

 

[ricky0034]

I think that post was sarcasm, but WSH has certainly done a good job under GM BM.
- Nikanen - UFA
- Orpik UFA (then traded to COL, bought out and brought back which is hilarious)
- TJ - Trade
- Jensen - Trade (which was a fair trade for both teams)
- Connolly - UFA
- Ellers - Trade
and Smith-Pelly helped win the Cup last year, though he hasn't done much since
Winning the Cup pretty much proves they did a good job of scouting.

Vegas on the other hand traded for Tats, though GM GM's TDL trades have always sucked. He always overpays (Erat for Forsberg, lol.) Not sure that's on the scouts though.

nah you just misread it

they were saying that Washington is one of the best

as for Vegas the Tatar trades(both of them) aren't pretty but they did essentially build their entire team from scratch via pro scouting with the expansion draft

 

[Gniwder]

nah you just misread it

they were saying that Washington is one of the best

as for Vegas the Tatar trades(both of them) aren't pretty but they did essentially build their entire team from scratch via pro scouting with the expansion draft

I was referring to the post he was responding to which is this one:

I meannnn... which teams have exactly done better than that?

I assumed that was sarcasm, considering pretty much every team has done better in scouting. You don't come in 4th from the bottom if you have good scouts.

In any case, I'm a Caps fan, and they have done a good job. Unfortunately they had Cup hangover this year, and I'm not sure they have the motivation to win another one with an aging roster. But hey, they won the Cup, and I wasn't sure I'd see that in my lifetime.

 

[Snuggs]

*sees Red Wings pro scouting abilities from 2012-2018*

Merosky had plenty of reason to get fired.

Not even going to contest.

 

[PullHard]

Dramatic headline, no one on the pro scouting side of things should be comfortable right now - they've been making bad decisions for years now