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Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
A lot of what he was talking about (finding all stars late) was not due to poorer scouting back then but instead from the collapse of the Soviet Union and the reluctance of clubs to take the elite Russians high. Detroit benefitted from this more than would be possible today.
All that said I do think scouting has improved, mostly due to better coverage due to increased budgets. More important than that is that worldwide talent has improved so there is a deeper talent pool to pick from.
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It's improved from the early 80s for sure, and even likely since 89 (Lidstrom's year), but since the early 90s to now not much has changed. The last major change was the fall of the iron curtain, and it took teams a few years to properly value those players. Detroit made out like bandits during this time because they got this sorted out first.
The fact that players come out of junior more prepared than ever for the NHL actually reflects badly on modern scouting. The overall talent pool is larger and the players are better coached than ever at the junior level, but the number of 1st round busts and later round stars hasn't changed by much at all.
This is probably because the number one reason a first rounder bust is injuries. And that hasn't changed, and probably never will change. It's just not a predictable factor in a players development.