Quote:
Originally Posted by AustinL_NHL
I used to put a lot of stock into what guys like Pronman & Wheeler say (still do, especially when it's good reports on Flames prospects lol), but I've come to realize that what they say isn't all that valuable, as they tend to get really hooked on certain players and, most annoying, act as if they've legitimately seen EVERY prospect play numerous times. I know they also lean on their scout contacts for info, but to watch and have in-depth scouting reports on literally hundreds of prospects a year is impossible.
I much prefer guys like Joel Henderson, who only follow a specific league (in his case, the WHL) in which they can actually get good scouting reports on players, and don't pretend to know jack all about prospects from other leagues.
That's why I've started to lean heavily on prospect models (who tend to really like the Flames choices) from people like Byron Bader and Patrick Bacon, as well as micro-data charts from people like Mitch Brown the last few years, because their numbers are simply, well, number based, and they don't claim to know much about prospects outside of the numbers.
As for NHL teams, they have full scouting teams that allow them to actually watch each prospect numerous times, as well as get inside information about their character and other important behind the scenes info from their coaches/teammates/family/etc. Yes, some scouts still have the same problems of getting too hooked on specific players (sometimes great (Gaudreau/Fox/etc.), sometimes bad (McDonald/Boltmann/etc.)), but most of the time that can be overrun by the rest of the scouting team.
In terms of what I personally value most when it comes to the draft, I would rank it as follows:
1A) NHL scouting teams
1B) Prospect models & micro-data charts
3) Specific league scouts
4) Guys like Pronman & Wheeler
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I've noticed that even as a fan, the more you get hooked/fall in love with prospects, the more likely you are to be disappointed.
There are hundreds of players to choose from, and 32 teams. The chance of picking any individual player outside the first round is very slim.
I'm just content when the picks aren't totally off the board headscratchers. This year, the biggest headscratcher was probably Lucas Ciona. If your iffy picks are at the draft, that's fine.