SCOUT’S HONOR 2016
By Lowetide
7 years agoThe Edmonton Oilers had a busy summer, at the draft, in free agency and in the trade market. There were also some changes in management and scouting—including some shuffling on the amateur side. Since procurement is the life’s blood of an NHL team, keeping track of the scouting staff makes sense. It is an area Peter Chiarelli has tweaked quite a bit since his arrival.
Last time we talked about the amateur scouting staff, it was late August 2015 and the group looked like this:
- Bob Brown: WHL (and BCJHL based on media comments)
- Michael Chiarelli: (OHL, he was a brand new hire a year ago)
- Joseph Cucci: Year four on the way, I believe he is New England area
- Jim Crosson: WHL
- Bill Dandy: QMJHL
- Pelle Eklund: Europe
- Scott Harlow: NCAA and American junior leagues (east coast)
- Dave Heitz: Year three, goalie scout
- James McGregor: (OHL)
- Frank Musil: Europe
- Alexander Naurov: (Russian, former Stars pick, retired 2014 as player)
- Source
THE 2016-17 AMATEUR PROCUREMENT DEPARTMENT
- Bob Brown: WHL and BCJHL (Tyler Benson from 2016 draft)
- Michael Chiarelli: OHL (Markus Niemelainen, Dylan Wells, possibly Matthew Cairns)
- Jim Crosson: WHL (Tyler Benson)
- Joseph Cucci: New England (Graham McPhee, Vincent Desharnais)
- Bill Dandy: QMJHL (None from the Q this year)
- Pelle Eklund: Europe (Jesse Puljujarvi, Filip Berglund, Aapeli Rasanen)
- PJ Fenton: New hire, recently retired. Played in Europe last few seasons
- Scott Harlow: NCAA and American junior leagues (Graham McPhee, Vincent Desharnais)
- Dave Heitz: Goalies (Dylan Wells)
- Frankie Jay: New hire, legendary fellow. Scouted for Sens/Habs in strong eras for both
- James McGregor: (OHL) (Markus Niemelainen, Dylan Wells, possibly Matthew Cairns)
- Frank Musil: Europe (Jesse Puljujarvi, Filip Berglund, Aapeli Rasanen)
- Alexander Naurov: Europe (Jesse Puljujarvi, Filip Berglund, Aapeli Rasanen)
- Source
I am uncertain how much Fenton and Jay impacted the most recent draft, but a player like Cairns might be a player we could credit Jay with at some point (there were some scouts at the draft who didn’t look terribly familiar, might have been Jay and or Fenton), Niemelainen too. Jay was around the Senators when Chiarelli was there, and his resume dovetails nicely with some fabulous draft picks in Ottawa and Montreal.
KEITH GRETZKY
It would be crazy to discuss the amateur procurement department without mentioning the biggest, latest hire—Keith Gretzky. If I am reading the modern management tree correctly, Bob Green would be under the purview of Gretzky who would report directly to Chiarelli (correct me if I am wrong, corporate types). Amateur will be just one of Gretzky’s jobs, but it appears it is a part of his daily task.
- Peter Chiarelli discussing Gretzky: “He can help our amateur side and he can help a lot of other areas, too.
He works very hard and has a great demeanor.” Source
I think the Oilers had a helluva draft. That and a loonie will get you a cup of coffee. We will chat in five years.
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