Q&A with Ben Shutron

During the NHL Combine in Buffalo, Canadiens amateur scout Ben Shutron took some time to answer fan questions on Instagram.

Check out his thoughts on scouting and working for the team.
Answers have been cut down for conciseness and clarity.
billy\hm6 asks: What criteria are you looking for in players and are you looking for offensive or defensive players?
Well, I think first and foremost we're looking for players with a lot of passion. The Montreal Canadiens are an Original Six team, and we know the passion that our fanbase has for our hockey club. We want to find players who show that same passion for the Montreal Canadiens both off the ice and on the ice. Obviously compete level, character, and hockey sense are extremely important for us. Our coaching staff likes to play fast and with a lot of skill. We're not specifically looking for offensive players or defensive players. We're looking for complete players who can help the Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup.
gaelbenoit\ asks: What is the most difficult part in the evaluation of a player?
I think trying to determine the long-term projection. Ultimately, that's what we're paid for, that's our profession, and that's what we do best. But we're evaluating young players and young people, and those people change.
Further to that, we watch these players play a lot, but sometimes we watch them play and they have their best game, and sometimes we watch them play, and they might not have their best game. We want to find out why that happened. Again, they're young players and there can be different things happening in their lives that could impact their performance. That's why we do our due diligence, and we watch players more than once, and we continue to do our homework. That's the challenge that we love in our roles and what we enjoy doing best. It's probably one of the most fun parts of our job; trying to project the best players who are going to help the Montreal Canadiens.
tanner.rab13: How can you determine if a player will be able to translate his junior talent to the pro level?
I think when we evaluate players, we are looking for transferable skills from the junior level that will help a player at the NHL level. We're really looking for a player who has a certain identity. All different players do things differently, and some do certain things better than others. We're trying to find players who are the best at what they do. We're looking for those transferable skills that will help get them to the NHL, and stay in the NHL, and ultimately help the Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup. […] We're also looking for exceptional character traits; the compete, the hockey sense, and the character that will help them persevere and overcome adversity.
lcgswag asks: How do you evaluate resiliency in a prospect?
There are a number of ways you can evaluate resilience. I love seeing players deal with adverse situations in difficult circumstances. For myself as a scout, and all throughout the season, I might target specific games against specific opponents where I know it's going to be challenging for a prospect or a player. They might match up against a difficult defenseman or a great forward who plays a 200-foot game, who's really smart and competes hard. Ultimately, you want to see if that prospect can push through those adverse circumstances.
The other things we might look for is, when we go to watch a player at a tournament, if a team has a difficult loss, how does that player respond? How does that player bounce back? And how does his team bounce back? Are they able to recover from that or are they affected by that adversity? So, if they show that resilience, that's something that gets me really excited, and ultimately, we want players with the Montreal Canadiens who are resilient and are willing to go through the tough times and difficult circumstances because when you get to the Stanley Cup playoffs, as we've seen in the past, and we see with the teams playing this year, you got to be able to come back and respond. We want players who are resilient, we want players who'll accept and combat challenges. Those are a few ways that I look for resilience in a player and a prospect.
gautreaurin asks: How does it feel to work for the best team with the best fans in the world?
It truly means the world. I don't know if I have the words to describe what it's like to work for the Montreal Canadiens. Again, I think you look at our history, you look at the players, the staff, and the people who have come through our organization, I think it's not short of exceptional. And I know for myself, having the chance to win the Stanley Cup one day with an organization like the Montreal Canadiens and in front of this fan base, I think that would be an exceptional accomplishment and a tremendous experience. It's something I don't take for granted, none of our staff, none of our players take it for granted as well. It's something that is near and dear to my heart. Every day working for the Canadiens is a lot of fun and it's an extreme honor and a passion, for sure.