Scott Luce: 5 Fun Facts

Scouting is in Scott Luce's blood.
After being introduced as Las Vegas's Director of Amateur Scouting on August 25, so now is building the NHL's newest franchise into a contender.

This is exactly what Luce has spent recent years doing with the Florida Panthers, having overseen the team's drafts since 2002. Fourteen players that played a major role on the Panthers team that won the 2015-16 Atlantic Division championship were players that Luce brought into the organization through the draft.
It's with this background and expertise that Luce will focus on the drafting process for Las Vegas's team.
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Here are five fun fact to familiarize you with our newest hire's background.

1. Fourteen Luce draft picks were factors on the Florida Panthers team that won the Atlantic Division last season.

A majority of these draft choices have come since 2009, since when Florida has transformed from one of the league's weakest teams to one of its most promising.
These draft picks include:
\Aaron Ekblad
\Aleksander Barkov
* Jonathan Hubderdeau
* Erik Gudbranson
* Nick Bjugstad
* Vincent Trocheck
* Dmitry Kulikov

2. Of all of these picks, perhaps the selection of Barkov was the boldest.

Holding the second overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, the Panthers were expected to select either Seth Jones or Jonathan Drouin, but surprised pundits by taking Barkov, a lower rated Finn.
Since the 2013 Draft
Goals
Barkov: 52
Drouin: 8

Assists
Barkov: 67
Drouin: 34
Points
Barkov: 119
Drouin: 42
Although Jones, now with the Columbus Blue Jackets by way of the Nashville Predators, is a defenseman and can't directly be compared to Barkov, Luce proved he could be bold when he had to be at the 2013 Draft.
Barkov has been compared to a young Anze Kopitar, and is the top center on a Panthers team that could contend for a championship this season.

3. Boldness runs in Luce's family, too.

His father, Don, was the Director of Player Development for the Buffalo Sabres from 1987-2006.
In this role, Luce's staff orchestrated the drafting and defection of Soviet star Alexander Mogilny in 1989. At the time, Russian players had never been part of the NHL. When Luce's staff traveled to Europe and snuck Mogilny out from behind the Iron Curtain, it started the entire trend of Russian players skating in the NHL.
Mogilny, living in the Luce household to protect himself from the KGB, went on to set a Sabres record by scoring 76 goals during the 1992-93 season, and is a borderline Hockey Hall of Famer.
After leaving the Sabres in 2006, Don Luce held the same position with the Philadelphia Flyers, and was part of the Flyers organization until 2015.
Don Luce played in the NHL from 1969-70 until 1981-82, mostly with the Sabres, scoring a career-high 33 goals for the Buffalo team that reached the 1975 Stanley Cup Final.

4. Scott Luce's uncle, Mike Boland, also played in the NHL

Boland mostly played for the Sabres, but also the Kansas City Scouts (now New Jersey Devils) in the 1970s.
Luce's son, Griffin, plays for the University of Michigan.
But in a statement about the family's character, they've always refused to make any personnel decisions that might give off the impression of nepotism.
When Scott Luce was still with the Florida Panthers, he told The Hockey News the following about the chances of his team drafting his son.
"No one on our staff has done a report on him and neither have I," the elder Luce said. "I've told him that unfortunately for him, he can only get drafted by 29 teams because we're not taking him."
Similarly, Scott's father, Don, refused to use his lofty position with the Sabres to give him a break when he broke into scouting.

Instead of working for his father, Scott Luce cut his teeth as a scout in the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning organizations, before establishing himself as a star in the industry after joining the Panthers in 2002.

5. Unlike his father (and perhaps different than his son), Scott's playing career was a mixed bag.

A goalie, Scott Luce never reached the NHL, having retired at age 23 after an unremarkable collegiate and minor league career.
Among the teams Scott Luce played for:
* St. Mary's Lincolns
* Guelph Platers
* Colgate University
* University of Guelph
* Rochester Americans
* Hampton Roads Admirals
* Cincinnati Cyclones