NHL Central Scouting needed team effort for final 2020 draft rankings

Dan Marr said advanced preparation by every regional scout was key to enabling NHL Central Scouting to successfully produce its final rankings of the top North American skaters and goalies eligible for the 2020 NHL Draft via videoconferencing for the first time in its 44-year history.

Marr, the director of NHL Central Scouting, led the annual meetings, which included eight full-time scouts, remotely due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. The final rankings included the top 217 North American skaters and top 31 North American goalies. The lists were revealed Wednesday, along with the final rankings of International skaters and goalies.
"Our final meetings conducted via Zoom was a first and certainly a change in format, and from a technical standpoint everything went well under the supervision of our colleague (NHL senior director of information technology) Jack Gerien," Marr said. "The Central Scouting group had some time to prepare for this new format and it's a credit to all our full time and regional scouts that their advance preparation allowed for the meetings to move along in a very efficient manner."
RELATED: [Lafreniere tops final ranking of North American skaters | Stuetzle atop final ranking of International skaters]
RANKINGS: [North American Skaters | North American Goalies | International Skaters | International Goalies]
PDFs: [North American Skaters | North American Goalies | International Skaters | International Goalies]
The videoconferences began April 1 and ended Tuesday. Alexis Lafreniere, a left wing for Rimouski in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, is No. 1 on Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters. Left wing Tim Stuetzle of Mannheim in Germany's top professional league is No. 1 in the final list of International skaters.
Goran Stubb, NHL Director of European Scouting Services, provided the ranking of the top International skaters and goalies.
"It's a great testament to the work the guys put in, and it starts with our IT department who built a system based on what we told them several years ago, and 15 years later it worked like it did for us to run this meeting," Central Scouting senior manager David Gregory said. "I think after Day One it became more like a regular meeting in the sense that you knew we were getting the discussions we wanted, we were talking about where guys should be, and the scouts were getting their voices heard.
"The one thing I've always said about Central Scouting and how it differs from what teams do is our ability to have more targeted crossover viewings in each of the regions that we produce. NHL clubs cross over to Europe and generate one list whereas Central Scouting releases two lists (North America and International), allowing for more coverage and added value."
The concerns surrounding the coronavirus forced the NHL to pause its season March 12. Additionally, the remainder of the regular season and playoffs in the Canadian Hockey League (Ontario Hockey League, Western Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) and various European leagues was canceled, as were the NCAA playoffs.
Also canceled was the 2020 IIHF World Under-18 Championship, which was scheduled for April 16-26 in Plymouth, Michigan. The tournament would have given scouts and general managers a final opportunity to evaluate potential 2020 draft prospects from the United States, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Belarus and Latvia.
"There's a lot of people with the philosophy that as the games mean more you learn more about a player and I agree with that," Gregory said. "You're going to miss that information (this year) so there could be some more wild cards in there. It may mean (NHL clubs) could lean on our lists more."
While the final meetings were a success, there were some unforeseen issues that had to be dealt with.
"There were a couple technical challenges in that our process involves having to view the ranking list on a main meeting screen (moderators screen) and then each scout would have to navigate to his own laptop screen, so we found that having a second personal device available proved helpful," Marr said. "The personal interaction is also lost on a video call as there often are many sidebar conversations between scouts during breaks, over dinner, that take place and it's through this type of dialogue that a consensus gets reached on a final ranking.
"I'm always proud of the work product that Central Scouting generates for NHL clubs and NHL fans and again would like to commend the work and commitment that our scouts put into creating a final draft ranking."
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