If Knickle has had much to do with Nashville's scouting--and if he was there for more than a decade, I imagine he did--this is a great hire. The Predators have had to be a great drafting team given their circumstances (not unlike the Coyotes), and they've thrived. Very excited about this.
Glen Zacharias will be a WHL scout, coming from Tampa (I think). Sadly, I don't see a single impact player drafted by Tampa out of the WHL since he got there. Brett Connolly could change that though.
Rob Pulford seems to have been Calgary's US scout for the last three years. Probably too early to call on that one.
It is about time they got rid of Gretzky. He was terrible and set the team back years with bad high first round picks. Now that Maloney has got rid of everybody his neck is next on the chopping block.
Nashville is certainly a model organization for a budget conscious team - ideally Knickle played a significant part in that along with the braintrust higher up the food chain.
Edit: Do we get his brother Gary in a package deal?
Scott Hartnell
Jordin Tootoo
Dan Hamhuis
Brandon Segal
Scottie Upshall
Shea Weber
Cody Franson
Mark Santorelli
Jonathon Blum
Taylor Aronson
honestly, other than Weber, Blum & Hartnell, there isn't anything there to write home about
Disagree. Other than Aronson, every one of those players is a legitimate NHLers, with Segal being the only one who isn't an impact player. Not every pick is going to be a home run, but if you can convert such a high rate of picks into serviceable players, you're in elite company.
Disagree. Other than Aronson, every one of those players is a legitimate NHLers, with Segal being the only one who isn't an impact player. Not every pick is going to be a home run, but if you can convert such a high rate of picks into serviceable players, you're in elite company.
Naaah, like he said other than Blum, Hartnell and Weber no one's special. Hamhuis, Upshall, Franson, Tootoo? Those guys's are chopped chicken liver, not even worth spending a draft pick on...
Last edited by Naych_PHX: 07-28-2011 at 03:09 PM.
Reason: I guess I have to add the smiley...
Naaah, like he said other than Blum, Hartnell and Weber no one's special. Hamhuis, Upshall, Franson, Tootoo? Those guys's are chopped chicken liver, not even worth spending a draft pick on...
Just because their roles on a given team isn't that of a superstar it doesn't mean they have the skills. Listen to the audio interview in the article and you'll see that Tootoo has skills (as an example). Even though he's got other skills, Tootoo plays a specific role in the Predators system. That's how Trotz works.
The fact the majority of those picks are serviceable NHL players is telling in itself. I doubt a similar list of Coyotes draft picks over the last 5-10 years would yield that high of a % success rate.
It looks like Gretzky was offered a demotion to pro scout and opted to go elsewhere.
It is about time they got rid of Gretzky. He was terrible and set the team back years with bad high first round picks. Now that Maloney has got rid of everybody his neck is next on the chopping block.
Is it really the high first round draft picks we messed up on? Turris, Boedker, OEL, and Gormley were pretty much consensus picks at where we took them.
It's the late first round and second rounders that have been frustrating. Nick Ross is a bust. Tiki was a reach. Jared Staal was a waste. Visentin was a reach and the talk about him being taking at 13th is scary. Connor Murphy was questionable, though I don't hate the pick as much as others. Reaching to take our head European scout's kid is a ****ing disgrace.
