A couple of weeks ago, the NHL Live! Podcast featured an in depth interview with Ken Holland a day before the NHL Draft. If I could pick ANYONE to talk to at the NHL Draft, Mr. Holland would have to be on the short list. Whether you like the Red Wings and their Ivan Drago-like dominance over the last 15 years or not; you have to admit they’re good. Every year you can just mark them down for 100 points and one of the top seeds in the West. They’ve done it pre-l0ckout and post-lockout. They’ve done it with Hall of Fame coaches and coaches from the hated Ducks. So what is their secret?
Yeah, he knows what he's doing...
People always talk about how great they are at drafting future NHL superstars. Over and over we hear how the Red Wings are able to find gems in the late rounds that prove to be Hart, Lady Byng or Selke Trophy candidates years down the road. That’s all fine, but I think that Detroit’s scouting department gets a little more credit than they deserve. Sure, they were able to pick Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg in the later rounds of the draft. But what about the 1st and 2nd round picks that they have that never seem to pan out? My point is that NO one is infallible—not even the great Kenny Holland.
But as much credit the Red Wings organization gets for drafting players in the late rounds, they don’t receive nearly enough praise for the skill in developing players once they are drafted. So many times young players are rushed to the NHL before they are ready. Either it’s out of necessity or because the GM has an itchy trigger finger; but too often a player’s development is completely ruined because their early career was mismanaged.
Ken Holland was very specific when he spoke of the expectations he had for his draftees. He said that the player the Red Wings drafted should:
“expect to spend the next couple of seasons either in Juniors or Europe, then they’d bring them over and put them in the American League, let him work his way through the system through Grand Rapids until he eventually EARNS his way onto our team. Whoever we draft is probably 4 or 5 years away.”
That really is the ideal expectation for any potential prospects that were drafted last month. Through strong development (and yes, drafting), the Wings have strong enough depth all over their organization that they can afford to be patient with each of their prospects. It gives them the flexibility to draft a guy like Landon Ferraro, who has the genes and hockey IQ to be an NHL player, but is YEARS away in his physical development. Teams like the Lightning or Islanders don’t want to wait 4-5 years for their 2nd round draft choices to develop into NHL players. Well, maybe they want to wait—but the lack of organization depth and lack of patience point towards the fast-track. Players might like that in the short run—but it may stunt their long-term growth.
Holland does a great job of explaining Detroit’s philosophy as an organization. People always talk about the drafting, be he goes on in the interview to explain the training aspect:
“…the thing that I think that’s important is the environment; I think the development aspect of young players sometimes (is underrated). I understand that we’re anxious to get these players into the NHL, but it’s the best league in the world. It’s a man’s league. They’re mentally tough, they’re physically strong and I think that if a player gets here too soon… and you lose the reason these players are special players and they’re great young talents is; they’ve got talent but they have good confidence. And when a player, an athlete’s, confidence is shaken, they don’t play with the same swagger, and I think that’s (part of) the player development aspect.”
“The top 10 or 15 picks, they’re probably going to make it. But when you start to get late 1st (round) and you get into the 2nds, 3rds, 4ths and 5th rounds, you need luck, we need patience, and its about letting giving the players some education, some guidance as to what they need to do to eventually make the league.”
One thing that separates Holland from his peers is his past. Everyone always says that it’s “best to do what you know.” Well, Holland knows the AHL and scouting. Not a bad way to pick and develop players, right? A veteran of 9 years in the AHL as a player, he predictably likes watching his players mature in the minors. “I have tremendous respect for the job the American League does in developing players.” So he TRUSTS the development process in the AHL. He doesn’t use it as a burial place for fringe players that aren’t capable of playing at the NHL level. It’s a teaching and developmental league for future NHLers. It seems obvious, but not all NHL teams share his view.
Another strong part of Holland’s resume is that he was a scout for 7 years. Not only does he understand the science (or art) of scouting players, but he understands that there is a certain dynamic that goes on between scouts. In the interview, he states that he wants “chemistry on this scouting staff.” If he’s looking for chemistry on his scouting staff, don’t you think that he has an eye towards chemistry for the players as well?
Of course, it helps to have a guy like Hakan Andersen to be the Director of Scouting in Europe. But it looks like the secret to their success has a lot less to do with discovering hidden gems in Europe and much more to do with how they treat the players once they are drafted. It sounds so simple, but they put their kids in a position to succeed.
Patience to support a player’s confidence—who knew THAT would work?
