Welcome to McKeen’s Hockey’s 2017-18 prospect coverage.
“My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Although these pages have been largely quiet since draft recaps, we hope and trust that you enjoyed the fruits of our labor from the Annual guide book, which was released a few weeks ago. In addition to the usual in-depth scouting and analysis provided by Gus Katsaros and friends, we have leveraged the increased depth of our global prospect coverage into providing you with a much deeper look into the next generation for each and every one of the NHL’s 31 teams.
If the old saw about “no rest for the wicked” is even halfway correct, all scouts and prospect hounds must have been truly wicked in their previous lives. No sooner was the annual guide wrapped up than was the preseason beginning. And no sooner did we grow accustomed to watching new combinations of players feel one another out on the ice in the preseason than did the regular seasons begin.
And while I would not have minded a few more weeks of rest and relaxation, when the buzzer sounded, we were ready for the new year, whichever league we are covering.
We were very happy with the growth of our expanded coverage last season, allowing us to provide nearly unprecedented depth throughout the hockey playing world. Our scouting team was everywhere, all at once. From Kelowna to Kazhakhstan. Fromm Switzerland to South Bend.
But it is never enough. As Lewis Carroll wrote (see top) if we continue to run as fast as we can we will stay in place Well that is not good enough. We want to go further. We will run twice as fast.
In other words, our team has grown enormously. And is still growing.
As the year progresses, these pages will feature exclusive scouting reports and other features from a jam packed roster of scouts and prospect analysts. More butts in the rinks. More eyes on the players. More brains evaluating. More voices in the room. I am pleased to introduce the 2017-18 McKeens Propect Staff
- Ryan Wagman (@RAWagman) – Director of Prospect Scouting, USHL, AHL Central, NCAA West (Big 10, NCHC, WCHA)
- Leslie Treff (@HFNYRangers)– AHL Atlantic, NCAA East (Hockey East, ECAC), New England Prep
- Jeremy Houghtaling (@JGHoughtaling) – AHL North
- Tom Dorsa (@TomDorsa) – AHL Pacific
- Mike Sanderson (@MikeRSanderson) – QMJHL
- Craig Smith (@Red_Vikreig) – QMJHL, CCHL
- Scott Crawford (@Crawford1Scott) – OHL, OJHL
- Brock Otten (@BrockOtten) – OHL
- Kevin Olexson (@MrKOMan) – WHL, BCHL
- Vince Gibbons (the_vincanity) – WHL, AJHL
- Jimmy Hamrin (@jimmyhamrin) – Sweden
- Marco Bombino (@marco_bombino) – Finland
- Roman Solovyov (@croulmane) – Russia
And it is still not enough. We are planning to add at least two more to the staff in the coming weeks to beef up our representation in Central Europe and Russia. Also, it should go without saying that Iain Morrell, the McKeens godfather, will be cross-checking the entire planet.
In addition to the frequent player profiles, we will spend more time looking at the local league, in and of themselves. More time preparing for and analyzing the WJC. More time looking at the varying development speed of already drafted/signed players. More frequent updates on the evolution of the draft rankings. To that end, expect to see our first look at the top of the 2018 draft class within about two weeks and at least monthly updates afterwards.
Are you ready?
We are.