Sens' scouts go to the video for good look at top prospects

Walk into any rink in North America and it's easy to locate the NHL scouts.

They're sitting in the corner, pens and notepads in their hands, furiously scribbling down line combinations while making notes for a report on the prospects they have come to see.

That's during normal times, when junior leagues across the country are up and running seven nights a week. But everything has changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, including players are being evaluated.

While NHL general managers and scouts would normally attend the world juniors, that won't be the case for this year's tournament, which is being played in bubbles in Red Deer and Edmonton.

Since access is limited to the representatives and players from the countries involved, along with Hockey Canada officials and the people from TSN working the broadcast, scouts will have to watch the tournament on television.

The Senators will have four players — Tim Stuetzle (Germany), Roby Jarventie (Finland), and Jake Sanderson and Tyler Kleven with Team USA — at the tournament that starts on Dec. 25.

“We're not allowed to go in, unless something changes in the next few days, but it doesn't look like it's going to because the numbers in Alberta aren't good,” Senators chief scout Trent Mann told Postmedia on Tuesday.

“... At least with something like the world juniors, the coverage is really good, as far as quality of camera angles and that sort of thing. It provides us with better viewing than some of the video we're getting from across the world.”

Many of the prospects at the world juniors have already been drafted, so in many cases, it's an opportunity for NHL teams to find out how their players perform against the best opponents.

Being in the building allows scouts to get a look at the big picture from every angle, which is something you don't always get while watching players on video.

One of the reasons scouts sit in the corners is so they can see what a player does away from the puck, how hard they work, their compete level, and their instincts to get to the right places.

“You want to be able to see all areas of the ice,” Mann said. "You want to see interactions with teammates and coaches. You want to see how they react after they're scored against and when they score.”

Fortunately, heading into the 2020 draft in October, the Senators had done all of their homework on the players available and felt good about their evaluations.

Preparing for the draft in 2021 will pose challenges.

“This is difficult. At least last year we had enough viewings that, when we looked at the video, we knew what we were looking for,” Mann said. “Now, you're trying to get a base off of video.”

In Europe, leagues have been running off and on since October. Chief European scout Mikko Ruutu, who is based in Finland, has been watching games there and so has Swedish scout Anders Ostberg.

George Fargher, a scout based in Western Canada, has been able to attend some Tier II junior in B.C. and Alberta.

Scouts based in the U.S. have been able to take in some high school and NCAA action.

Health and safety are top priority, and Mann insists all protocols are being followed when scouts do attend games.

“They have to be very careful,” Mann said.