Avs’ amateur scouts adapt to virtual world
Preparing for next week’s 2020 NHL draft has been an imaginative process for Alan Hepple, the Avalanche’s director of amateur scouting.
Before COVID- 19, Hepple and his scouts across the globe attended games, interviewed players and met as a team to prepare a report for Avs general manager Joe Sakic. But since the amateur hockey world shut down in North American and most other countries in March, Zoom calls have dominated the scouting business.
The NHL playoffs were the only hockey being played until recently, and the NCAA and the Canadian Hockey League ( major junior) aren’t scheduled to begin the 2020- 21 season until next month or beyond. The NHL draft centers on 18- year- olds, and this year that means players with 2001/ 2002 birth years.
“I’ve had over 100 of these calls, whether it’s been with prospects, my ( scouts) all over the world, calls from the Avalanche and things like that,” Hepple said on a Zoom
call Friday. “This became a big part of my life.”
Instead of watching live games, Avalanche scouts were left viewing video from pre- coronavirus games and monitoring the off- ice training methods of their prospects. Many found ways to skate in small groups during the summer months.
“The kids are in great shape. That’s all they’ve done in the last five to six months, is to work out,” Hepple said.
He added: “We dealt with the hand we were dealt and we just dealt with it. We figured it out — a way that we could watch ( prospects train). My guys have always been good about getting information and background stuff. That was always going to be there and we interviewed every kid over a video call.”
The Avalanche has the 25th selection in Tuesday’s first round, then a pick apiece in rounds 3- 7 on Wednesday. Colorado traded its second- round pick to San Jose in the three- team deal that sent Washington forward Andre Burakovsky to the Avs in July 2019.
Since Sakic took control of the club in 2013, the Avs have done relatively well with high firstround picks, beginning with Nathan MacKinnon going No. 1 overall in 2013. Colorado also hit it big with Mikko Rantanen ( No. 10 in 2015) and Cale Makar ( No. 4 in 2017), while 2019 draftees Bo Byram ( No. 4) and Alex Newhook ( No. 16) are two of the NHL’s top prospects, according to The Hockey News.
“It’s always fun to see the positivity,” Hepple said. “I always say, it’s tough picking from the top. It’s not easy. You got to pick the right guy, whether it’s Cale Makar, whether it’s Bo Byram. We had to make a decision on Bo Byram. We made the right decision. Even Alex Newhook. We made the right decision. It’s good to see. I want to see them all play, and I realize that’s a crazy dream, but it’s rewarding. It makes you feel good. It makes the job a little easier sometimes.”
The Avalanche, however, has only seen one selection outside of the first round make it big since 2013, and defenseman Will Butcher ( fifth round, No. 123 overall) has never played for the club. Butcher used an NCAA loophole to sign as a free agent with the New Jersey Devils in 2017 after his four- year career at the University of Denver.
Outside the draft, Sakic and his staff have excelled in acquiring excellent prospects and current NHLers through trades.
Footnote. Denver- born forward Ty Smilanic is ranked 24th by Central Scouting among North American skaters and should be available at No. 25. But when factoring in European skaters and all goaltenders, the former DU recruit who is now a freshman at Quinnipiac likely will slip to the second round. “Good skill, good speed. A great kid,” Hepple said of Smilanic, a former triple- A midget star for the Colorado Thunderbirds. “We interviewed him. He was a fun kid to interview, especially knowing he’s a Denver kid. Yeah, we like him. Where he fits in, come draft day, we never know.”