LW Brayden Tracey - Moose Jaw Warriors, WHL (2019, 29th, ANA)

[Kalv]

Well he had a decent chance early in his debut as well as a couple nice passes. Although I don’t think he really played at all if ever in the third.

That pretty much sums it up. He was obviously a step behind, but even as a Ducks fan I have been pretty pessimistic of him, but he has had a decent first pro year in the AHL. He certainly needs at least another season before the big show, but to me, his debut is really good news.
He needs some muscle and more confidence/offensive dominance in the AHL and he could become a decent middle6 winger

PS
This was actually his 3rd game in 3 nights.

First two games were with the Gulls in San Diego and Ontario (was 1+1 in both).
So this was a fantastic weekend for him. And yeah, in his first shift in the NHL he came close to scoring

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

Needs more games, but I'm glad he is starting to flourish as a playmaker

 

[MMC]

UFA after not being qualified by the Ducks. Will he get a two way contract?

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Needs a fresh start IMHO

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

One of the worst draft picks in ducks history. Lots of better options on the board and they took a flyer on someone who was the ‘fastest riser’ at that time.

 

[MMC]

Is this kid retired?

 

[tomd]

Is this kid retired?

It appears he is in Tucson per the transaction section of THEAHL.com

 

[Jukurit]

Now playing in Liiga. 6 points in 13 games. Tracey has some nice hands, but also low compete, mediocre skating and weak shot. He's 23 and very very far away from being an NHL player. Awful first round pick.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Now playing in Liiga. 6 points in 13 games. Tracey has some nice hands, but also low compete, mediocre skating and weak shot. He's 23 and very very far away from being an NHL player. Awful first round pick.

Contract terminated by Jukurit today. Underrated forgotten bust

 

[cheesymc]

Now playing in Liiga. 6 points in 13 games. Tracey has some nice hands, but also low compete, mediocre skating and weak shot. He's 23 and very very far away from being an NHL player. Awful first round pick.

Ducks know how to draft forwards lol.

Maybe the scout(s) who pushed for him should be fired… nah… that’s accountability…

 

[Our Lady Peace]

He had 81 points in 68 games and was WHL rookie of the year that led in goals, assists, and points (mind you as a D-1 not D-2). He was projected to go around early 2nd and you could argue the Ducks reached a bit

Easy to claim well in hindsight people should be fired over one draft pick at the end of round 1 those types of players get picked all the time

 

[cheesymc]

He had 81 points in 68 games and was WHL rookie of the year that led in goals, assists, and points (mind you as a D-1 not D-2). He was projected to go around early 2nd and you could argue the Ducks reached a bit

Easy to claim well in hindsight people should be fired over one draft pick at the end of round 1 those types of players get picked all the time

His stats were padded playing on a high scoring team. He never showed any attributes that would indicate that he could succeed at the NHL. Scouts shouldn’t have drafted based on his stats, but more projectable skills…. Something they do well with defensemen like Lacombe who had size, skating, and shooting…

 

[Our Lady Peace]

His stats were padded playing on a high scoring team. He never showed any attributes that would indicate that he could succeed at the NHL. Scouts shouldn’t have drafted based on his stats, but more projectable skills…. Something they do well with defensemen like Lacombe who had size, skating, and shooting…

Tracey had size at 6'1, ~185lbs and he was drafted for his puck skills, vision, and skating. To which I would argue that they drafted a redundant player when they took Zegras 20 spots earlier

I think there was enough reason for scouts to believe that taking a late 1st on him was justifiable, just like Tampa Bay taking Nolan Foote 2 spots earlier from the Rockets (to play with his brother, and we now know how that worked out for them in the end). Nolan, who had a standout shot and release, I was down on at the time a bit more than Tracey. Mainly because Foote overcoming, ironically, his clunky foot speed was going to be a long shot when he wasn't really a standout at much else than his shot

Questions about his Tracey's game translating? I agree. There's plenty of forward duds, including from that 2019 1st round, that also had relatively low-projecting skillsets too. At least Anaheim walked out getting Zegras at #9 and then as you said hit on the defenseman Lacombe in early round 2

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Ducks know how to draft forwards lol.

Maybe the scout(s) who pushed for him should be fired… nah… that’s accountability…

Such a weird post lol they don't fire scouts for late first rounders busting - or teams would be firing their scouts about 75% of the time.

By the way, the Ducks longtime WHL scout that you would be referring to here, was the same one that the staff all had pins to honor at the most recent draft.

 

[cheesymc]

Such a weird post lol they don't fire scouts for late first rounders busting - or teams would be firing their scouts about 75% of the time.

By the way, the Ducks longtime WHL scout that you would be referring to here, was the same one that the staff all had pins to honor at the most recent draft.

Ok don’t get your panties in a bunch Mr. Madden. I don’t know these scouts on a personal level and only care about results.

Apparently Cochrane had scouted for the Ducks since 2007, and assuming he specialized in the WHL we can literally appreciate never hitting on a single quality NHL forward and he gave us a wonderful result of King, Hvidson, Tschigerl, Etem, Steel and then some. I can’t really say that was a scouting career of successful recommendations unless Myatovich turns it around and becomes a star. The only other Duck scout that appears to be worse is whomever is assigned to the QMJHL.

He might have found Theodore so hopefully he was better at assessing defensemen and his final recommendation of Tarin Smith will a lasting memory. But yes, after 17 years or so of scouting I’d like accountability so my team can be good.

 

[super6646]

I wanted him for Calgary lol. Oops

 

[tomd]

I wanted him for Calgary lol. Oops

You’re in luck - he’s available!

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Ok don’t get your panties in a bunch Mr. Madden. I don’t know these scouts on a personal level and only care about results.

Apparently Cochrane had scouted for the Ducks since 2007, and assuming he specialized in the WHL we can literally appreciate never hitting on a single quality NHL forward and he gave us a wonderful result of King, Hvidson, Tschigerl, Etem, Steel and then some. I can’t really say that was a scouting career of successful recommendations unless Myatovich turns it around and becomes a star. The only other Duck scout that appears to be worse is whomever is assigned to the QMJHL.

He might have found Theodore so hopefully he was better at assessing defensemen and his final recommendation of Tarin Smith will a lasting memory. But yes, after 17 years or so of scouting I’d like accountability so my team can be good.

King, Hvidston, Tschigerl...dude those are mid to late round picks that literally are not supposed to hit statistically speaking. Etem/Steel/Tracey were all late first rounders, which only have about a 25% chance of producing an NHLer, and two of the three did make it. Getting NHL players at 29 and 30th overall is better than how 75% of picks in that range turn out.

Anyway you didn't know all that, and were simply calling for a scout to be fired solely based on having drafted Tracey six years ago, which is honestly just you not understanding this process enough to properly manage your expectations. No one gets a hit with every pick and the Ducks produce a way higher rate of NHL players through the draft than most orgs.

 

[cheesymc]

King, Hvidston, Tschigerl...dude those are mid to late round picks that literally are not supposed to hit statistically speaking. Etem/Steel/Tracey were all late first rounders, which only have about a 25% chance of producing an NHLer, and two of the three did make it. Getting NHL players at 29 and 30th overall is better than how 75% of picks in that range turn out.

Anyway you didn't know all that, and were simply calling for a scout to be fired solely based on having drafted Tracey six years ago, which is honestly just you not understanding this process enough to properly manage your expectations. No one gets a hit with every pick and the Ducks produce a way higher rate of NHL players through the draft than most orgs.

I'm not asking for a scout to hit on every pick, that isn't reasonable. But having found zero impact WHL forwards over nearly 2 decades is unacceptable even if he was a likeable person. If he was only good at assessing defensemen that is what he should do. Its managements job to optimize results and Cochrane record with WHL forwards proves underperforming results.

I would say 5-8 years is more than enough of time to empirically assess capabilities based on each scout's rankings each year. Cochrane should have been let go during that time, but the fact is in the real world he was kept because he was buddies with management.

"Mediocrity is the enemy of greatness."

 

[WhatTheDuck]

I'm not asking for a scout to hit on every pick, that isn't reasonable. But having found zero impact WHL forwards over nearly 2 decades is unacceptable even if he was a likeable person. If he was only good at assessing defensemen that is what he should do. Its managements job to optimize results and Cochrane record with WHL forwards proves underperforming results.

I would say 5-8 years is more than enough of time to empirically assess capabilities based on each scout's rankings each year. Cochrane should have been let go during that time, but the fact is in the real world he was kept because he was buddies with management.

"Mediocrity is the enemy of greatness."

You are asking for an impact forward out of picks in the late first and thereafter, and that is an unrealistic expectation based on the statistical likelihood of landing anything with those picks.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

The scouts are PAID to find players that end up hitting. We are all aware of the stats of the likelihood of certain pick ranges/rounds becoming full time NHLers. Giving stats as an excuse for consistently missing on picks is weak IMHO.

My rule of thumb is heavily scrutinizing first 3 round draft picks only, picks in rounds 4-7 generally aren't worth overanalyzing when those players don't become NHLers (unless your scouts lit a pick on fire by selecting a low probability future NHLer)

Should this scout have been fired on the basis of this one bad late first rounder six years ago? When he's also found Shea Theodore with a late first and a few other NHLers with later picks? That's the side you're arguing here. His entire basis is that the Ducks don't have an impact forward from the WHL in recent years. Are we expecting every area scout to pull an impact player at each position. Can anyone name a team that has come close to doing this? I'm all for accountability and scrutinizing picks but I'd say you are latching on to the argument of someone who has no clue where those lines should be drawn

You need to change your handle and image from WhatTheDuck to a whiny I_Told_You_So

View attachment 976644

Doesn't seem like an overly fact based argument

 

[cheesymc]

The scouts are PAID to find players that end up hitting. We are all aware of the stats of the likelihood of certain pick ranges/rounds becoming full time NHLers. Giving stats as an excuse for consistently missing on picks is weak IMHO.

My rule of thumb is heavily scrutinizing first 3 round draft picks only; picks in rounds 4-7 generally aren't worth overanalyzing when those players don't become NHLers (unless your scouts lit a pick on fire by selecting a low probability future NHLer)

There’s no point putting in any further effort for someone who is so unreasonable and likely special. I can guarantee he will feel a sense of urgency to have the last response.

He’s one of the posters here that poisons HFBOARDS.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Should this scout have been fired on the basis of this one bad late first rounder six years ago? When he's also found Shea Theodore with a late first and a few other NHLers with later picks? That's the side you're arguing here



Doesn't seem like an overly fact based argument

Should he have been fired? Potentially yes, but potentially no as well. But when you consistently miss in a certain region, the GM/assistant GMs/amateur scouting department need to do an audit on where they screwed up & how to improve moving forward. Most organizations reevaluate a draft 3 years later and/or 5 years later & essentially audit themselves.

From what I've generally heard/seen online, the Ducks' management staff is a bit more stubborn than the average.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Should he have been fired? Potentially yes, but potentially no as well. But when you consistently miss in a certain region, the GM/assistant GMs/amateur scouting department need to do an audit on where they screwed up & how to improve moving forward. Most organizations reevaluate a draft 3 years later and/or 5 years later & essentially audit themselves.

From what I've generally heard/seen online, the Ducks' management staff is a bit more stubborn than the average.

They don't consistent miss in that region and that wasn't the original basis of the argument though. He stated that the Tracey pick alone was fireable if there was proper accountability. That's way beyond accountability, that's absurdity. The Ducks have had a pretty solid track record drafting from the WHL including one star player. Even the best scouts have a Tracey or several on their record. It's absurd to expect each area scout to land you an impact player at each position, that just doesn't happen. If they are getting you NHL players consistently and the occasional star, they are doing their job.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

They don't consistent miss in that region and that wasn't the original basis of the argument though. He stated that the Tracey pick alone was fireable if there was proper accountability. That's way beyond accountability, that's absurdity. The Ducks have had a pretty solid track record drafting from the WHL including one star player. Even the best scouts have a Tracey or several on their record. It's absurd to expect each area scout to land you an impact player at each position, that just doesn't happen. If they are getting you NHL players consistently and the occasional star, they are doing their job.

He may have been too negative but you're clearly being too positive. And even if you want to cut the Ducks some slack on the Tracey pick specifically, the management staff essentially let an asset burn its value completely out when it was becoming clearer that Tracey wouldn't become the NHLer they thought he would. Tracey regressed from his DY to D+1 and D+2, perfect opportunity to trade him at some point to recoup some value.