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NHL Scouts Salary

forecheck

Registered User
May 14, 2007
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Does anyone know the Average Salary for an NHL Scout and do these guys get Benefits and Pension packages?

Just curious.
 
It really varies from organization to organization and based on role (full time or part time) and obviously experience. Someone doing it full time typically will be anywhere from $40k-$70k. Some make more if they've been around longer or have a different relationship with the organization and then obviously if you take on any kind of management role like Head Scout or Director of Scouting that salary shoots up more into the six figures.

Someone working part-time will be more in the $20K range. But again, this is just a general guideline. Organizations are all different, have more or lesser budgets, different arrangements, etc.
 
Did some research on this yesterday, I believe their salaries are around 40-60 K per year. Don't know if the teams pay for their travel and hotels or not because if not these scouts won't be left with much money.
 
tony d said:
Did some research on this yesterday, I believe their salaries are around 40-60 K per year. Don't know if the teams pay for their travel and hotels or not because if not these scouts won't be left with much money.
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Travel and hotels (and likely an amount allotted for meals - per diem) almost has to be paid for by the team...wouldn't make sense otherwise.
 
For the amount of work they do that makes sense.

I mean if you consider it, they are maybe at a game per day maybe two but thats only really 1-2 hours. Then they compile their notes and make a report which realistically likely won't take more than a few hours. Most of their day I imagine revolves around traveling.

Head scouts or legendary ones like Hakan Anderson probably get better stipends.

https://www.nhl.com/penguins/news/week-in-the-life-of-an-nhl-scout/c-566097

Like looking at this article, it doesn't seem like they actually do large volumes of work outside of around game times or likely close to the draft.
 
tfriede2 said:
Travel and hotels (and likely an amount allotted for meals - per diem) almost has to be paid for by the team...wouldn't make sense otherwise.
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Travel, hotel, and all related expenses are paid for by the organization.

As for work load, it's a ton of work. You're not just watching the game when you go to the rink, you are speaking with coaches and players and agents. You are filing detailed, extensive game reports (which take a long time), you are compiling your own personal rankings of all the players you've scouted throughout the year, you're on the road for hours on end, you are making calls away from the rink....there's a ton of work to do and a lot of time spent away from home, more so if you're a full-timer. And bear in mind you're not sitting watching NHL games. You're watching junior, college, in some cases high school games where you're maybe only there to see one or two players in the whole game. You aren't watching the game from an entertainment point of view, you are watching players. There's a big difference.

It's a lot of work and overall grind. Still a good job if it fits you, but it's not nearly the job many people think it is.
 
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Not much job security either.. I wonder of they have any type of benefits or pension plan for long time scouts?
 
forecheck said:
Not much job security either.. I wonder of they have any type of benefits or pension plan for long time scouts?
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No, not especially. If a GM gets canned, there's a good chance the new one coming in will wants some of his own people in those positions, though you do see a lot of holdovers.

If they are full time they are benefited, but I don't know about pension. That may be a team by team basis. I'm leaning toward no. Probably 401k type options, I'd imagine because that kind of thing can carry over from team to team. Pension wouldn't.
 
All depends on the team and role but I have a hard time seeing someone like Mark Hunter not making something close to what a GM would make, although he is in charge of our scouting department.

I believe that with the Leafs our scouts are probably making a minimum of 6 figures but obviously I have no clue.

I'd also imagine all meals, travel, and hotels are covered.
 
It's not a job I would want personally.

Sometimes, the demands of the job aren't worth it in the long run.
 
If you love hockey and like to travel a bit, then its great. Most scouts have their own region. Some teams probably have 20 scouts.
 
DJJones said:
Be a nice semi-retirement job I guess. Seems like a lot of work for little money though.
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Blue Liner said:
That's what it is for many.
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I know several scouts--not going to comment on how much they make--it depends from team to team, level of scouting and whether they are full or part time.

Many teams now use what is called a pool process where several teams come together and pay scouts here in Europe or lower pro levels in North America and all teams get the same report. Any additional information on a certain player, the team will then send one of their own scouts to the game.

Scouting has changed greatly over the past 20 years, partly due to cost cutting and due to the amount of information out there provided by the leagues and teams themselves. And of course the amount of games on TV.

Many teams also have stringers on a month to month contract, where they get assigned to scout certain players--this often happens here in Europe due to the amount of leagues and the fact scouts can not be everywhere.

One of my former colleagues when I worked for a sales and marketing company is now a full time scout(he played both uni hockey and Euro Hockey) and he is getting a rude awakening to rules of scouting. The team he works for has very strict rules when it comes to what expenses they will and wont pay for across the board.
 
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