News Article: Yzerman fires longtime scout Merkosky, hires his own brohter

[Mlotek]

not just scouts but other FO personnel too. isn't limited to marginal NHLers either.

What the hell does it matter if they were a marginal player or superstar talent?

Only because someone played at superstar level does not mean they can accurately judge other players talents/strengths/weaknesses.

Pretty sure you can peg most NHL coaches as "marginal NHLers" at best.

 

[InjuredChoker]

What the hell does it matter if they were a marginal player or superstar talent?

Only because someone played at superstar level does not mean they can accurately judge other players talents/strengths/weaknesses.

Pretty sure you can peg most NHL coaches as "marginal NHLers" at best.

pretty convenient how quite a few scouts/FO personnel were former players (star or not) for the franchise they are working for. they surely did their due diligence and made sure he was the best possible hire for the job.

and most former star players are/were terrible executives/coaches. yzerman is one of the few exceptions. seems like joe sakic, his former rival has learned on the job too and isn't terribad anymore.

 

[Mlotek]

From the elite prospects list (2018--19 season):
Doug Houda current assistant coach
Ken Holland
Daniel Cleary - Player Development
Jiri Fischer - Player Evaluation
Kirk Maltby - Scout
Glenn Merkosky - Scout
Kris Draper - Special Assistant to GM


Detroit Red Wings at eliteprospects.com

Wonder how that stacks up against other teams.

 

[izlez]

Let's look at the recent pro signings:
- DLR (waivers)
- Bernie
- Vanek
- Witter
- Ott
- Daley
- Green

- Nielsen​

- Tootoo
- Weiss

and traded for
- Legwand
- Quincey

Wouldn't bother me one bit if they fired the whole pro-scouting staff and started over. I'm pretty sure half the people on this board could do better.

I meannnn... which teams have exactly done better than that?

 

[Hugh Mongusbig]

My thoughts.

New GM fires scout.
Eh, its a good start.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

And you would still click. Lol.

I’ve literally never looked at his site outside of it being linked here. Without this board I’d have no clue who he was

 

[obey86]

I'm always amazed at how many scouts were previously marginal NHLers who played for the team they're now scouting for.

Like all the best scouts just happen to be from your franchise? It reeks of country club atmosphere.


(Merkosky played for the Adirondack Wings and 3 games for the Red Wings)

It's probably because management has been around those players and understand how they see the game and evaluate players. And because they have that history, they know what the yard getting when they hire him. Probably different when it comes to an outsider.

 

[Squirrel in the Hole]

My thoughts.

New GM fires scout.
Eh, its a good start.

Yep. He's the GM. He's in charge. Business decision. Move on.

 

[InjuredChoker]

I meannnn... which teams have exactly done better than that?

LVG, WSH, TBL, COL (past 3 yrs), DAL (couple of bad misses though), STL. then there are a group of teams that have avoided bad mistakes/contracts but haven't really made good moves in the pro scouting department either.

canucks have been clearly the worst but we belong in that fairly large group of the next worst pro scouting teams.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

When you make the man the king of the kingdom he gets what he wants. Non-Issue really outside of maybe... maybe... Merkosky had no real reason to be fired. I think most everyone knew his brother was going to eventually be involved with the Red Wings in some way.

*sees Red Wings pro scouting abilities from 2012-2018*

Merosky had plenty of reason to get fired.

 

[Frk It]

Stralman's agent replied a succinct "no" when asked if the Wings were on Stralman's short list — but the five years, $22.5 million Straman ended up getting from Tampa Bay was more term than the Wings wanted to give a defenseman deemed in the same quality range as Jakub Kindl.

We fired a pro scout? Good.

Red Wings soundly rejected on opening day

 

[Henkka]

We fired a pro scout? Good.

Red Wings soundly rejected on opening day

I hope that the story really goes how IT WAS MERKOSKY who said that Kindl is at SAME LEVEL THAN STRÅLMAN and Yzerman heard it then. And now, after years of this, fired him because of that miss-analyze.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Where do you reckon scouts are going to get their start if not with a club that's familiar with you? It's not like guys are getting recruited out of scout school.

Yeah, and GMs are often former players of some sort. They know that for a lot of these guys, when their careers are over, there aren't exactly a lot of options for them. they hang around, they get better, they keep the job. And it's not like these guys are going to look to turn and bite the hand that's fed them.

Also, a lot of us have gotten a heads-up on a job through friends and family. I don't think it's a country club, it's just how stuff works.

not just scouts but other FO personnel too. isn't limited to marginal NHLers either.

pretty convenient how quite a few scouts/FO personnel were former players (star or not) for the franchise they are working for. they surely did their due diligence and made sure he was the best possible hire for the job.

and most former star players are/were terrible executives/coaches. yzerman is one of the few exceptions. seems like joe sakic, his former rival has learned on the job too and isn't terribad anymore.

It's probably because management has been around those players and understand how they see the game and evaluate players. And because they have that history, they know what the yard getting when they hire him. Probably different when it comes to an outsider.

Country club was honestly probably the wrong description. It's probably more of an old school NHL boys club mentality.

My main point is how often NHL teams only seem to look within their own organization to fill key roles. When to be the absolute best and most competitive team, you should be looking everywhere.

I understand that they will have a previous relationship with players in their own franchise, but they also have relationships and knowledge of guys throughout the league. In a multi-billion dollar sport where the margin between winning and losing is so slim, to me it seems like they should be more diligent in filling these positions.

 

[Mister Ed]

Sucks for Merkosky but at least it's a sign the country club/old boys network isn't going to still be a thing under Yzerman. I wonder if Tyler Wright joins Holland now that the draft is over.

You might not have to wait long :

 

[Syckle78]

Country club was honestly probably the wrong description. It's probably more of an old school NHL boys club mentality.

My main point is how often NHL teams only seem to look within their own organization to fill key roles. When to be the absolute best and most competitive team, you should be looking everywhere.

I understand that they will have a previous relationship with players in their own franchise, but they also have relationships and knowledge of guys throughout the league. In a multi-billion dollar sport where the margin between winning and losing is so slim, to me it seems like they should be more diligent in filling these positions.

You should look every where for sure. But it only stands to reason you're going to be the most familiar with and believe in those the most you're closest to. Scout is kinda an entry level position and those are gonna go to players you know have an eye for job. You're not gonna know which players have that interest an insight without traveling and talking to them on a day to day basis. Coaches and general managers I see your point and agree.

 

[Syckle78]

You might not have to wait long :

It doesn't make sense to me for this to happen post draft. Why would you not have your scout with you at the draft and on the flip side why would Detroit keep him if this was a possibility?

 

[izlez]

LVG, WSH, TBL, COL (past 3 yrs), DAL (couple of bad misses though), STL. then there are a group of teams that have avoided bad mistakes/contracts but haven't really made good moves in the pro scouting department either.

canucks have been clearly the worst but we belong in that fairly large group of the next worst pro scouting teams.

Any more details on this? What makes TBL's pro scouts better than what we have done? Huge fan of Dan Girardi or something?

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

From the elite prospects list (2018--19 season):
Doug Houda current assistant coach
Ken Holland
Daniel Cleary - Player Development
Jiri Fischer - Player Evaluation
Kirk Maltby - Scout
Glenn Merkosky - Scout
Kris Draper - Special Assistant to GM


Detroit Red Wings at eliteprospects.com

Wonder how that stacks up against other teams.

Also:

Pat Verbeek - Assistant GM (he played a couple years on the Wings under Holland at the end of his career)
Mark Howe - Pro Scout

The day Chelios retired Holland named him Adviser to Hockey Operations. He held a position with the franchise up until a year ago.

I'm all for the franchise taking care of former players after retirement but they often seem to hand out important jobs to former players without looking elsewhere.

 

[obey86]

It doesn't make sense to me for this to happen post draft. Why would you not have your scout with you at the draft and on the flip side why would Detroit keep him if this was a possibility?

contracts usually end after the draft. the scouts spent all season long scouting players and putting together evaluations....it often doesn't make any sense to fire them before the draft.

 

[Syckle78]

contracts usually end after the draft. the scouts spent all season long scouting players and putting together evaluations....it often doesn't make any sense to fire them before the draft.

Ok but why would i what input from someone that isn't invested in the team long term? Having a competitor make selections for me seems asinine.

 

[obey86]

Ok but why would i what input from someone that isn't invested in the team long term? Having a competitor make selections for me seems asinine.

The GM is ultimately making the selection. not the scout. And the input is largely in the form of the scouting report, which is completed throughout the year, not right before the draft.

By the same token, why would you want someone to go to a competitor right before the draft and tell them everything about your draft board, who you like/dislike, etc?

A new scout coming in right before the draft would be borderline useless as (as I mentioned) their work is done mostly throughout the course of the previous season.

 

[waltdetroit]

It doesn't make sense to me for this to happen post draft. Why would you not have your scout with you at the draft and on the flip side why would Detroit keep him if this was a possibility?

After the draft, the responsibility for the prospects is passed to the development team. The scouts job is done per se.

 

[Mlotek]

Also:

Pat Verbeek - Assistant GM (he played a couple years on the Wings under Holland at the end of his career)
Mark Howe - Pro Scout

The day Chelios retired Holland named him Adviser to Hockey Operations. He held a position with the franchise up until a year ago.

I'm all for the franchise taking care of former players after retirement but they often seem to hand out important jobs to former players without looking elsewhere.

I think Chelios was also a defensive coach at some points following his retirement.

 

[Frk It]

I hope that the story really goes how IT WAS MERKOSKY who said that Kindl is at SAME LEVEL THAN STRÅLMAN and Yzerman heard it then. And now, after years of this, fired him because of that miss-analyze.

Totally a reasonable response to suggesting our pro scouting hasn't been the best....

 

[GBFP]

The GM is ultimately making the selection. not the scout. And the input is largely in the form of the scouting report, which is completed throughout the year, not right before the draft.

By the same token, why would you want someone to go to a competitor right before the draft and tell them everything about your draft board, who you like/dislike, etc?

A new scout coming in right before the draft would be borderline useless as (as I mentioned) their work is done mostly throughout the course of the previous season.

I think the Euro heavy draft happened because Yzerman leaned on Hakan who likely is staying over Wright and other NA scouts who could be joining Holland in Edmonton.

It was a weird situation with Holland. I suspect Ilitch could have prevented him from taking the GM gig there until after the draft if he wanted to. But once he allowed Holland, might as well just let him take Wright as well if that is the plan. I mean Holland would know everything Wright did.

Also I suspect Yzerman was kept in the dark of TB's amateur scouting in his role as "adviser" because they knew he was leaving into a new FO situation so he didn't have much/any 2019 draft prospect info until he got here and dove in with our staff.