The NHL Central Scouting Services (CSS) is a department within the National Hockey League that ranks prospects for the

NHL Entry Draft The NHL Entry Draft (french: Repêchage d'entrée dans la LNH) is an annual meeting in which every franchise of the National Hockey League (NHL) systematically select the rights to available ice hockey players who meet draft eligibility requirem ...

at specific times during the hockey season. Players are ranked based on how well they will translate to the professional game in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. It was founded by hockey executive

Jack Button John Carl 'Jack' Button (1940 – July 31, 1996) was a professional hockey executive with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League. The Jack Button Award, given to the top prospect for the Washington Capitals, ...

in 1975 to establish a centralized database of NHL prospects. Button served as the director until 1979. Its current director is

Dan Marr Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

. The Department consists of staff at the NHL Offices in Toronto, along with eight full-time scouts, and fifteen part-time scouts throughout North America. To report on prospects playing in Europe, the NHL employs the services of

Göran Stubb Göran Stubb (born 10 March 1935) is the National Hockey League (NHL) Director of European Scouting. Stubb began working as the chairman of IFK Helsinki from 1961 to 1975 before joining the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 1976 as their Managing ...

and his staff of six scouts at European Scouting Services based in Finland. All twenty-nine scouts reporting for Central Scouting will combine to see approximately 3000 games each year.

Rankings procedure

The full-time staff of the Central Scouting Service follows a checklist to assess the prospects' skillset and how it would apply to the pro game. Prospects are rated by skill as Excellent (E), Very Good (VG), Good (G), Average (A), Poor (P), or Not Applicable (NA), with different skills being emphasized amongst the different positions:

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

, and

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

. The Service releases the contents of the checklists to the public from their website, so anyone can evaluate players at any level of play. The rankings are compiled by numerous reviews by the professional scouts' combined opinions of the players and released as a bimonthly list. Eligible players for the upcoming draft are ranked as North American Skaters, North American Goalies, European Skaters, or European Goalies. The players fit under the North American or International player based on where they train. For example, the Czech forward,

Jakub Voracek Jacob is a common male given name and a less well-known surname. It is a cognate of James, derived from Late Latin ''Iacobus'', from Greek ''Iakobos'', from Hebrew (''Yaʿaqōḇ''), the name of the Hebrew patriarch, Jacob son of Isaac and Rebe ...

was ranked as a North American prospect, because he played with the Halifax Mooseheads in the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The l ...

. A more recent example is

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

center

Auston Matthews Auston Taylour Matthews (born September 17, 1997) is an American professional ice hockey center and alternate captain for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). Born in San Ramon, California, Matthews and his family moved ...

who was first on the European ranks, as he played for the ZSC Lions of the NLA. Updated ranking are released multiple times each year. Notably, the midterm rankings come out after the

IIHF World Junior Championships The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), or simply the "World Juniors" in ice hockey circles, is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is t ...

and performance in the tournament greatly elevates draft status. In early April, after all junior and European seasons are completed, the final rankings are released.

Directors

: 1975–1979 * Jim Gregory: 1979–1992 *

Frank Bonello Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

: 1992–2005 *

E. J. McGuire Edward John "E. J." McGuire (June 26, 1952 – April 7, 2011) was an American ice hockey coach who served as the director of the NHL Central Scouting Services. He earned his PhD in sports psychology from the University of Waterloo in 1990. Coach ...

: 2005–2011 *

: 2011–present

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official Site
National Hockey League Entry Draft

Rankings procedure

Directors

See also

References

External links