PHOTO BY SCOTT VANKOUGHNETT
Central Scouting Services has been the number one source for ranking NHL players for over twenty five years. And it’s no surprise that they have a major hand in providing the information for this season’s toughest decision; Taylor Hall vs. Tyler Seguin.
As head of Central Scouting, EJ McGuire explained the overall process of the company.
“Central scouting is an early warning system for the NHL teams in that we try to identify players early,” he said. “In the case of Hall, he was the MVP of the Memorial Cup in 2009, putting him in a pretty visible spot at that point and Tyler Seguin, who has a little less accolades than Hall.”
McGuire discussed the weaknesses of central scouting, and how kids could have that skill on the ice, but might lose ground in the interview process.
“We’re 80% on ice talent; shoots the puck hard, skates well, going to be a first rounder, has the talent to be an NHL player next year,” he explained. “Our role in the personality and the background comes at the combine but that’s a limited role. We set up interviews for the top 100 candidates and the teams then continue or start a system of interviewing the candidates.”
As for Taylor and Tyler, McGuire believes that they’re going to go one-two, but isn’t sure what order they’ll go in.
“Some of that – whoever is chosen first overall – will be, and this is how close they are, positional,” he said. “Many would say that Seguin has more upside which would be unfair. Seguin has a lot of upside, but so does Hall. He hasn’t hit any sort of performance ceiling or plateau so the sky is the limit with him.
McGuire went on to talk about how, even though it might not be right, teams might draft based on need, rather than the best available right now.
“Seguin is a right shot centerman, and if a team needs a centerman that might be straw that separates the two, but in saying that, there isn’t much that separates the two other than personality. It might be something that Taylor or Tyler says to a team that’s drafting first that turns a team one way or another.
McGuire feels that no matter who’s chosen first however, they will both be NHL stars in the future, and probably will both be there next season, much to the chagrin of the Windsor Spitfires and Plymouth Whalers.
Topics: 2010 NHL Entry Draft, NHL, Taylor Hall, Tyler Seguin
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