Uniting Scouting and Player Development | Q&A with Cammi Granato

The dawn of a new NHL campaign is just around the corner and Assistant General Manager Cammi Granato is ready to dive headfirst into the 2022-23 Canucks season.
But not before reflecting on her first offseason overseeing the player development and both the amateur and pro scouting departments of the Vancouver Canucks.

Granato recently joined Canucks.com to discuss the returning Young Stars Classic, which began Friday in Penticton, some of the inner workings of player development, and the reception to her new children's book.
Interview edited for clarity and length.
A summer staple for the Canucks and the fans, the Canucks Young Stars Classic was on hiatus for the past couple of years. Why was it so important to get it back up and running?
Any time there's a pause or there are things that make it so that you can't put on these tournaments, it's harder to see your prospects. These tournaments are important so we can look at these guys in games and the invitees that we are interested in and some of our players in Abbotsford as well. It's just a good competition for them.
And then obviously to see where they match up against other teams. Without these tournaments, you wouldn't be able to see that competition and see how they fare.
From that competitive environment aspect, Young Stars is different from development camp in that the games create some added pressure and stakes. Why is fostering that atmosphere and seeing the players through that lens worthwhile?
It is and you can build off that development camp. It's more than just a scrimmage than say at development camp. These are games that players want to prove themselves against other teams. So, it's a good metric to see how they stack up.
Most guys, wherever they're going to play are going to be training hard this summer to get better and continue on their path. For some, this is just an experience to be in this environment and understand where they stand. Then they know what they can go back and work on.
For others, it's an opportunity that can make an impression on the organization.
Your son plays for the Vancouver Whitecaps youth academy. Soccer is a little bit different in that teams have a hand earlier in the development process, but is there anything about that model that can be applied to hockey? How are you able to track progress and shape development when players are back with their respective clubs?
Absolutely, our scouts will form a relationship with players that we're interested in drafting. And it's not like once they are drafted, they lose the relationship with the player but when the prospect enters the organization, the development team takes over. And that's a critical area for us to get our players from point A to B. Once they're drafted, the work is not over; the work is just starting. The development staff plays a huge role in that, and we've invested greatly in that department to reflect its importance.
Before, Ryan Johnson and Chris Higgins were kind of on their own doing everything. Now we've added Mikael Samuelsson, Mike Komisarek, and the Sedins are helping as well, both in Abbotsford and with the Canucks. Those are the guys our prospects will have a relationship with and of course, the coaches and trainers keep the communication lines open with these kids to help them along their path.
We're really excited about our group. We've got a lot of experience with these guys. They're very passionate. They work well as a team, and I'm excited to see what they can do with our prospects.
What is the relationship between the scouts and the player development team? For instance, maybe a scout identifies a talented player but knows that some refinements need to be made, do they talk to the development team about what things can be done to fill in the skill gaps?
Once the player is drafted, our scouting staff - usually the regional scouts because they're the experts in that region and have been following the player all year - will send off as much information about the player as they can get to our player development staff. That way they have some information right away to know what they're working with.
And then the great part is right when those guys were drafted, almost every one of them came to development camp. So, two days after being drafted our prospects are already on the ice with the development staff, which is a great way to start the relationship.
That connection between our scouts and player development is another reason why the Young Stars tournament is such an important event. The player development staff is coming to Penticton as well as our amateur scouts, so they'll be together and get to know each other even better. With all the new hires, it will be a good way for everyone to get to know each other better.
The Canucks bolstered the prospect pipeline through the free agent avenue in Europe and the CHL with signings like Arshdeep Bains, Nils Åman, and Filip Johansson. Why was that an important avenue to explore?
It doesn't just stop at the draft. You must keep trying to improve your team, adding little pieces. And it's not an easy task with the climate of where we're at with the flat salary cap, you have to be creative. I think that's kind of the mindset that we have is anytime we can get better, we want to. Anytime we can add little pieces here and there or a big free agent signing, whatever it is, the goal is to make our team better bit by bit.
You recently released a children's book, I Can Play Too. What's the reception been like so far?
It's been really well received, and I've been sent some incredible stories and pictures of teams that have all bought the book for their book club.
My whole goal for writing it was to help inspire any little girl or even boy that just felt like they were pursuing something that maybe was against the grain or wasn't the popular thing or wasn't what other people thought was right - but they followed their passion!
That's where I felt if I can inspire even just one person, I felt it was enough. But it's been really, wonderful to read all the stories from people and the notes and the photographs and just see how much it's been embraced. We're trying to expand, and I have a great group of people that are helping me.
That's amazing, the project was a bit of a family affair too - your nephew did the illustrations correct?
Yeah, my nephew Dom was the illustrator. There's a big element of family support in the book and that's one of the reasons why I think I was able to do what I did when so many people just didn't agree with it. My siblings are all characters in the book as well. So, it's a fun book based on my story as a kid.
You're having an impact in the community and the Canucks are starting to get back out in the community going to Penticton for Young Stars and Whistler for training camp. How important is it to have a presence in the community, especially after navigating through a pandemic?
Yeah, I think it's a really important part of who we are as the Canucks to be out in the community. I think everybody missed just having that opportunity. We got kind of used to how different it was and when restrictions lifted, and we could engage in the community again it's just been so well received.
I think everybody from our organization and the community is just so much more appreciative of it and there's a high level of excitement because it was gone for so long.