DRAFT: Oilers scouting staff overcome 'challenging' season

EDMONTON, AB - Director of Amateur Scouting Tyler Wright summarized the 2020-21 scouting season in one word.
"Challenging," said the former first-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers, taken 12th-overall in the 1991 National Hockey League Draft.
Given all the travel restrictions, health sanctions, leagues in limited operation and players shuffling around the globe in search of a spot in a lineup, observing and assessing talent ahead of the 2021 NHL Draft became no easy feat.
"You're trying to move around certain places that are playing in the middle of a pandemic where travel is kind of frowned upon," Wright continued. "I've been able to do some of that since the end of January, cautiously and optimistically, while still respecting the health authorities and trying to do a job at the same time."
All NHL scouting departments dealt with the same hurdles. With fewer live showcases, information was obtained through conversations with coaches and agents, and video was also utilized heavily. That research will be put to use when the Draft gets underway on July 23 and 24.
"A lot of good communication, a lot of dialogue, a lot of video and a lot of talk," Wright said. "We just tried to come up with ideas and scenarios that would help us get to where we need to get to make the best-educated decision come that July weekend."
Many major junior hockey leagues across North America were affected by the pandemic. The Western Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, United States Hockey League and NCAA held seasons while the Ontario Hockey League campaign was cancelled.
This will also be the second straight year without an NHL Scouting Combine, which organizations use to get acquainted with skaters over in-person interviews and to better understand their physical abilities. As a result, the U18 World Championship, which was won by Team Canada, became an important event for evaluators.
"It was a big thing for us as an industry, allowing all 32 teams to come in and get some live viewings on these guys," Wright said. "Canada put a heavy appearance there for some of these Ontario kids that didn't have the opportunity to play. We were able to go down and get some live viewings of some kids that we haven't."
The Oilers own five picks in the virtual Draft and will be without a second-, third- and fifth-round selection. Despite the difficulty in scouting the past season, Wright and his team of recruiters intend to continue storing the prospect pipeline with future hopefuls.
"There were some positives but we're still trying to get the best player that's going to fit," said Wright. "Every organization is different and we're just ciphering through all the players and making sure that we get our list pretty tight."