from David Staples of the Edmonton Journal,

I’m far from convinced that Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland made the right decision in bringing in Tyler Wright to become the director of amateur scouting for the Oilers.

Wright’s record in the past eight drafts — two heading up amateur scouting for the Columbus Blue Jackets and six in the same job with the Red Wings — isn’t obviously good work. That assessment may well change as time passes and some of Wright’s picks turn into better players than they’re trending to be right now, but the obviously successful picks from those eight drafts are few and far between while the question marks are plentiful.

Let’s look at how Wright did in acquiring Big 12 players, the spine of any team, the critical players essential to any squad’s success, the No. 1 goalie, Top 4 d-men and Top 7 forwards, all the first and second line forwards and one excellent checker/two-way player leading the third line.

NHL head scouts who succeed will identify at least one Big 12 player every draft year on average, they will make the most of their Top 10 overall picks, they’ll find at least one Big 12 players outside the first round every second year, and they’ll identify at least one Team Canada-quality player every four drafts.

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