The Athletic National Reporter Scott Wheeler: The Evolution of Player Evaluation

In episode 140 of the Glass and Out Podcast, we welcome Scott Wheeler, who covers the NHL Draft and prospects nationally for The Athletic. Wheeler is widely considered one of the top authorities in the hockey prospect community and is known for his dedication to player evaluation. He does a ton of research through both video and live viewings, and makes it a priority to speak with coaches and those people who have participated in a player's development. See also: In-season skills session with Flames development coach Darren Rommerdahl (VIDEO) Need an opinion on a player eligible for this years draft? Make sure to follow him on Twitter. His in-depth articles offer video evidence and analytical analysis about what makes a player special, or what a player may need to improve on. He also produces some amazing human interest stories on people within our game, that details their journey or experience through hockey. For example, one of his latest pieces of work saw him move in with Minnesota Wild 2020 first round pick Marco Rossi to get a feel for the person behind the prospect. Through this research, he's seen firsthand how player evaluation has changed over the years and the way the game is trending, both good and bad. In addition to his work at The Athletic, Wheeler has also written for the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Sun, National Post, SB Nation, the PGA Tour, McKeen's Hockey, Future Considerations, and The Hockey News. In this episode, we discuss how he got his start coaching his high school hockey team as a student, his process for evaluating talent, and how he believes we can all use data and analysis to make better coaching decisions.