EHM The Blue Line

I was just wondering, about what time of year do you guys start scouting the talent in the upcoming draft? Is it year round, or just a few months before the actual draft? Also is the draft at the same time as in real life?
Thanks

Draft is at the same time as in real life

About scouting it, i scout it all year long. I scout all the players ranked by the ISS on each of their report (except the guys i already scouted, else it would be endless) and have some scouts looking for other prospects, less known.

When it comes closer to the end of the season, you usually have more precise reports on prospects. That's when i select the guys i'm really interested in and scout them harder to have a more accurate view on them, which helps me to choose who i'll select on draft day.

Thanks a lot.

I usually hire a lot of scouts so I can really do some serious coverage. I'll usually have 2 or 3 guys just scouting the draft itself but I limit them. I tell them not to scout anyone over 19. There are a lot of European players that are a little old and still eligible for the draft. Most of them have no interest in coming over to play in the NHL, so I don't waste my time on them. I tend to find lots of great 19 year old Russians in the first draft though. Anyhow, I have those guys scouting the draft, then I have scouts assigned to each of them bigger hockey countries (Canada, USA, Russia, and so on), and then I have a couple assigned to regions. This really helps me get some good coverage on the draft.

I'll usually do this once at the beginning of the season when the first ISS reports come out and then again later in the year (at least 3-4 months before the draft). I try to make sure I assign different scouts when I send them out the second time so I get two different guys' takes on each area.

Okay, I'm going to close this one. Let's put all scouting talk in the other thread. Thanks!