Doug MacLean, former NHL coach, general manager, team president, and
one of the game's biggest personalities, reveals how teams build for
greatness--or fail to--on hockey's most anticipated day. A Moneyball
for hockey.
The NHL draft is a critical time for teams, when the foundation for
future championships is laid--or when championship dreams die. Only time
will tell if a draft is successful, but a failed draft can severely set
teams back for seasons, much to the dread of ownership, management, and
most importantly, the fans.
For even the most die-hard hockey fan, the preparation for draft day is
a black box. Former president, general manager, and coach Doug MacLean
takes readers behind the scenes, from the 2022 draft in Montreal to
revealing draft stories from the past, to show how players are
discovered and evaluated to create successful teams.
Just as Moneyball illustrated the value of analytics in building teams
in baseball and beyond, Draft Day shows the careful considerations
that go into assessing talent for success. What is that balance in
today's game between metrics and instinct, between analytics and
traditional scouting? MacLean draws from his own career as well as
anecdotes from across the league to illustrate the hard-won lessons and
principles that lead to building successful teams. Hockey is big
business, and this book is an invaluable resource for any leader seeking
an edge for building resilient organizations.
Entertaining and informative, with never-before-told details from some
of the biggest moments in NHL history, Draft Day is for every hockey
fan who wonders how their team develops that hard-to-define winning
chemistry--or fails to, year after year.
