The Detroit Red Wings’ amateur scouting director talks about the importance of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup to the scouting community and what fans in Edmonton can expect this summer
Jason La Rose
July 24, 2024
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The 2024 NHL Draft is done, Canada Day has come and gone and the temperatures are pushing 30 degrees, but one of the hottest events on the international hockey calendar is just over two weeks away.
The 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup begins Aug. 5, bringing the future stars of the game to Edmonton.
In the lead up to puck drop at Rogers Place, HlinkaGretzkyCup.ca had an opportunity to talk to Kris Draper, assistant general manager and director of amateur scouting with the Detroit Red Wings, about the event and its importance to scouts.
HGC: Why is the Hlinka Gretzky Cup an important event for scouts?
KD: Every director of amateur scouting is there, tons of scouts, and there are a lot of general managers. When you go to the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, it’s a great way to start the scouting season. You get to see the players, you get to see where they’re going to be playing [in the lineup] and you get an opportunity to know which prospects you’re going to be chasing in the upcoming season. It’s always a lot of fun to watch these kids.
It’s a great opportunity for Canada to send their best, because it’s different for Canada at the U18 Worlds [in the spring], because the CHL playoffs are going on. So that’s not always an opportunity to see Canada’s top, top players play in an international event, but at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup you do, and that’s something that you enjoy going to see [as a scout].
HGC: Most of these players are the best on their club teams, so how important is it to see how players fit in different roles and different situations?
KD: You get to see how these players respond moving up and down the lineup. And chances are some of these prospects will be playing different positions as well. They might be a natural centre, and with the depth of centre at international events, they might have to move to the wing. So you get to see the versatility of some of these prospects, which is great.
HGC: As a scout, how important to set a baseline for the upcoming season?
KD: It’s one tournament in August, so it’s certainly not going to make or break a prospect. But these players want to have a great showing. They know the Hlinka Gretzky Cup is watched by every single organization. They know that general managers are there, assistant general managers, amateur scouting directors, a lot of scouts. So, it’s a great opportunity for them right off the bat to show who they are and what they’re made of. For us, it’s just seeing what they’re all about, seeing how they play, how they compete. And then from there, you start tracking them come fall in September.
HGC: How much of this tournament is confirming what you maybe already know about a player, versus trying to find that diamond in the rough?
KD: Whether it’s Sweden, Finland, Czechia, the U.S.… we know they’re bringing their top players, but some of these players we might not have seen them play that much in their underage year, and now all of a sudden you get to see them. Maybe they didn’t have an opportunity to play in an international event. Maybe they had a bit of a growth spurt. Maybe it’s what they do, how they train off the ice, how they prepare, how they get ready, and now they’re setting themselves up and they know how important this year is. They know how important the draft year is. These young prospects want to make a statement right off the bat. And that’s really what this tournament is for them, to give them the opportunity to do that. And that’s the fun part. You get to see a lot of the high-end players, but all of a sudden you kind of get to see some guys like, ‘You know what? This kid’s pretty good.’ And you get to talk to your scouts when you get to follow up with them and say, ‘Hey, did you expect this kid to be this good?’ Those are fun conversations to have, and then you start tracking them.
HGC: The Stanley Cup Final between the Panthers and the Oilers included 20 tournament alumni. What does that say about the calibre of hockey that will be on the ice this summer?
KD: It speaks volumes to exactly what the tournament is. We’ve talked about it, the best on best. When we went through the combine [in June], you know that you’re sitting there with these players across the table and you’ve seen the majority of them at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. And here they are going from that tournament all the way through the process, probably to the IIHF U18 World Championship and then heading to Vegas for the NHL Draft. When you have the countries that are there and the players that represent their countries in this tournament, that’s a great number and it just speaks volumes.
HGC: What do Edmonton fans need to know about the hockey that’s going to be on the ice at Rogers Place this summer?
KD: I think you just summed it up with what you said about 20 alumni playing in the Stanley Cup Final. It just shows you how good this tournament is. And there’s a reason why all the scouts and general managers come to this event; they want to have the opportunity to see the players that they’re going to be tracking, basically from August until May. And anytime Canada can send their best players, it’s always a great event to be able to watch that. So, there’s going to be some great hockey players. We know that. It’s going to be competitive. These prospects take a lot of pride in how they play the game when they put their country’s jersey on. Come and watch all these names that you’re going to be hearing a year from now for next year’s draft. It’s a great event and a great week of hockey.
Single-game tickets are now on sale, beginning as low as $20 a game, with multiple ticket package options also available. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit HlinkaGretzkyCup.ca .
