Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen tosses out some names to watch in the Red Wings’ general managerial search:
Tyler Dellow (Carolina). Sam Ventura (Buffalo). Darren Yorke (Carolina). Brett Peterson (Florida). Those are only some of the assistant general managers known for being strong on analytics or running a quality analytics department. That’s important because Detroit Free Press sportswriter Helene St. James reports the Red Wings are looking at hiring someone with an analytics reputation as a possible director of hockey operations. According to St. James’ report, the Red Wings have hired an outside company to screen candidates.
It’s unclear whether Red Wings have decided on a single hire or a two-person leadership tandem like the Detroit Tigers have with President of Hockey Operations Scott Harris above general manager Jeff Greenberg. The Tigers seem to have an exceptional analytics structure.
Greenberg came to the Tigers after serving as associate general manager for the Chicago Blackhawks. One theory around the league is Greenberg might end up with some role in the revamped Red Wings management.
The NHL is not as analytics driven as major league baseball, but analytics has had an increasing role in hockey. Coaches use analytics in determining line combinations and defensive pairings. Analytics are used in assessing trade possibilities. More data is always good. But the intangibles remain important in the NHL, building team culture, leadership and chemistry remain important to the winning process. Analytics help less in those areas. That’s why the Red Wings may hire go with an old school person combined with an analytics savvy executive.
