Scouting Staff Shuffled

The Edmonton Oilers have, yet again, decided to make an important announcement from within the organization. Late last night, news broke that the club had relieved director of amateur scouting, Stu MacGregor, and director of pro scouting, Morey Gare. The announcement comes almost exactly a week before the Oilers take the draft stage in South Florida next Friday. MacGregor joined the Oilers scouting staff way back in the year 2000 but it wasn’t until 2008 when he was appointed as the franchise’s director of amateur scouting, a position that he had held up to his firing. Gare, similar to MacGregor, has been with the club since 2001 and served as the director of pro scouting up until now. This move was not an easy one for the Oilers as these two individuals have been with the club for the better part of a decade. It may also stand as being one of the most overdue changes to the Oilers organization as the club has failed to yield outstanding results in the later rounds of the draft and have made some questionable decisions in their pro scouting. Joining the pair in the most recent round of firings are two unnamed amateur scouts. The replacements are not known at the moment but the expectation is that, director of player personnel, Bob Green will be handed more responsibility until suitable successors are found.

Weird timing isn’t it?

Well yes, I suppose that the timing does seem a little odd, given that the team is just a week away from what will be the most important draft day in franchise history. The way I see it is that, Chiarelli kept these guys so they could help fill him in on the team and their needs, after all, who would know the team better than these two individuals. Once he had a good hold on things, MacGregor and Gare didn’t hold any conceivable value in the eyes of PC. In regards to the draft being so close, it really is quite simple. Chiarelli obviously feels like the club has a solid plan of attack and that MacGregor and Gare’s services were no longer needed. A team’s Draft Day strategy is usually finalized weeks before the actual day of the draft. So, it really doesn’t matter that the Oilers will go into the draft without their scouting directors, as long as a plan is in place.

Ok. Well now what?

The Oilers are obviously going to have to find new scouting directors. Who they are, I honestly have no idea. The task will most likely be placed on the aforementioned Bob Green, as he basically in charge of overseeing both the amateur and pro side of scouting. My personal preference would be to find some experienced scouts with a proven record of successfully finding and developing talent, however, an interesting idea was brought to my mind when discussing this very topic. About one week ago it was reported that, former Oiler, Fernando Pisani would be interested in a job with the Oilers, if the opportunity presented itself. Pisani most recently coached the U of A Golden Bears to a CIS title and has been praised by many in the community for his ability to work with young players. The Oilers would never thrust Pisani into a “director” role but he could serve as filling in one of the vacant spots in the clubs amateur scouting. This move signifies that Chiarelli is starting to become more comfortable with the assets that the club employs as well as showing that he is recognizing the internal flaws of the team and taking immediate action, something that has not been done in Edmonton for a very long time.

The Oilers are finally turning the corner. Hitting the reset button, if you may. A new era of Oilers hockey is on the precipice and this is just the type of thing that needs to occur in order for a transition of this magnitude to be successfully achieved. A sudden resurgence of hope has jolted Oil Country, and I for one can’t wait for October.

UPDATE: The two other amateur scouts relieved of their duties are reportedly Brad Davis and Kent Hawley. The pair of scouts were in charge of covering the Ontario region.

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