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Maritime based NHL scouts will have the luxury of being close to home for at least half of the upcoming QMJHL season.

Some of the hardest working people in the game of hockey will obviously not be allowed to travel into Quebec, Ontario or up and down the Eastern sea board for quite sometime.

How will they effectively project the games future stars?

That’s easy, they will improvise, adapt and overcome.

The Maritimers who work at hockey’s highest level projecting the games next future stars will definitely look for more innovative ways to evaluate and project in 2020-2021.

The QMJHL might seem like the main focus for scouts in this region, but that’s certainly not the case.

From thousands of Kilometres a year on their cars to crossover trips to the OHL and the WHL, to scouting US College Maritime scouts are always on the move.

Scouts from this region will undoubtedly get creative to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to projecting the next crop of NHL Draft Prospects.

Obviously, there’s no substitute to a live “in house” eye test from a scouting perspective, but that certainly won’t be the case this season.

NHL scouts will definitely be glued to their computer screens to rewatch and study game tape from Quebec based teams on their off days.

They will probably conduct more Zoom interviews than in person one on one meetings throughout the season.

With the 2020 NHL Entry Draft being pushed back, NHL scouts will have to do double duty for the first part of the season.

With only three possible Maritime games being played at once NHL scouts from this region will key in on back to back scenarios in certain cities to maximize their evaluations.

There’s a sense that preseason games if allowed to played at all will also be well attended by scouts.

NHL scouts do make notes on elite level underagers so there’s no question they are very familiar with draft eligible players this year, but a lot can happen with a full five months of training.

Scouts from this region will know the six Maritime based teams very well given the circumstances and travel restrictions that look to be in place until at least Christmas.

Familiarity is great, but it can also have some draw backs.

Scouts will have to remain objective while not keying in too heavily on certain minor weaknesses of draft eligible players.

Don’t worry all of the Maritime based NHL scouts are true pros and they will get it right.

NHL teams have certainly done a phenomenal job selecting their scouts from the Maritimes.

Some of the best hockey minds from this region are living out their childhood dreams working in the National Hockey League.

Practice, You Talking Practice?

Yes that’s right, we are talking about practice.

Maritime based QMJHL teams will no doubt see a surge in their practice attendance with NHL scouts zeroing in on the intangibles seldom discussed like practice habits and work ethic especially when the spotlight isn’t as bright.

Some of the best NHL scouts from this region and abroad are regulars at practice.

As we have all come to find out during these uncertain times, there’s no place like home.

Staying close to home will take on a different complexion this hockey season for Maritime based NHL scouts.

There’s no question they will be very well equipped to make the appropriate adjustments to excel in the scouting world.

The hard work never ends in the highly competitive professional yet very friendly Maritime NHL scouting fraternity.