The Intangibles
Every team and dressing room needs it. Only certain players can ever bring it. You can’t win without it. Grit and character.
It’s easy to label or typecast certain players. As wrong as that might seem, it happens all the time.
To find a players true value and full potential, one has to project and accurately access the present and predict the future.
In some cases a player’s character, grit or their intangibles are undervalued and unappreciated by those on the outside looking in.
A player’s intangibles set them apart, they are the separator when things are close on the evaluation scale. Intangibles are the separator on draft day, in some cases they aren’t, but they always should be.
The 2024 QMJHL Draft Class has tons of players that possess the intangibles it takes to be a difference maker at the next level.
Again video isn’t always the best way to project and evaluate, but it’s the next best thing, and let me tell you the tape/video doesn’t lie.
A player’s subtle habits might be missed during the eye test or regular game play. Obviously, human nature and a multitude of players to evaluate and report on at one time, things can be missed, but with video it’s “oh I want to see that again.”
Good and bad tendencies jump off the page, just like a players intangibles.
Shift in shift out, InStat/Hudle and TPE gives the viewer a birds eye view of player tendencies and habits. It’s not the be all end all, but it’s pretty damn telling when you see a players habits. It’s those habits and the little things that they bring to the game and the team that matter and they matter more on draft day than people may think.
Teams go into the draft with their list/draft board and there’s very little deviation from that aside from trades of course, but there’s still some conversation around the draft table and usually it revolves around intangibles especially in the later rounds.
Obviously, every organization wants to hit on their draft picks, but the team to identify the players that possess the most skill and the intangibles it takes to win will always have the most success on draft day and beyond.
Are they Coachable?
One intangible that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough is receptivity.
Are young players receptive? Are they willing to be taught or coached?
Are young draft eligible players coachable?
That’s a phenomenal question and let’s hope that every organization across the QMJHL have asked during their predraft interview process.
You see U18 coaches never want to shit on their players because at the end of the day it’s a reflection on them, but that would be the first question I would ask a coach if I was doing a deep dive on a player that wanted to draft
Are they respective, do they listen and are they coachable?
You see that’s one question you have to ask, but one question you should never have to ask!
In this day and age, that question is perhaps the most important one of all, because they could be the most talented of players but be uncoachable.
That’s one area where the true eye test reigns supreme because video doesn’t provide that. Small interactions with the coach or teammates on the the bench is so telling when it comes to receptivity.
To all the young I coachable players out there, your lack of receptivity is noticeable, don’t let your attitude get in the way or sabotage your hockey dreams.
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