Photo credit: Dave Sandford

By Regan Bartel

RocketFAN speaks with NHLCS's Dan Marr

NHL Central Scouting high on three Rockets

Jan 31, 2023 | 6:00 AM

Had Kelowna Rockets forward Andrew Cristall been healthy enough to play in last week’s NHL/CHL Top Prospects Game in Langley, the 17-year-old would have been line-mates with Regina Pats forward Connor Bedard.

That nugget from Dan Marr, the Director of NHL Central Scouting, who spoke exclusively with RocketFAN following the high-profile event of draft-eligible players.

Bedard, in case you have spent the last two years on a deserted island or under a rock with no communication to the outside world, is the consensus number-one pick for June’s NHL Draft, and will undoubtedly lead the Western Hockey League in scoring this season.

Marr wanted to see what kind of magic the two childhood friends could create by playing with each other.

“We wanted him to be 100% for games in February and March”, Marr admitted. “He gets it. We would have liked to have him play in the game. We had him with [Connor] Bedard and that would have been a little bit of fun.

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“I told him [Cristall], he has the NHL Combine to look forward to. The thing with Andrew, he plays the game the same way, shift-to-shift, so the NHL clubs know what he is all about, and playing in the prospects game wouldn’t have made that much of a difference.”

That said, “It would have been interesting if he wanted to send a message”, Marr said with a smirk on his face.

The Kelowna Rockets’ leading scorer, who has missed the last eight games with an injury, was a ‘B’ prospect when NHL Central Scouting first released its Players to Watch List back in October.

The slick skating forward was then upgraded six weeks later to an ‘A’ prospect.

Why the change of heart?

“He was one of those guys we had in that bubble category after the summertime”, Marr said honestly. “What we don’t like to do is start a guy too high and then downgrade them. With some guys, honestly, you want to make them earn it.”

While the Rockets have two top 40 players in Cristall and teammate Caden Price on its roster for the draft, they don’t play on a wildly talented team.

Does that hinder them or help them?

“That comes under the intangibles with a player”, Marr added. “You can see mannerisms in players, whether they have a more selfish outlook on the play or whether they are motivated by how the team is having success during the game or if the plays are working.

“I always tell the players, if the scouts go to the game and you are one of the hardest working players, you are making things happen and are generating chances, good things will happen if you play the game that way.”

Price played in the Prospects Game, where he had the quickest time in backward skating during testing and placed fourth in forward skating among the 40 prospects.

While some scouts would like to see the Saskatoon, resident increase his physical presence on the ice, Marr says that side of his game will evolve in time.

“He is a big enough guy, but we tend to forget he isn’t physically mature”, Marr added. “When you put in that good summer where you get a lot stronger, you go out there with that confidence in your strength, you go into battles, so you are projecting it [physicality] will come along in his game, but at the end of the day, if you have to make a spot on an NHL roster and push comes to shove, you better be doing both if you want to get that job.”

Players can get drafted at 19, despite being overlooked in both their 17 and 18-year-old seasons.

Rockets Captain Gabriel Szturc is gaining interest in his play, so much so, NHL Central Scouting has identified him as a player that teams should consider.

“I think the trend is going to continue where more 19-year-old players are going to get taken’, Marr told RocketFAN. “There is still a COVID after-effect where his age group in particular, missed a lot of playing time.

“We are paying close attention to him. Any player who has a good world junior, he is going to get that little extra benefit of the doubt.

Szturc has 46 points in just 34 games, which is five more points than he had in 67 games last season.

“If he has a strong finish to the season in Kelowna, it only takes one of the 32 teams to take an interest in you, and then you get your opportunity”, Marr concluded.