Draft Day: How Hockey Teams Pick Winners or Get Left Behind

by Doug MacLean, Scott Morrison

Doug MacLean, former NHL coach, general manager, team president, and one of the game’s biggest personalities, reveals how teams build for greatness—or fail to—on hockey’s most anticipated day. A Moneyball for hockey.

The NHL draft is a critical time for teams, when the foundation for future championships is laid—or when championship dreams die. Only time will tell if a draft is successful, but a failed draft can severely set teams back for seasons, much to the dread of ownership, management, and most importantly, the fans.

For even the most die-hard hockey fan, the preparation for draft day is a black box. Former president, general manager, and coach Doug MacLean takes readers behind the scenes, from the 2022 draft in Montreal to revealing draft stories from the past, to show how players are discovered and evaluated to create successful teams.

Just as Moneyball illustrated the value of analytics in building teams in baseball and beyond, Draft Day shows the careful considerations that go into assessing talent for success. What is that balance in today’s game between metrics and instinct, between analytics and traditional scouting? MacLean draws from his own career as well as anecdotes from across the league to illustrate the hard-won lessons and principles that lead to building successful teams. Hockey is big business, and this book is an invaluable resource for any leader seeking an edge for building resilient organizations.

Entertaining and informative, with never-before-told details from some of the biggest moments in NHL history, Draft Day is for every hockey fan who wonders how their team develops that hard-to-define winning chemistry—or fails to, year after year.

Genres: Sports, Hockey, Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

Published October 3, 2023

Reviews

[Dylan Short · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book but was hoping for more insights into the actual draft process rather than stories about high profile picks

[Chantal Côté · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start by saying I enjoy hockey and all books related to hockey! Although this was not what I thought it would be, I still enjoyed it. I thought I was going to read a documentary about what happened behind the scenes at the 2022 draft in Montreal. Instead, it was more a recollection of the authors drafts in all of his career.

I specifically enjoyed the chapter on analytics, and what role it actually plays in drafting. The chapter on the Lindros trade was also interesting, as was the explanation on the draft lottery and how the Penguins ended up big winners.

Being a Montréal Canadiens fans, It was good to read the comments about the 2022 draft.

The author often cites Brian Burke. It would have been good to have more hockey GMS comment on the « science » of drafting and their personal stories.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me a complimentary e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Trevor Franklin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, I found it a page turner. The only thing I will say is if you go in expecting the book to solely be talking about the draft, scouting, the war room and behind the scene information you'll probably be disappointed. The first half of the book is pretty much just an autobiography of Doug's life which I found really interesting and the last half goes into the draft and what happens from his perspective as someone who's worked as a GM for many years. Overall I found the stories really interesting and I learned some new stuff about what all goes into the draft from the perspective of a NHL executive.

[Bryson Boddy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just couldn’t get through this one. This book doesn’t even know what it is. It’s not a biography, or a collection stories, but the author clearly only knows how to write in that vain. He doesn’t explain any concepts in a literal sense, but rather provides examples or uses stories. If you’re hoping to learn something from this book you’ll be consistently frustrated. The author would be much better if hopping on an episode of spittin chiclets instead. Just clearly not a writer attempting to make a book for the hell of it.

[Julia Chenoweth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely expected a Malcolm Gladwell kind of analysis of the NHL draft. Or at the very least an insider look into the draft. Rather, this is few hundred pages of ranting and rambling about various players the author drafted, didn’t draft or lived during the draft of. Very boring but easy read I suppose.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book! Lots of great anecdotes and insider information. Goes in depth through the Lindros trades that didn't happen!

[Benjamin Lajoie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perspective on the draft is very nice, plus the storytelling of his time with the Blue Jackets is really interesting!

[Aliasgar Moosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed it.

[Malcolm McKay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential reading to understand how NHL teams pick players as new entrants. The author has a lot of intriguing and informative stories and he tells them in an engaging and accessible way.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think there are some fallacies in this book when it comes to drafting. There's a chapter on how all Stanley Cup winners have at least 10 or 12 players that were drafted by that team. But that falls apart when you look at the last two Cup winners. Also, how many NHL teams have at least 10 players they drafted on their squad? 90 per cent? Odds are, a team winning the Cup will have their own drafted players. But the book never gets into any of this.

I also feel like this doesn't really tell you how hockey teams pick winners. It's more of a history of his drafts, but Columbus didn't have the greatest success in drafting.

I also feel like the same sentences are repeated, like they were trying to meet a word count.

I think the book would have been better off in chronological order of his drafts instead of moving around all over the place. And talk about each of his team's draft picks, why they chose them, and why they passed on others. He mentions several times about late round picks who turned out to be solid NHL players. Why didn't Columbus draft those players?

[Corey Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be quite bland. I was expecting a lot more about the behind scenes of teams drafting players and while that gets talked about some, most of the book is personal stories. I’m sure of the points this book was trying to get across but it basically confirmed what I’ve always thought about when it comes to drafting and that’s that most of it is luck. There are chapters about how teams rely on analytics too much. There is also a chapter about how teams took a number one pick that turned into a bus because they looked good. There is a chapter about how sometimes you get lucky. There is a chapter about how drafting good players it’s important (duh?). The author talks about how sometimes you just know a player is going to be great. How do you know? You just know. I also found it repetitive and I’ll try not to do the same with my review. If you love the Columbus Blue Jackets - read this book. If you don’t - maybe give this one a pass.

[Jacob Peterson · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the worst GMs in NHL history. For a book all about the Draft he doesn’t take much accountability for his miserable draft record, or share many in depth stories.

A lot of the book reads just like a Wikipedia article and isn’t even from MacLean’s own perspective. He spends a lot of time quoting other GMs and hockey personnel instead of just sharing his own insights. I swear there are almost as many Brian Burke quotes in this book as there are Doug MacLean quotes!

There are a few decent stories and tidbits in there if you’re a Blue Jackets fan, so I’ll give it 2 stars instead of one. But not a great read.

[Mat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is pitched on the jacket as a book about the importance and strategy of the draft and even uses Moneyball as a comparable. But this book is nothing like Moneyball and is basically Doug MacLean's memoir about his time in hockey, with an emphasis on the draft. It's notat all what I was expecting based on the preview on the jacket but as a hockey fan who vividly remembers the 2000-2020 period that is mostly the focus of the book, I still found it interesting.
One annoyance was that it was a little repetitive, with some anecdotes being repeated 2-3 times throughout the book.

[Chase Wilkinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so excited to pick up this book as an analysis on “How Hockey Teams Pick Winners” as a sort of hockey alternative to Moneyball. Disappointingly, there were no analytics or really analyses of any kind aside from “the draft is important.” This book turned out to be a transaction log of NHL teams in the seasons leading up to their cup wins, with a couple of personal, hardly-related interjections by the author. Save yourself the time and click through the Hockey-Reference page of any cup winners you’re interested in.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not moneyball for hockey - or even what scouts look for. Really this is more like an unchronological memoir of his time around the NHL. There were plenty of stories about players, their drafts and backroom trades to keep me interested, and the "Last Words" chapter was a great one. But there was too much whining about the draft process and how Columbus got screwed and too much about Brian Burke when you could read his own book.
If you love hockey - you will enjoy this enough to finish it. If you want some analysis and facts - this is not your book.

[Enid Wray]

I read the Introduction and Chapter One. Decently enough written and will definitely appeal to “every hockey fan who wonders how their team develops that hard-to-define winning chemistry—or fails to, year after year.” (Publisher blurb).

I am not that person - so I will withhold a score. I’m sure that if you are really into the game, you’ll find this enjoyable enough to satisfy.

Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for granting me early access to a digital review copy.

[Louis Yank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine look at front-office life in the NHL. It is unfortunately a personal story and not really anything like Moneyball (although it is mentioned in a chapter that sort of craps on it). MacLean’s biases shine through, and there are a few factual errors and typos. Kind of disappointing. To top it all off, most of the quotes are from other boys club members, specifically Brian Burke. I was going to read Burke’s law but this book makes me feel like I already did.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first fives chapters provided only one big take away: Stanley Cup winning teams have at least 10 homegrown draft picks—that’s the value of draft picks. Starting with chapter six, the book finally got interesting. How the draft works, how drafts and trades work together, how scouting functions, and how stats and analytics integrate with eyewitness evidence from scouts.

All in all, a decent hockey read for the start of the season.

[James Boyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable hockey book with lots of good stories. It isn't as polished as one would expect and there is quite a lot of repetition but it was worth the read for most hockey fans who want a bit more of a loot behind the curtain. This is a bit more of a memoir than I expected given the subtitle, but Doug MacLean is an interesting guy with lots of insight into the hockey world so provided plenty of enjoyable commentary on his and other teams draft picks.

[Junior · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting behind the scenes tea spilling about the Lindros draft and how the double-trade debacle happened. A frank chapter on the shortcomings of Zherdev. No real insight on how NHL teams do, or should, select their draftees. Really just a pedestrian and not particularly well-written recitation of MacLean's path through a life in hockey.

Calling this a "Moneyball" for hockey is just grotesque

[Glen House · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the topic of this book and there were some really good stories in here. However, at times, the book felt like more of a stream of consciousness than a structured book about HOW hockey teams pick winners. I would have liked to have learned a little more about the nuts and bolts of the draft and what went into their selections. Like I said, it's a good book, with good stories, and pretty entertaining. If you are a hockey fan, you will enjoy the book.

[Dave Roller · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to enjoy this book. It did not live up to my expectations. While there are some pretty good anecdotes about life as an NHL GM they are very disjointed. My interest waned with every passing chapter. I wish instead of reading this, I would have re-watched the Costner film of the same name about the NFL draft, and reread The Boys of Winter by Wayne Coffey about the 1980 gold medal winning U.S. hockey team.

[Roy Penney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was fortunate enough to get an advance copy of this book and I enjoyed it. It is full of fun, interesting stories from the draft and a surprisingly amount of informative detail about exactly how a draft (and really how a whole NHL organization) is structured. If you’re looking for a present for a hockey fan in Christmas 2023, this will do the trick.

[Kevin Dillman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was an easy read. If you have read draft related books before you will find that most of the content in this book was done before so it wasn’t new to my self. I do like Doug MacLean and think he is a straight shooter and you get honest answers from him. If you have never read a draft book before you should find this book to be more interesting.

[Jack Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly what I was looking for when I read hockey books and want to learn about the workings of the NHL draft. However not my favourite sport book of all time so I will give it a 4 star. I would still like to find a draft book that is even more informative about trading and war rooms, versus stories of the person who wrote the book but it had some great insights.

[Victor Saville · Rating 4 out of 5]

decent enough hockey book. heard some of the stories before and it was interesting to hear them from a different perspective, often the principles involved which was great. Some new stories were added which was fun and some excellent analysis of the skill and luck involved in the draft. Overall a recommended read.

[Frank Leblanc · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing style is very informal, which I like and hate at the same time. It feels like you're sitting at the table with a former NHL GM, but it can lend itself to confusion sometimes. All in all, a very solid book and a very insightful behind the scene look at a GM's life, especialy with regards to the draft.

[Carolyn Gleeson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The organization of this book was haphazard with anecdote after anecdote in various points at time or with different teams, but an interesting look at the whole draft process and how it is often resistant to change (the use of analytics, etc). A few good lessons for younger players and parents about the process.

[Connor Fortin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing story that gives an expert perspective into the world of the MHL draft and gives so much insight into the rich world it lives in. The writing style was informal enough that I felt like I had a close friend telling me about his work experience. This is a great recommendation for anyone who’s loves hockey and can gain to learn the business behind the sport.

[Brent Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the other reviewing this one.
A good ready but was expecting more insight as to the trials and tribulations of what actually happens on Draft Days.
Yes lots of good notes about the writers days as a GM and his work. Expected this to be the book version of the Draft Day football movie. More of the stress and mechanics of the day.