Falconer's Interview with Dan Marr, Director of Scouting and Player Development

[Sourdoughkeeper]

Falconer interviewed Dan Marr and got some pretty good answers regarding some of the Thrashers' prospects in the CHL, NCAA, and Europe.

Pt. I

Dan Marr Interview Part I: Junior Prospect Review
by The Falconer on May 5, 2009 5:25 AM EDT Comment 2 comments

Introduction: I had the chance to talk with the Thrashers Director of Scouting and Player Development a few weeks ago at the U-18 Championships in Fargo, North Dakota. He began his Atlanta tenure as Head Scout in 1998 and was promoted to to his present position in 2003. Before that he worked as a scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Marr was kind enough to answer some questions about some of the Thrashers top prospects who have not yet arrived at the NHL or AHL level. Part 1 (below) covers the CHL prospects and Part II (Thursday) will focus on US college players and a few Europeans.

Bird Watcher's Anonymous: I think one guy that Atlanta fans are very curious about--because he is new to our system--is Eric O'Dell--the player acquired for Erik Christensen. I know that you added him late in the year--did you get a chance to see him play?

Dan Marr: Yes, I went and watched him in the playoffs, his team was taking on Belleville one of the top teams in the conference. Eric has tremendous hockey sense. He's a very smart player, always makes the right decisions and good plays. You will not see him throwing any 50/50 passes across the front of his own net. His skating is fine, he's got a good stride, but right now he's at that age where his frame is just not strong enough. What I find is that as they get stronger they get more confident--so his one-on-one game and his ability to get through traffic will improve. But right now he's got the hands and the hockey sense to be a real good play maker. And I think his shot could get a little better, but he has a decent finishing touch right now. Going forward as he gets stronger he will have more impact.

BWA: Given that he needs to add some strength is he a few years away from the NHL or is it possible he could come to NHL camp and push someone for a roster spot?

DM: That's not it normally works out, but we're going to be getting together with him in a little bit. We're going to bring him in in July to work with Ray Bear and emphasize our [training] philosophies. Hopefully he comes and has a good camp.

[Editorial Note: After I completed my interview with Don Waddell I asked him about the Erik Christensen trade. He expected Anaheim to refuse to part with O'Dell, and was pleased that they were willing to include him in trade talks.]

BWA: The other big scoring prospect you have in juniors is Esposito. He suffered a knee injury. Will he be 100% by fall camp?

DM: No. Going by what our doctors say it typically takes six months to fully recover from that injury--but everyone heals differently and they don't like to put dates on them. Some guys work harder--I know he was ahead in his rehab. Pretty soon he'll have a check up appointment with the surgeon before they let him advance to the next stage of rehab which will be more aggressive. Relying on what the doctors say, he's not going to be able to come and compete for a job at training camp because he just might not be ready yet.

BWA: He had a lot of pressure on him--especially surrounding the World Junior teams in the past. Since the Thrashers acquired him have you been pleased with his play. I read that Don told him "just go play hockey, don't worry about what people say."

DM: When we got him we tried to hit the floor running with him. We brought him down to Chicago. We spent time with him going through what he needed to do. It's not his fault that he was rated so high as a young player, but what happened was that he stayed at 170 lbs for two years and everyone else around him got stronger...he's now up to 185-190 lbs range and he came to NHL Training Camp stronger and more confident.

He had a heck of a camp. He went down and we told him "don't worry about carrying the team on your shoulders" "don't worry about leading the league in scoring" just go play the game and do all the little things right and learn the good habits--and he's received very good coaching in both Quebec and Montreal. He's shown that he listens, he's a good student and that he wants to be a good player.

When he went to Team Canada they looked at him--he's one of the tallest forwards on the team--and they wanted him to be physical. Well that's never been a requirement of his game before--it has always been his skill component. But he wanted to do whatever they needed him to do to make the team and he did that. Go ask ??? or Hedman about Esposito and they'll think he's a dirty player (chuckles). He's discovered that he can play that type of game too. I don't think he knew he could was capable of banging with people in that size class and that's really going to help him down the road.

BWA: Out in the Western Hockey League Paul Postma has put up some record numbers this season playing on a strong team. Is he the next Bobby Orr or should we temper our expectations a bit?

DM: Well, it is important how old he is. He's arguably the best defenseman on arguably the best team in the country. And again the coach there has really worked with him and Paul has bought into doing less to get more accomplished--getting the little details taken care of first--play defense first and the offense will take care of itself. He's always been good at handling the puck, he's always had a good shot, he's always been a strong skater. He has matured his game with experience--so now when he is at the offensive blueline he can really create some offensive opportunities. He's always been about to do that--but now he's learned how to play the game at the other end and he rarely makes a mistake.

BWA: One question in my mind is why was he such a late round pick? Was it because he is tall with a skinny build?

DM: He was with Swift Current and the coach there had other players he chose to play ahead of him, so he didn't play a lot in his draft year. What we saw was a big guy and could really skate and he was good with the puck. They all have to get stronger. The coach at Swift Current eventually traded him, he didn't seem to like him for whatever reason.

Pt. II

Dan Marr Interview Part II: College and European Prospect Review
by The Falconer on May 7, 2009 2:22 AM EDT Comment 0 comments

Introduction: In part 2 of the interview Dan Marr talks about a number of collegiate and European prospects. The selection of Daulton Leveille has been questioned by some people so I wanted to ask him how an organization handles scouting a talented player who plays in a lower tier league--and Marr has a pretty interesting answer. Another thing I should note is that tone of voice is impossible to transcribe and it seemed to me that Marr was particularly excited about the potential of John Albert who plays at Ohio State University right now. (Click here if you want to read Part 1 on the Thrashers junior prospects.)

BWA: In the college ranks, Alex Kangas had a bit of set back this year. Is this a case of Minnesota getting younger or just some struggles on his part?

DM: Well Minnesota was a young team last and they're still fairly young this year. So he may have played a bit over his head last year, but things catch up to you in your second year. Sometimes you can skip stuff along the way, but then it catches back up to you and it can be rather dramatic fall. He went from the penthouse to the outhouse, but he's a competitor and he worked his way out of it. He finished the year strong. From the end of January on he was back to being the guy that we know. It was just unfortunate that he got sick in the playoffs and he actually pulled himself and you never see anyone do that--but he knew he wasn't going to be helping his team [to stay in the game].

BWA: The Thrashers had two college rookies this year Vinny Saponari and Daulton Leveille. How were their rookie years in college?

Daulton Leveille had a good freshman year as far as we're concerned. He was the youngest player in the [CCHA] league. I hate to keep harping on the same thing, but he needs [to develop] more strength than most. We know that in four years he will--if he needs that long. We have a good history with Jimmy Slater and Colton Fretter working with the strength coach there. When they came to us both guys tested at the top of our conditioning measures. We know that it is good for hockey players.

We knew going in that he would play a lot at Michigan State--which he did. This was a big learning year for him to figure many things out. He had never been away from home before--it was a challenging year. I'll give him a lot of credit because he's mentally tough. There was a lot of adversity, a lot of things he had to change and adapt to and he never got down--he just applied himself and that's a good thing. He's still the player we drafted and he has a lot of potential. His speed is unbelievable and the scoring will come along--he gets tons of chances.

BWA: Is it fair to ask the question--what kind of player could he be at the NHL level--or is it too hard to tell?

DM: I don't like to make those comparisons, I'm not a big believer in labels and it can be unfair to the kid.

DM: Regarding Vinny [Saponari], the US program [USNDT] does a lot in terms of developing kids with respect to strength and conditioning. They teach kids a system--but sometimes in that system you're slotted into a role and it can be a limiting role. Now they're nothing the matter with that--because it's part of the program. Now we didn't see him staying in the same role that USA Hockey had him in. The BU program found other ways to use like on the Penalty Kill and they new he could play systems and that he was very responsible. He ended up getting more and more ice time as the season went on.

Vinny works, he knows how to battle, he knows how to get their first. He has a very strong game down low and ends up generating chances through his feet because he's willing to work and get to the puck first. I was really surprised when I ran into one of their coaches at BU and he was telling me they were pleasantly surprised at how much he brought to the team. The ice time that he got in the games I saw--well he played quite a bit--but it was great for them because they had a great ride and went all the way. They were a team of destiny this year. It was a great experience for a guy to have.

BWA: As a scout, is that an interesting conversation when it comes time to rank a guy like Daulton Leveille? You're got a late 1st round pick--should we use it on a relatively weak junior league against inferior competition--is that a tough call to evaluate a guy in that type of setting?

DM: To a degree. But he wasn't a secret. Everybody knew about him, he was very heavily scouted. Because of where I live I got to see him in a lot of games. I watched him in a number of playoff games. In that league he was the youngest player or second youngest player in his Junior B League. I would go watch him and in those small rinks he would take a beating from these older guys and still score some high light reel goals and some timely goals. So I wasn't so concerned about him being intimidated by older player because he had been doing that the entire time. The junior B leagues can by pretty rough and crude on these younger guys--and in the playoffs they were really going after him and it didn't phase him.

BWA: John Albert had a fine year at Ohio State. Were you pleased?

DB: Yes, he did. We have big expectations for him next year. He can be a real special player. They're another young team--it was unfortunate that they didn't go further in the playoffs--their sophomore class is tremendous--if they stick together they will be a really good junior class next year.

Johnny is an old fashioned hockey player. He has that knack for being in the right place at the right time. He knows what the situation calls for and he makes the plays. If it is the type of game where it is about speed and skill, if it is a game where you have to fight one-on-one battles to get through--he will grit it out. He's a little back of throw back--a natural--his hockey instincts are very natural.

BWA: Do you expect Albert and Leveille to stay in college for four years?

DM: We always tell our guys "take it one year at a time and if it makes sense then stay in school. Look at your situation." It is not our policy to go in and try and pull guys out of school. We want guys who are ready to contribute either in Chicago or Atlanta.The timing is a difficult decison to make but we try to err on the side of benefiting the player.

BWA: Lucenius had a pretty good World Juniors in terms of scoring. Did you get a chance to look at him in the regular season over in Europe?

DM: I watched him score his first league goal this season. Again, the hockey sense is one of his strongest features and I believe he was on the best centermen at winning faceoffs at World Juniors. He has to pick up his skating and he'll get a little stronger. A smart player who works and knows how to set up a chance.

BWA: Did you get a chance to look at Zubarev the Russian player in the KHL?

DM: No, but he's a competitive kid who plays a belligerent style. He doesn't want anyone to beat him one-on-one, he doesn't want anyone to get the better of him. He likes to get the last shot in--which gets him into penalty trouble--and the coaches don't like that. He's a bit of a free spirit out there. He'll take off with the puck. He cna play well at both bluelines and that's what I like about him.

BWA: Thank you for you time. I think you have a draft lottery to go watch now. [This interview was about 10 minutes before the Draft Order Drawing]