As the Ducks Director of Amateur Scouting for the past two decades, Martin Madden has been the man behind the building of the Ducks franchise through the Draft. For the past five years, Madden has also been the organization's Assistant General Manager and oversees all of the club’s scouting efforts (professional and amateur) while assuming an expanded role in a majority of hockey operations initiatives. He continues to evaluate top prospects throughout North America and attends all major European junior tournaments. He also plays a key role in producing the final prospect list leading up to the NHL Draft.
That of course includes Friday and Saturday's Draft in LA, and earlier this week Madden sat down with host Emerson Etem on the latest episode of Behind the Bench on Ducks Stream to discuss the team's preparation and some players they might be targeting with the 10th overall pick. Following is a portion of that interview:
On Draft week
Coming into this week our first three picks were 10, 60 and 72, so that's what we were really focusing on. Those were the picks that we had coming in. Now we've got an extra one [45th from the Ryan Poehling trade]. So this morning we addressed that. We went through our top 40 and we addressed any issues that were raised in those individual talks. So we'll all get together, everybody's in town, have a nice dinner, we get back at it [Thursday]. That morning we finish up digging down on the list for rounds four through seven. And then the last five or six years we've presented to Henry [Samueli], our top 30, top 32, depending on how many teams are in the first round. I'll be a little bit more relaxed [Thursday] night and then everybody gets up early on Friday, it's game day, nerves kick in a little bit, but we're prepared, have lunch together, go down to the venue and we let it happen.
On the NHL Combine
To me the fitness testing is more about getting a sense of where the players are at this point. Some guys do stand out as elite athletes right away, but over the years I think we've come to the conclusion that it's more about self-awareness when we've met them earlier in the week and during Combine week. Do they understand where they are and does that match with the results we see at the end of the week once they've tested. Do they understand how much work they need to put in over the next four years, five years? And at the same time, those that are already physically mature and ready to go, well, where are they going to get better? What is it about them that will help them continue to adapt to the next level and how are they going to do that? And obviously the medical portion is really important because you want to be aware. Injuries do happen, but you want to make sure that you know the risk of injuries that have happened in the past. You don't want to put yourself in a situation where you're dealing with something that you can't do anything about medically.
On getting a second round pick in the Poehling trade
I think what we do well as a group on the amateur side is understanding that draft market really well and we strategize around it for sure. It brings us into a different group taking player at 45 versus 60. So that is exciting, and with an extra pick in that area, it also gives us flexibility to maybe try to move up and get into a different grouping.
On the organization’s draft style
It's such a long road to being an NHL player from the time you're drafted that best available player [vs. positional needs] is what we go for. But what does that mean? It can mean a lot of things to different people. So we do have our values, we do have things that we look for in players, and depending on where we are in the cycle and how many picks we've had before, then need can become a factor. You draft four or five years in top 10, then you've drafted a certain type of player, now you need some other type of player that you need to look at it because you know that player will be part of the Ducks. You're not just hoping that it turns out.
On using advanced stats
We're trying to standardize that. The issue becomes the history that we have. You want to use stats to predict, because you can describe all you want. We're in the business of predicting how good a player is going to become. So to do that, you need a dataset that is large enough, that goes back in time long enough to be able to do that. So we're building that. We're accumulating knowledge over the years. I would say as of now, we look at the same dataset, pros and amateurs, but we'll see what turns out to be more predictive for us as we gain more knowledge and we study that dataset more.
On potential first round picks, starting with center Caleb Desnoyers
Caleb can play all types of games. He played for Canada at the U-18s in the summer and actually last year as an underage, and he can play a heavy game as well. He's very versatile. Another smart two-way player that brings a level of skill that will see him drafted early.
On center Roger McQueen
Roger's had a tough two years with injuries, and he's really happy to have been able to put that behind him. He's fully healthy now. Met him at the Combine. He was really happy to be able to test fully there. He’s a big, skilled, smart player. He's got a nice future.
On center Jake O'Brien
Jake, he's a playmaker. They used him 25, 28 minutes a night (at Brantford of the OHL) in all situations. Really smart player. Really, really skilled player. Some of the same skill you saw in Beckett's game. Jake's got that. Physically, he's got some ways to go, but really smart player.
On winger Porter Martone
Saw him with the World Junior team, a big power forward who can shoot the puck. He's a scorer. He likes to play the game inside.
On defenseman Radim Mrtka
Adam is a really big Czech right defenseman. Started the year in Czech Republic at the pro level. Finished it in Seattle where he played a lot of minutes and improved his Draft stock. He's a good two-way defenseman.
On defenseman Kashawn Aithceson
He likes the physical game. He likes to set the tone early. He likes to set the tone early, and he scored 26 goals. He can really shoot the puck. He's got good offensive instincts and he defends with intensity.
On center Brady Martin
He’s another one we saw at the U-18s Canadian team. He’s a step up, really physical two-way player. Really good shot. Another good player.
On last year taking Beckett Sennecke earlier than expected
Ten years from now it won't matter, but I would be lying if I said we don't strategize around [Central Scouting rankings]. So we do gather info, we do dig in, and depending on the situation, we'd be willing to trade back if we were sure that we're getting good probability of being able to select the same player. I could go back to the [Rickard] Rakell, [John] Gibson, William Carlsson draft year. We traded down because we thought we could get two of those players for sure. We ended up getting three, and they were our targets. In the case of Beckett, our understanding was that we could not take that risk. That's the player we had targeted, and we could not afford to play around with that.
On fellow 2024 first round pick Stian Solberg
I think it's interesting, it speaks to the non-direct trajectory of player development and Stian was playing his first year in the SHL this year, and had to acquire a new coach's trust, and it was up and down in that respect in terms of his time on ice early in the year. But clearly his confidence was never affected and he continued to play his game regardless of how much he was used. And we saw the result of that in San Diego, and then he goes to the World Championships and he is even better than he was last year at those World Championships. So I think it speaks to his character, his mindset and his inner belief confidence in his own game basically. I think we can expect big things from Stian in the future. Another defenseman who had a really strong breakout season was Tarin Smith in Everett. We’re really, really excited about what's coming from him. He's further away because physically he's not where Stian is. Stian is close to being physically ready to play in the NHL. Tarin's going to take a little longer. He's got to put some muscles on, add some mass, but he's got great hockey sense, mobility, nice touch with the puck. It was a really good year for him.
