Building The List: How NHL teams build their draft board each season

Scott Harris spent 17 years in the NHL, holding a range of management and scouting roles with the Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, and Colorado Avalanche. Most recently, he served as Director of Scouting Operations for the Avalanche, leading their draft operations for the 2023 and 2024 NHL Drafts.

Seventeen years in the NHL — with the Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, and Colorado Avalanche  — and each draft season still sparks the same thing it always did: passion. 

Passion for the process, for the hunt, for the chance to help build something great. That passion, I’ve learned, is the common thread through every role — from regional scouts to cross-over staff, to directors and general managers. Building the list begins there.

You don’t last in this business without it. The travel, the sacrifice, the cold rinks and late nights — it’s all driven by passion. At the regional level, scouts are grinding, building their files, and pushing players forward. Cross-over scouts begin connecting the dots. Directors bring it together and structure the approach. Everyone has a role, but the goal is shared: build a list you believe in.

There’s an art and a discipline to the process. Teams may approach it slightly differently, but the core remains. Regional scouting reports feed the system. Cross-over evaluations bring comparison and context. Meetings align the vision. Debates sharpen the rankings. From August to June, the work is constant. But structure brings clarity — and clarity breeds confidence.

Each member of the staff has a defined responsibility, and communication is what ties it all together. You have to be clear on who’s watching what, when, and how that information is being passed along. Whether it’s a regional scout in Sweden or a cross-over checking in on the WHL, every voice matters — and every observation feeds into the master list.

The most important thing? Get in the rinks. There’s no substitute for it. Feel the game. See how a player carries themselves on a Tuesday night in a half-empty building. That’s where true evaluation happens. The foundation still starts in person — and everything else supports that work.

Modern scouting has evolved. It’s no longer just about what you see live. Video and analytics are major contributors. Player information is gathered across multiple departments. Player interviews and related staff inquiries, medical evaluations, strength and conditioning testing, psychological and performance assessments — they all play a role. It’s about building a complete profile, from every angle, and weighing the value of each as you move players up or down the list.

Whether your team has a full set of picks, just one, or sees the board shift through trades — whether you’re adding picks, losing them, or moving up or down — the work doesn’t change. 

You don’t prepare less. You don’t take shortcuts. Because you never know which pick might be the one that makes the biggest impact. The process stays consistent, right up until draft day decisions begin.

The job of the scouting and support staff is simple: get the list right — to the best of your ability. Stack the names in a way that you can defend. That you believe in. It’s not easy. It’s not a science. But if you do the work, debate the tough ones, and stay honest, you’ll give your team a real chance.

Management’s job is to make the picks — to execute based on the information and structure that’s been built. You trust the list. You don’t step off it. That trust is earned in the months leading up to the draft, and it has to be in place by the time the list is finalized. The work, the collaboration, and the preparation that go into building the list are what allow decisions to be made with clarity and conviction when it matters most.

You can’t fake this. You can’t rely on shortcuts or assumptions. Players evolve. Context changes. A good list takes time, commitment, and experience. It’s a job that requires full buy-in — and if you do it right, you’ll lessen the misses and increase the hits, whether it’s the top of the first round or the end of the seventh.

I’ve worked for five general managers, multiple directors, and had the privilege to lead the draft process myself. Every draft is different — different needs, different personalities, different pressures. But the one constant in every successful year has been attention to detail, hard work, and communication from start to finish.

The amateur scouts and the draft are the foundation of an NHL organization. They are the gatekeepers. The draft is where it all begins. Is there luck involved? Absolutely. But preparation, communication, and passion put you in a position to earn that luck. That’s how you build a list — and that’s how you build a team.