WHL Prospects Draft Preview: Scout’s Edition (Part 4)
The 2024 WHL Prospects Draft Preview Presented by Windsor Plywood Prince Albert continues with Part 4. Today, we’re learning more about Saskatchewan Regional Scout and former Prince Albert Raider, David Neilson.
“This is my second season with the Raiders,” Neilson said. “Previous to that I worked with Victoria since 2015. My role is basically to have a handle on the Western Hockey League and of the teams and players in it. Have a working knowledge of every player in the WHL. When we do our evaluations and look at trades and stuff like that, it’s adding another set of eyes and opinions for Curtis (Hunt) if he asks for it.
“I also support the bantams for the draft and the U18 players. I’m kind of all over, but my travel is pretty easy as far as when I talk about the WHL. I’ll watch everything that comes through Saskatoon, and if there’s a special assignment somewhere in Saskatchewan I’ll do that too. When I support the bantams, it’s just going to the major tournaments in the province.”
Neilson’s path to becoming a scout for the Raiders is a fascinating one. As a former Raider, who’s tenure with the club went from 1988-92, he said it was hard to stay away from a team that stuck with him for his entire WHL career.
“I’ve gone through the WHL and I’m a former Raider, I played my whole career there. It was always a means to get on the other side of the hockey operations and staying connected in the game and staying involved. You’re passionate as a hockey player, and that doesn’t leave you once you’re done playing. That drew me to get involved in the hockey operations side of things. With my family situation with three kids, it made the most sense to be a regional scout, to stay connected, while being able to balance work and life. And it’s pretty easy to come back to the team you played for, and to want to help them get better.”
Neilson made his debut with the Raiders just a few years after the club captured their first WHL Championship and only Memorial Cup. Adopting the same Raider culture that is embedded in the history of the franchise, he explained further what he looks for in a player. There are certain qualities that all scouts look for, but in Neilson’s case, there are more specific traits.
“On the ice, when you speak to the Raider culture and how it has evolved from the 80’s and 90’s, you have to care about winning and losing. You have to adopt that team first mentality. It doesn’t matter who you are, whether you’re a top end player to more of a role player; everyone has a role, everyone has to play hard and be hard to play against. That’s the culture of Prince Albert. You have those fans that expect a winner, and those are the types of players that I look for and gravitate to.
“Nowadays to me, being hard to play against translates to high end skill, pace, compete, all those things that we as a scouting staff speak of day in and day out. Puck possession and being very tenacious and having energy. Back in the day we’d call it having some greasiness to you and some toughness and grit. That’s changed over the years because all of the fighting and physical play has kind of taken the back seat, where the skill is starting to take over. Being hard to play against now means a couple of different things, whether it’s having that skill set, being able to skate and having a good game sense. But just having a hard work ethic: that’s a Raider. I think we do a really good job of dissecting those qualities in a player. The players that we draft, we’re confident that they’re going to be Raiders.”
Neilson mentioned the balance he has been able to make between his work and family life, and once summer rolls around, he can put his focus solely on his wife and kids during the offseason. Whether it includes travelling for a holiday or travelling for more sports, he explains how his summers usually look.
“For my wife and family, it’s whatever the kids are doing in their sports. Sports are year-round nowadays, so it’s mostly focused on that. We’ve got three daughters. The oldest is playing soccer, and the middle one is volleyball. The youngest is actually soccer and volleyball. She watched the older two in their sports and wants to do both. They’re athletes, so we chase them around to their tournaments as well. If we could get away up to the North country, Big River and places like that, we like to get up there for the summer. Either that or it’s a hot holiday to Las Vegas, Mexico, whatever.”