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June 14, 2007
By DallasStars.com

The 2007 NHL Entry Draft is just a week away at Columbus' Nationwide Arena, starting with the first round on Friday, June 22, with rounds two through seven on Saturday, June 23. DallasStars.com had the opportunity to sit down with Assistant General Manager Les Jackson to discuss a variety of topics as the club prepares for the Draft.

Jackson oversees the Stars' wide-reaching scouting staff, which reaches throughout North America and across to the various European leagues, and he makes countless trips to tournaments and games on both continents. Along with Director of Amateur Scouting Tim Bernhardt, Jackson has the final say on the club's draft selections and is instrumental in the club's player personnel and player development operations, including the team's affiliates in Iowa and Idaho.

Next season will be Jackson's 20th in the Stars organization, dating to the club's days as the Minnesota North Stars, and he has overseen Stars drafts through the years that have produced such talents as Mike Modano, Derian Hatcher, Jarome Iginla, Marty Turco, Jere Lehtinen and Brenden Morrow.

DallasStars.com's interview with Jackson will be split into two installments, with the first running today and the second coming tomorrow.

DallasStars.com: With the draft just over a week away, do you view this time as a culmination of a year's work? How exciting is this time of year for you?

Jackson: "It is a graduation for our scouts because with a we've had relationships with a lot of these guys for years, and generally, their best evaluations are at this time. We gather all the different elements of the players we are scouting, make a checklist and then put the players in the order we want them. Then we try and manage the draft, which may involve trading up or trading back, and we will make recommendations to Doug (Armstrong) about taking our pick or maximizing through trades. It's always an interesting process and it is a graduation for all of our guys that work in the field."

DallasStars.com: Describe the hierarchy of your scouting system and how you stay updated on players in so many leagues across the world.

Jackson: "There are lots of leagues that have to be covered in Russia, Europe, North American colleges and high schools, and then Canadian junior hockey, so you need a lot of people to cover all those games. We have people that work in specific areas, getting to know the players in those areas. We then have crossover guys that basically see the priority and secondary players, so we have a pretty good cross-reference of all the players we are looking at. To me, our success lies in the people that work in the field in their specific area, and they know what we are looking for. For the crossover guys, if they don't have the localized support and guidance, then we make mistakes. When we talk about the timetable of the season and the limited amount of games we can see players, mistakes can be made. Everyone at some point is involved in a cross-evaluation process, so if we all remain open and guys know the criteria that we are looking for, we can all make the best decisions."

DallasStars.com: How often will you or your scouts go see a prospect, and how does your coverage overlap with the scouts' coverage?

Jackson: "We try to compile a list of the top 50 or 60 guys that we want to focus our scouting efforts on, and usually, if you have good crossover evaluations on that group, that will take you through the fifth round of the draft. The are lots of times we send two or three guys in to see a player together because it makes for a better decision at the end of the day. There are no secrets, they are all seeing the same player, but what makes it so interesting is that everybody rarely sees things the same way. If evaluating a player was easy, we would only need one scout. We always have different opinions on players and at the end of the day, we have to make a choice. We gather all the information from the scouts and we give everyone their time to talk about the players. If they have a lot of conviction about the player, then that says a lot about the scout as well as the player. If we talk to a scout that is fairly ho-hum about a player, then we will not take him. They have to have a lot of passion about a player being in the Dallas Stars organization."

DallasStars.com: At what age does the organization begin scouting players, and how is a player covered when he is young?

Jackson: "We are usually two years ahead of a player's draft year. There are lots of 'midget' tournaments that happen in various areas, where the players are usually 15 or 16. We follow them into the Under-17 programs and that is a year before they get drafted. We always send our guys into major tournaments to get a feel for who is coming and to get an idea of what to expect. We do not put a lot of weight on that, as it is more about identification rather than evaluation. We save our major evaluations for the player's draft year."

DallasStars.com: How do you and your staff go about evaluating a player's off-ice qualities?

Jackson: "We look for red flags first. What kind of kid is he? Does he love to play? Is his passion to be an NHL player? Is there anything off the ice that may pose a problem? How does he live? Who does he hang with? Is he willing to train and dig into self-development? Does he care about school? There are lots of questions we need to address. The core attributes that we look for in our players are his competitiveness, how much he cares about his team, and what kind of kid he is. Over the years we have looked at some really high skill guys, but they lacked some character. If we come across a kid like that, chances are he is not going to be a very good Dallas Star."

DallasStars.com: How do you and your team formulate 'the big board' of which players you want the most in a draft?

Jackson: "During the course of the season, we sit down and project a list of guys that we are giving priority. We start identifying the kids in December or early January that we are going to go after and do our best work on. Up until then, guys work their own areas and try to categorize players. Near the end of our season, January through March, we start making some hard decisions concerning our list of players and where we put them in order. We have a lot of conference calls because getting the whole staff together in person could mean wasting a valuable week of evaluation time. We do not have to make a decision until June when we are in that draft room, so we use all the time we have. We give the scouts different ideas about what to focus on so they might come back with a different perspective. We rely on the guys in the field a lot and they are the foundation."

DallasStars.com: What are the developmental differences between a prospect in the major junior leagues and an NCAA hockey player?

Jackson: "We always maintain that if the guy is an NHL-caliber player, it does not matter where he plays. If he is going to make the NHL, he is going to find his way because that is a personal decision. The base of the NHL for many years has been in players from the Canadian Hockey League, and that isn't going to change. But, there are good players everywhere and you just have to find them. When you look at the NCAA, there have been great players to come out of there like Zack Parise and Jack Johnson. Going to college is important to a number of players, and they receive quality instruction at their school, just like a junior player gets in the CHL."

DallasStars.com: How has technology augmented the way you stay up to date on developing players?

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