Jim Bob
RIP RJ
How Sam Ventura pushed the analytics team to help secure the Sabres' 2022 Draft haul
With so many picks in the 2022 NHL Draft, the Sabres turned their focus to amateur scouting with major influence from analytics.
theathletic.com
When the Sabres hired Sam Ventura as their vice president of hockey strategy and research in July of 2021, he had just a few weeks to acclimate himself to the organization before the NHL Draft. He came supplied with opinions on the prospects in the draft but hadn’t yet built out his staff, his statistical systems or the relationships with the Sabres’ front office. He played a role in that draft class, but it was nothing compared to the plans he had for what the team could do in the future.
Heading into 2022, Ventura had a lot of ideas about how to revamp Buffalo’s use of analytics in the draft process. He hired Domenic Galamini Jr. as a data scientist and Matt Barlowe as a data engineer. With that team in place, Ventura got to work building data systems with the draft in mind. He and the organization knew that they would have plenty of draft capital to work with, so Ventura and his staff made that their priority.
“We were able to direct something like 90 percent of our efforts toward projects that were directly applicable to the draft,” Ventura said. “We knew going into the year with the draft capital that we had, obviously the three first-round picks, and then 11 picks total by the end of the year, we knew draft research was going to be where we needed to spend most of our time for most of the season.
“I pushed those guys pretty hard throughout the year. We were able to build draft analysis tools that I would say match or exceeded anything I’ve ever been a part of.”
That whole article is a must read for Sabres fans like us here. I also think it is a great read for any hockey fan that is into an analytical approach to team building.
If this is the type of coverage we get from Fairburn moving forward, I am really excited.