This page converts the full 22-section startup worksheet into a working operating thesis. Recommendations are intentionally separated from open legal, ownership and pricing decisions.
NHL Central Scouting explicitly considers scouting history, development and NHL projection, and noted significant ranking movement as players advanced during the season.
NHL teams compare Central Scouting rankings with internal lists because disagreement can sharpen evaluation and challenge scouts and analytics groups.
NHL EDGE was built around tracking information such as speed, distance, shot location and zone time — information traditional box-score statistics cannot fully describe.
A 2025 study of 10,485 NHL draftees found persistent relative-age effects and evidence that relatively younger drafted players can show stronger career trajectories.
Recent NHL draft forecasting research incorporates industry rankings and has built on prior work using player information and statistics, reinforcing the value of integrated evidence.
Pavel Datsyuk was selected 171st in 1998; Detroit notes that Håkan Andersson originally encountered him while scouting another player. Nicklas Lidström went 53rd in 1989 before becoming one of hockey's most decorated defensemen.
Keep CADIG as the master brand unless/until the founders unanimously adopt a formal expansion. Do not force an acronym simply to explain the name. Public-facing brand: CADIG Hockey / CADIG Scouting Services.
CADIG exists to help hockey organizations make better player decisions by combining experienced live and video scouting with structured evaluation, data analytics, development intelligence and independent perspective. We aim to identify not only what a player is today, but what the player can become and how that development may translate.
Build a trusted independent scouting and player-intelligence network across North America and selected international markets, supported by a common player database, standardized reports, historical development data, cross-league context and repeatable analytical models.
CADIG is an independent hockey scouting and intelligence company that helps teams and hockey organizations make more informed player decisions by combining experienced scouting, video evaluation, data analytics and development projection.
Hockey organizations must evaluate large player pools across dispersed leagues and development systems with finite scouting time. Observations can be inconsistent across scouts, raw statistics can mislead without context, and consensus rankings can cause organizations to look at the same players in the same way.
Programs with limited or uneven regional coverage; junior/NCAA/U SPORTS teams evaluating large recruiting pools; agencies needing independent player intelligence; development organizations trying to benchmark players; and professional organizations seeking second opinions or targeted coverage.
The problem is not a lack of information. It is incomplete coverage, uneven context, disconnected observations and difficulty turning information into a repeatable decision process.
Three layers: (1) Scouting Services — live/video, regional, tournament and player-specific assignments; (2) Player Intelligence — standardized profiles, development trajectories, league context, comparables, rankings and PVI/pWAR-type modeling; (3) Decision Support — second opinions, priority viewing, target lists, organizational fit and custom research.
CADIG complements internal operations. Clients can expand geographic coverage, obtain an independent view, investigate a player or league, and access standardized intelligence without immediately adding fixed full-time scouting headcount.
Find more players. Find them earlier. Understand them better.
Launch with regional scouting, individual evaluations, video scouting, tournament/event coverage, prospect lists/rankings, and custom consulting. Add deeper database subscriptions or client portals only after report standards and data governance are stable.
Every service should produce information that can be stored in the same player-intelligence system. One-off work should still improve the long-term database.
1) Junior A / USHL / NAHL / NCAA / U SPORTS programs needing added coverage; 2) agencies/advisors needing independent evaluations; 3) academies/development programs; 4) CHL/pro organizations for targeted projects after credibility grows.
A serious hockey organization with a real evaluation need but incomplete geographic coverage — one willing to test CADIG on a defined territory, tournament, player group or recruiting question. A pilot should be narrow enough to measure usefulness and broad enough to demonstrate repeatable value.
Assign primary and secondary territories by scout, then overlay centralized video/data review. Do not claim coverage where CADIG cannot regularly observe games.
Treat gaps as a visible operational metric. Prioritize markets where existing clients need information, then strategically add scouts/partners rather than chasing every league at once.
Build outward from current North American relationships into priority Canadian regions, NCAA/US junior corridors, and selected European development systems where league translation and under-scouted talent create an analytical advantage.
Translatable hockey ability: skating, hockey sense, decision-making, puck skill, compete, play away from the puck, role execution, character/coachability where verified, physical projection, consistency, development trajectory and organizational fit.
Skating; Hockey IQ/Processing; Puck Skills; Offense/Chance Creation; Defense/Off-puck Impact; Compete; Role/Usage; Physical Projection; Development Velocity; Translation; Risk/Confidence.
Use a common 1–10 trait scale with written anchors plus separate Current Value, Future Value and Confidence. A grade without confidence or context is incomplete.
Every report must separate observation from inference, identify viewing context/date, explain strengths and development areas, provide projection and confidence, use consistent terminology, avoid invented data, and state uncertainty.
Hybrid: per-player/per-event work for entry-level clients + monthly/season retainers for recurring coverage. Custom projects can include league intelligence, rankings, research or analytics.
Price around scope, access, travel, number of viewings, turnaround and analytical depth — not just page count. Avoid locking public prices until pilot work establishes workload and willingness to pay.
Move from labor-only scouting toward recurring intelligence products: repeat clients, season coverage, database access and research packages. The database should increase marginal value of each new assignment.
Separate authority by functional area: Managing/Business; Director of Scouting; Client Relations/Sales; Marketing/Communications; Technology/Data. Titles should reflect actual responsibility, not ego.
OPEN DECISION: do not publish or finalize percentages until contribution expectations, vesting, decision rights, IP ownership and exit rules are agreed in writing.
Use vesting or buy-back protection; define minimum contribution; separate ordinary decisions from reserved matters; assign CADIG ownership of reports, databases, rankings, grading systems, code and brand IP; define outside scouting/conflicts; include departure/removal and dispute procedures.
Equity issuance, sale of company, major debt, changes to ownership, IP sale, dissolution, admission/removal of founders and material changes to founder compensation.
OPEN / COUNSEL REQUIRED.
Do not choose the entity by convenience. CADIG has U.S./Canada ownership and operating considerations, so entity, tax, withholding, contractor status and permanent-establishment questions need cross-border advice.
OPEN / ATTORNEY + CROSS-BORDER ACCOUNTANT REQUIRED before final ownership or distributions.
Founder/shareholder agreement; client service agreement; independent-contractor agreements; confidentiality/IP terms; privacy policy; website terms; media/image-use consent where applicable.
Obtain professional/legal advice on general liability, professional liability/errors & omissions, cyber/privacy and travel-related risks.
Public stats, scouting observations, video links, role/usage, evaluation grades, development notes, source provenance and client-specific work product. Collect personal information only when necessary.
Use heightened safeguards: minimize personal data, avoid sensitive speculation, separate public performance analysis from private information, obtain consent when required, and restrict client/internal access.
Centralize in role-based systems with backups, access logging and source fields. Client access should be scoped to purchased/authorized material, not the full internal database.
Adopt a written schedule that balances longitudinal development research with privacy, contractual and legal obligations.
CADIG Hockey / CADIG Scouting Services — confirm legal availability before registration.
Scouting Excellence. Hockey Intelligence.
Independent, rigorous, hockey-first, analytically literate, credible, transparent about uncertainty, and useful to real decision-makers.
Find more players. Find them earlier. Understand them better.
Start with warm relationships, then targeted cold outreach. Offer narrowly scoped pilots tied to an actual decision: tournament coverage, regional watch list, 5–10 player evaluation set, video second opinion or league/prospect intelligence project.
CADIG helps hockey organizations expand scouting coverage and improve player decisions by providing independent, standardized scouting and development intelligence so they can prioritize attention, compare players in context and identify value earlier.
Track target, need, decision-maker, next action, pilot scope, outcome and follow-up in a CRM.
CADIG competes less on celebrity representation and more on independent scouting/intelligence. Agency sites inform presentation, but CADIG should not imitate a representation business if the core product is evaluation.
1) Experience — regional scouts and hockey judgment. 2) Intelligence — contextualized data, development curves, historical outcomes and models. 3) Accountability — track projections and learn from actual outcomes.
Never claim the model replaces scouts. The differentiator is integration and repeatability.
Website, domain/email, shared storage, CRM, calendar, standardized report form, player/scouting database and analytics workflow. Video tools can remain external initially.
Every player should be a persistent record with source provenance, dated evaluations, multiple scout views, historical stats, rankings, development events and eventual outcomes.
Models should be versioned. Changes to league translation, weights or features should be documented so CADIG can evaluate model improvement over time.
Legal/accounting first, then insurance, domain/email, database/report tooling, scouting travel/tickets and limited professional marketing. Avoid overspending on software before workflows are proven.
OPEN DECISION: founders should agree on cash contributions, reimbursable expenses and approval thresholds before launch.
Secure 3–5 paying organizations; establish repeat/retainer revenue; create 250+ standardized player records; produce 75+ decision-grade reports; cover 5–8 priority leagues/regions; complete at least two client pilots that convert to recurring work.
Calibrate inter-scout grading, track recommendation outcomes, establish baseline model accuracy, identify strongest territories/services and quantify where CADIG adds information not present in consensus rankings.
Lock mission, services, customer priorities, founder roles, scouting philosophy, rating anchors, report standards and data schema.
Professional legal/tax setup, founder agreement, domain/email, insurance, database MVP, sample reports, methodology page and sales materials.
Build 25–50 target organizations, activate warm introductions, conduct outreach, sell pilots, track feedback, secure first paying client and refine reports/model based on use.
Legal entity; ownership/vesting; founder contribution expectations; exact titles/decision rights; pilot pricing; data retention policy; client access model; initial territories; first-year budget; definition of PVI/pWAR outputs and what is public vs proprietary.
Assign one owner and deadline to each item. No open decision should remain an informal group-chat debate.
Preferred mission/vision language; proposed responsibilities; territory coverage; 5 warm client leads; one example of a player/report that represents CADIG quality; views on grading/report standards; concerns about ownership/time commitment.
Mission; launch service list; target-customer order; roles; common grading system; report standard; database MVP; legal/tax consultation dates; pilot offer; target list owner.
The Strategy Blueprint is the deeper operating framework. The public Methodology page distills the scouting philosophy, development model, evaluation language and evidence into the version designed for clients and hockey decision-makers.