CADIG HockeyScout the player.
Understand the trajectory.
CADIG combines experienced hockey evaluation with structured data, development context and historical outcomes. The goal is not to replace the scout's eye. It is to broaden where we look, sharpen what we ask, and create a repeatable framework for understanding what a player may become.
What is the market missing?
Find more players. Find them earlier. Understand them better.
Scouting naturally concentrates attention around known leagues, rankings and high-visibility players. CADIG's approach is to use regional scouting, video, data and historical development research to expand the search surface — then use experienced evaluation to determine which signals are real.
We are looking for better probabilities.
Pavel Datsyuk was drafted 171st overall after Detroit scout Håkan Andersson encountered him while scouting someone else. Nicklas Lidström was drafted 53rd before becoming one of the most accomplished defensemen ever. Those stories do not mean an algorithm can identify the next Hall of Famer. They illustrate why coverage, context, patience and independent conviction matter.
The CADIG scouting ideology.
Scout the trajectory, not only the snapshot.
Current ability matters, but so do rate of improvement, role growth, physical development and adaptation to stronger competition.
Context before comparison.
Age, league, role, teammates, competition quality and opportunity shape what production means. Raw totals are not treated as equivalent across environments.
Traits before totals.
We ask how value is being created: skating, processing, decision speed, transition, off-puck detail, compete, puck skill and role execution.
Search for disagreement.
Consensus is useful for orientation. Divergence between market ranking, scout opinion and model output is where additional viewing may create information advantage.
Look for developmental runway.
Relative age, physical maturity, role and exposure can create temporary advantages or hide future upside. We separate current performance from remaining growth.
Human + quantitative.
Models surface patterns; scouts interpret behavior, habits, translatability and context. Neither layer is treated as complete on its own.
Measure uncertainty.
A grade without confidence is incomplete. CADIG records viewing context, sample limitations and projection risk rather than presenting false precision.
Grade ourselves.
Every projection eventually becomes an outcome. CADIG's long-term edge should come from tracking what scouts and models got right, what they missed and why.
Observation becomes institutional knowledge.
1. Observe
Live/video evaluation, role, traits, game context and scout notes.
2. Contextualize
Age, league strength, production, usage, team environment and competition.
3. Compare
Historical outcomes, same-age peers, rankings, league cohorts and comparable pathways.
4. Project
Current value, future value, development velocity, translation, role ceiling and risk.
5. Re-scout
Update the player record as role, performance and competition change.
6. Validate
Compare projection with later outcomes and recalibrate scout/model assumptions.
What every CADIG report should answer.
| Dimension | What we evaluate | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Skating | Acceleration, edges, pace, mobility, recovery | Can the player's game survive faster levels? |
| Hockey IQ / Processing | Reads, anticipation, pressure decisions, scanning | Decision speed often determines translation. |
| Puck Skill | Handling, passing, receiving, deception, protection | Shows ability to maintain options under pressure. |
| Offense / Creation | Chance creation, entries, scoring mechanisms, playmaking | Separates production totals from repeatable offensive tools. |
| Defense / Off-puck | Positioning, retrievals, gaps, tracking, support | Measures value when the player does not have the puck. |
| Compete / Role | Puck battles, consistency, role execution, response to adversity | Helps determine trust and utility at higher levels. |
| Development Velocity | Rate of improvement across seasons and competition levels | Captures direction, not simply current status. |
| Translation / Risk | League context, physical projection, uncertainty, role dependence | Converts a scouting grade into a decision-ready projection. |
From grades to development intelligence.
Current Value
What can the player reliably do today against current competition?
SCOUTING GRADEROLEPRODUCTIONExpected Development
How quickly is the player improving, and what evidence supports continued growth?
AGE CURVED-1 → D+2ROLE GROWTHTranslation Probability
How likely are the player's strengths to survive stronger pace, structure and physical pressure?
LEAGUE CONTEXTTRANSITIONCOMPARABLESRisk / Confidence
How much uncertainty remains because of sample, role, competition, physical projection or conflicting evidence?
CONFIDENCEVARIANCERE-SCOUTProspect Value = Current Ability + Expected Development + Translation Probability − Risk
This is the conceptual structure behind CADIG's PVI / projected-value work. It is not presented as NHL WAR and should only become a numerical model where inputs are standardized and validated.
Evidence that shapes the ideology.
Trajectory matters.
NHL Central Scouting explicitly considers scouting history, development and NHL projection, and noted significant ranking movement as players advanced during the season.
Disagreement is useful.
NHL teams compare Central Scouting rankings with internal lists because disagreement can sharpen evaluation and challenge scouts and analytics groups.
More data changes what can be seen.
NHL EDGE was built around tracking information such as speed, distance, shot location and zone time — information traditional box-score statistics cannot fully describe.
Maturity can distort selection.
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.
Combine information sources.
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.
Broaden the search surface.
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.
Experience. Intelligence. Accountability.
Experience
Regional scouts with hockey backgrounds and individual evaluation methodologies.
Intelligence
Structured data, cross-league context, development curves, historical outcomes and analytical research.
Accountability
Track our projections, compare them with outcomes and improve the system over time.
See how the methodology becomes the company.
The methodology explains how CADIG evaluates hockey players. The Strategy Blueprint goes one level deeper: how that philosophy translates into our mission, services, target customers, geographic coverage, scouting standards, grading system, data architecture, technology, sales strategy, business model, first-year goals and the open decisions required to build CADIG responsibly.
Think of this page as how CADIG thinks about players and the Blueprint as how CADIG turns that thinking into an operating scouting and intelligence organization.