It is now mid-August and hockey season is getting closer and closer to its beginning. Late summertime usually doesn’t yield much for big news but instead offers fans and media plenty of opportunity to critique and speculate about NHL teams. The Calgary Flames in specific have had no shortage of buzz centred around them this offseason as they essentially cleaned house; they let go of most of their coaching staff including head coach Darryl Sutter and also said goodbye to general manager Brad Treliving. Replacing them are Ryan Huska and Craig Conroy, respectively. Additionally, they traded star winger Tyler Toffoli to the New Jersey Devils.
This all came after their tumultuous last summer in which longtime Flames and core players Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, and Matthew Tkachuk all left town. Though arguably getting better on paper, the team subsequently missed the postseason in 2022-23. Now there are new people at the helm, trying to steer the ship in the right direction. However, a big part of the office staff overhaul that isn’t talked about as much is the changes that have taken place in the scouting department. Essentially the same members have been in charge of searching for NHL talent for the last seven seasons, so some changes may be refreshing. Let’s take a look at each of the new changes to the Flames’ professional scouting team.
Kerry Huffman: New Pro Scout
First up on the docket, there is a brand-new face to the Flames organization. Kerry Huffman is an NHL veteran who suited up in 401 games between 1987 and 1996. The former defenseman was originally drafted in the first round, 20th overall, by the Philadelphia Flyers back in 1986 and played there for parts of five seasons before also having stints with the Quebec Nordiques and Ottawa Senators. Huffman also played pro hockey in the American Hockey League (AHL) and the now-defunct International Hockey League. He retired from playing in 1999 and ventured into the world of coaching in the North American Hockey League in 2015. From there, he became an assistant coach with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL, a position he held for five years (2016-2021).
Huffman then became a pro scout for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2021 and quickly moved up to director of pro scouting the following season. The arrival of former Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas in Pittsburgh unfortunately spelled his departure from the organization. Luckily, the Flames get to take advantage by snagging the experienced professional to come back to Canada for work. He has virtually been involved in most major aspects of professional hockey in North America and will bring with him a vast wealth of knowledge.
Billy Powers: New Pro Scout
Billy Powers was a college hockey stud back in the late 1980s. The former winger suited up for the prestigious University of Michigan from 1985-1988 and put up a very notable 107 points in 115 games. Before he even got to Michigan he was drafted out of high school by the Flyers in the ninth round of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. Unfortunately, he never donned an NHL sweater and instead became a graduate assistant coach with Michigan when he finished playing there. After two years of that, he moved on to be a full assistant coach at the University of Illinois-Chicago, a position he held for another two seasons. He then came back to Michigan as an assistant in 1992 and stayed there for a whopping 25 years. The last six seasons Powers was there he served as the associate head coach.
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Powers decided to switch to the scouting world in 2017, joining the Flames as an amateur scout. Tasked with hunting for talent in the junior hockey ranks, the team has drafted such players as Dustin Wolf, Jakob Pelletier, Jérémie Poirier, Connor Zary during his regime as well as the more recent Matt Coronato and Samuel Honzek, among others. Now, he has moved up to the job title of pro scout effective for the 2023-24 season. Instead of young potential draft picks, he will be looking at established NHL players that could add to the Flames’ success and be had via trade or free agency. Time will tell how he does in this new role, but if his amateur scouting is any indication, the Flames will be in good hands.
Brad Richardson: New Pro Scout
That’s right, former Flame and longtime NHL player Brad Richardson has decided to come back to Calgary as a professional scout. The most experienced player out of the bunch, he played a total of 869 games split between the Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Los Angeles Kings, Vancouver Canucks, Arizona Coyotes, and Nashville Predators. He tallied 111 goals and 254 points in his career and won one Stanley Cup with the Kings back in 2012. Richardson was a depth signing by Calgary and donned the Flaming “C” for 27 games in 2021-22 before he was claimed off of waivers by the Canucks. He put up two goals and two assists with the Flames, and obviously somewhat feels as though he has unfinished business with them.
The 38-year-old is just one year separated from playing in the best league in the world and for the team he now works for, meaning his mind is fresh and familiar with today’s game and players. His perspective will help diversify an already unique team of pro scouts and offer them a younger, alternative viewpoint on which pieces can help the team win games. Given that he has taken home the most prestigious trophy in the sport, he knows what it takes to win. After almost 900 NHL games he certainly can identify the kind of player that fits a particular system or could develop chemistry on a line.
Steve Pleau: New Head Pro Scout
Steve Pleau should be a familiar name to most dedicated Flames fans as he has been with the organization since 2010. Another immensely experienced hockey mind, Pleau played college hockey for four years at the University of New Hampshire before becoming their assistant coach after graduating in 1996. Next, he moved to the AHL where he spent seven seasons with the Worcester IceCats as an assistant coach. He spent the 2005-06 season as the head bench boss of the Peoria Rivermen and then decided to move up north and coach in the Western Hockey League (WHL). Pleau was again an assistant coach with the Spokane Chiefs for a year until he took the first ever head coaching job for the expansion Edmonton Oil Kings. He held that position until the end of the 2009-10 season.
Next, Pleau became a pro scout for the Flames and never looked back. He has been in the same capacity for an impressive 13 years, a true testament to his professional capabilities. Therefore, the team decided to reward him for all of his hard work by appointing him as their head pro scout for the foreseeable future. He will be in charge of reporting to the directors of scouting and gathering data via the aforementioned team of Huffman, Powers, Richardson, as well as himself.
While it isn’t a big trade or monumental free-agent signing, adding new faces and promoting the excellent ones in the front office is still critical to continued team success in the NHL. The Flames will look to continue to add to their core and with many trade rumours surrounding the team’s pending unrestricted free agents, these men may be very busy in 2023-24.