The man who was referred to as the top amateur scout during the time the Florida Panthers selected Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad, Vincent Trocheck, Mike Matheson, just to name a few, is now headed to Las Vegas.
Erin Ginnell, who was with the Panthers from 2003 to 2015 has joined George McPhee’s rapidly growing scouting staff. Ginnell was let go from the Panthers organization when Dale Tallon was removed as GM in Florida and “promoted” to President of Hockey Operations.
The move was fueled by the organization’s desire to be more mathematically and analytically focused. Tallon moved “up,” Tom Rowe became GM, and Ginnell, Head of Amateur Scouting Scott Luce, and Director of Hockey Operations Mike Dixon were all let go. This indicates Ginnell did not fit the analytical approach the Panthers were looking for, but the results speak for themselves, so their trash becomes our treasure.
There’s also a pretty strong connection to Murray Craven with Ginnell. He was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada in 1968, four years before Craven. Also born in Medicine Hat was Ginnell’s brother Dan, who is currently a scout with the St. Louis Blues. Medicine Hat is a town of just about 70,000 in 2016, so odds are the Ginnell and Craven families are pretty familiar.
Ginnell becomes the fourth member of the organization whose primary title is as a scout. (Mike Levine, Bruno Campese, David Conte)
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