Who’s behind Blackhawks’ draft picks? Meet Mike Doneghey, director of amateur scouting
Follow our coverage of the 2022 NHL Draft live.
What Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson does in the coming years will unquestionably determine the organization’s future.
He’ll be the one ultimately trading players, signing them, accumulating draft picks and prospects and putting the staff in place to coach, develop and scout.
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As much as the responsibility and accountability fall on Davidson, he has entrusted others to help make those decisions. Norm Maciver, Jeff Greenberg, Meghan Hunter, Mark Eaton and Brian Campbell will all certainly play key roles.
But of any of the Blackhawks hockey operations personnel, the one who may matter the most beyond Davidson is director of amateur scouting Mike Doneghey. The plan now and in the coming years is to stockpile as many high draft picks as possible. If the Blackhawks draft well with those picks, then they’ll likely improve. If they draft poorly, well, they probably won’t.
No pressure, right?
“That’s what Kyle said to me, he goes, ‘Look, in a rebuild, you kind of have like the most important job,'” the 51-year-old Doneghey said on recent afternoon at the United Center. “So, I laughed about it. But no, because the amount of information and work that our scouts put into it and the relationship that I’ve had … I’ve worked with these guys, so I’ve known what they’ve been able to do. I wish (the draft) was (now). No, I don’t feel pressure at all.”
Davidson chose Doneghey to replace Mark Kelley for a number of reasons. Davidson recently explained that he liked how Doneghey had some similar scouting philosophies, but he brought his own strong opinions about players. Davidson also liked how Doneghey can gather information from his scouting group and present it.
“Mike’s a super passionate guy,” Davidson said. “I really like the way he talks about players, the respects he holds in the room to draw out the opinions and information we need as a managing group to make the ultimate decision. I think when you have someone who’s like Mike who’s going to lead by example but also just bring the best out of everyone else, then that’s the kind of guy want leading the group.”
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Doneghey and Davidson built their relationship over the years on scouting trips together. They often talked about scouting and what was important to them. Davidson had a clear picture of how Doneghey might run a scouting staff if given the opportunity. For Doneghey, he also understands exactly what Davidson wants in his players.
“He wants to build the team a certain way,” Doneghey said. “Him, Norm and Jeff, they have certain traits and characteristics where they want to build it, and it’s my job to find those players that check those boxes, if you will. So Kyle wants speed, he wants to play fast down the middle, he wants to play direct, wants to be bigger. Not that we can lead with size, but yeah, size is always good to have. But he wants to play as fast as we can. So he gives me that directive and I go get it.”
Doneghey grew up in West Roxbury, a neighborhood in Boston, and still carries his native Boston accent. He jokes he’s working on trying to speak slower for people. He played goalie growing up and played for Merrimack College.
After a short stint in the East Coast Hockey League, he took a job in the real world and worked for a computer company. That didn’t last long.
“About six months in, I was like, nope, not doing this,” Doneghey said.
Doneghey took a player-coach position in France, and that jumpstarted his coaching career. He then got into college coaching and was everything from a volunteer coach to a head coach at various levels. He was then hired to be the general manager and head coach of the Bridgewater Bandits in the Eastern Junior Hockey League, which was one of the top junior leagues in the New England area.
Doneghey was with Bridgewater when he lucked upon a part-time scouting position with the Blackhawks during the 2009-10 season. In a lot of ways, it was a natural transition for him.
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“When you’re an assistant coach in college hockey, that’s all they do,” Doneghey said. “It’s recruiting, recruiting, recruiting, and, well, I always I liked the recruiting part of it more than I liked the on-ice part of it. I like putting teams together. Even when I was at Bridgewater, I was able to put teams together, make trades, pick players up, go out scouting and watch younger players, so I’ve always liked the scouting aspect of it.
“But getting into scouting in the NHL, if you didn’t play … I always tell people, it was like trying to get season tickets at Fenway Park, like someone had to die if you want to move on. Thankfully, I knew Ronnie Anderson, who I played for at Merrimack, worked for the Blackhawks, and he was transitioning to his new role, so they were looking for a part-time guy in New England.”
Doneghey was hired full-time the following season and has been with the organization ever since. He’s been mainly in amateur scouting. He started out with a few areas to scout, then it expanded to where he was contributing more to the Blackhawks’ draft lists. He was part of the scouting process in helping the Blackhawks identify players like Kevin Hayes, Alex DeBrincat, Phillip Danault and Brandon Saad.
The past two seasons Doneghey moved to pro player evaluation. As he enters a position back in amateur scouting, he’s found that time in pro evaluation to be huge.
“I saw a lot of pro hockey there, so it was an exercise for me,” Doneghey said. “I had seen a lot of the guys that were on the map for the draft — what you think they are and what you think they’re going to be versus when they finally play in the NHL. So for me, the last two years has been a learning experience. Now I go in and I’m running this staff, and it’s like, hey, a lot of times what we think they are, they’re really not.
“Over time, it does become easier because you see certain traits and characteristics. Like, oh, I remember so and so did that and he’s doing this in the NHL and their game equates. And so over time, it does get easier. But you’re still dealing with 17-year-olds. Like, I have a 23-year-old, a 21-year-old and a 19-year-old at home, and it’s like — kids are dumb sometimes. Now we’re projecting these kids to be what they’re going to be the rest of their lives.”
Aside from some adjustments in Davidson’s direction of the scouting department, Doneghey has also shifted how he’s utilizing his scouts. Previously, the staff had its own regions, but there was a lot of crossing over. Doneghey thought that led to scouts having limited opinions on many players. But now, the staff will be regionalized with only a few people, including Doneghey, crossing over.
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“I find the value in (the change in) like the Isaak Phillips, (Louis) Crevier (draft) years,” Doneghey said. “Like those type of players in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh round that the regional scout just knows those players so well that they’re adamant that this is the guy that we got to take. … Like Jim McKeller with Isaak Phillips when he came out of Sudbury, he was like, I know this guy better than anybody. … So I think the value in having guys regionalized is we’re going to get more of those players.”
As of now, the Blackhawks don’t have a first-round pick in the 2022 draft, but Doneghey said he’s prepared for anything and everything. Whether the Blackhawks move up into the first round or not, he’s excited about having five picks between the second and third rounds. Quantity of draft picks is an important element in rebuilding, too.
“I forget who said it, but some GM said, the only way to hit on more players is to have more picks,” Doneghey said. “The odds are there. So having those five in the second and third round is a huge value for us.”
As Davidson mentioned, there’s an energy around Doneghey. He’s exuberant. Ahead of his first draft as the director of amateur scouting, he has some some extra excitement, too.
“I feel great,” Doneghey said. “Not that confidence is a big issue with me anyways. I think you have to have a confident level to be in this. I feel good and ready to go.”
(Photos: Chicago Blackhawks)
