David Conte, long time scouting director for the New Jersey Devils, appears to have lined up a new gig about a year after his contract wasn't renewed in New Jersey.
Nothing has been officially announced but word is Conte will be joining Las Vegas' front office.
Hearing David Conte to Las Vegas. Would be huge pickup
— Ryan Kennedy (@THNRyanKennedy) August 11, 2016
The role Conte will fill with Las Vegas, if he does indeed get hired by the NHL's newest franchise, is unknown but one would assume it'd be in scouting.
Conte worked alongside Lou Lamoriello for ~30 years and did hit big on quite a few picks. In saying that a lot of his best work came long, long ago and the Devils drafted very poorly under Conte's watch since 2000.
One way of looking at David Conte's work during part of his time with #NJDevils - Avg # of picks, below-avg finds. pic.twitter.com/VxZ8SWf1A0
— Sean Tierney (@SeanTierneyTss) August 11, 2016
As you can see the Devils had just under an average amount of draft picks from 2000-2012 yet only four teams drafted fewer players who went on to play at least 100 games in the NHL. All four of those teams had fewer draft picks to work with, too.
Perhaps Conte used the past year to better himself and develop a more new-school way of thinking. If he did, he could be a nice addition; especially given all the experience he has working in hockey.
That said, if he sticks with his old methods past results suggest he's unlikely to find much success.
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