Tim Burke
Director of scouting | San Jose Sharks
Hailing from Melrose, Mass., Burke has been a member of the San Jose Sharks’ scouting staff since 1992-93 and has served as director for more than 15 of those years. San Jose’s strong development system was built with much thanks to Burke, and the likes of current stars Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski were selected under his watch.
Jeff Kealty
Scout | Nashville Predators
A Newton, Mass., native and BU alum, Kealty has spearheaded the Predators’ rise into a Western Conference champ as their top amateur scout for a decade-plus. He helped develop Connecticut native Colin Wilson and Northeastern’s Anthony Bitetto, and originally drafting 2016 Hobey winner Jimmy Vesey.
Scott Fitzgerald
Asst. director amateur scouting | Boston Bruins
As the Bruins’ assistant director of amateur scouting since 2010, Fitzgerald watches a lot of hockey — 225 games per year, to be exact, according to a 2012 Boston Globe article. Fitzgerald joined the Bruins in 2006 after seven seasons with the Blue Jackets. He is the brother of longtime NHLer and current New Jersey Devils staffer Tom, who also appears on this list.
Nickolai Bobrov
Director of European scouting | New York Rangers
If there’s one person on New England Hockey Journal’s list of the Top 100 Most Influential hockey people who you’ve never heard of, odds are it’s Bobrov.
A Russian who now calls Milton, Mass., home, Bobrov’s tale is a winding one that isn’t always found in the sport that we all love. A forward, he played at Belmont Hill School in Belmont, Mass., for his high school years, then went against the grain by moving on to Middlebury College during the mid- to late 1990s.
While there, he won four NCAA championships at the Division 3 level, contributing massively to the Panthers’ spell of dominance before the turn of the millennium. He racked up nearly 100 points there, too, and was a constant leader while on campus.
Where Bobrov’s tale gets even more interesting, though, is what he’s done after college hockey. Upon graduation, he joined the Boston Bruins organization as a video coach, then moved on to the scouting world with the Black and Gold as director of European scouting.
He held that role a handful of years, then joined the Los Angeles Kings during the mid-2000s as a general scout, just before his current role with the New York Rangers. Down in the Big Apple, Bobrov currently works as the Rangers’ director of European scouting, putting in yeoman’s work on the road in search of giving his franchise the slightest edge.
In sum, Bobrov’s role in the New England hockey world isn’t the flashiest or going to grab many headlines. But he’s a behind-the-scenes guy who’s left a mark on the prep, college and pro ranks, all with ties to New England.
If you ask us, that’s influential.
— JONATHAN SIGAL
