Scott White never played the media game, maybe that's why you haven't heard enough about him

The Dallas Stars assistant GM is up for larger roles in Toronto and Nashville. Let me explain who he is.

Maybe this is feeding the SEO machine, maybe it’s a public service. Either way, after texting with my pal Stephen Meserve today, I felt compelled to write a bit about Scott White, the Dallas Stars assistant GM, who has interviewed this spring for both the vacant GM position with the Nashville Predators and Toronto Maple Leafs.

I’ve known White since 2012, the first year I started covering the Stars organization, and closely covered his work with the Texas Stars, where as the AHL GM he’s built a minor-league franchise that both wins pretty regularly and develops NHL talent.

In fact, it’s always been one of the oddities for me that White’s name hasn’t come up more often when we’ve seen other GM vacancies. While he doesn’t run the draft, which seems to be a path many assistant GMs take to eventual head roles, he’s built an impressive résumé and been a vital part of the Stars success over the past decade.

In fact, Stars general manager Jim Nill has told me, multiple times, that White could easily be a GM in the NHL at some point in the not-too-distant future.

In simpler terms, White has been largely responsible for helping the Stars build the depth of their franchise. While Nill takes input from others, like most GMs he tends to work alone on the bigger deals — it’s hard to trade for Mikko Rantanen, for example, if you have too many cooks in the kitchen — while trusting White to build the franchise depth at the AHL level and below. White has been part of the group responsible for unearthing a bevy of college free agents, including Justin Hryckowian, who has turned into a pretty nice find in Dallas.

It’s not the most glamorous role and because the AHL is typically ignored by most media members until a player is called up, White’s work doesn’t get much of the attention it probably deserves outside of places like 100 Degree Hockey.

(Side note, and I am biased on this, but the hockey world would be so much better if we had 32 Stephen Meserves covering the 32 AHL franchises.)

The other thing about White, and it probably hurt any outside chatter about him, is the fact he doesn’t play the media game.

Now let me explain what the media game is.

Those who talk and share more with media, especially national media, tend to get more love in that space. It exists in every sport, and often it’s an unspoken agreement between a reporter and a subject. This can and often is symbiotic, one side gets scoops, the other side gets some protection and more favorable coverage when they need it.

The subject doesn’t have to ask for preferential treatment, but it tends to be implied, especially when those individuals might be popping up and looking for career advancement.

To give you a real-life example, I’ve had a coach before ask me to include their name on a list of potential candidates for a job before in a story. I didn’t do it, and it led to some awkwardness the next time I saw them in person.

White hasn’t played that media game. He and I have had a professional relationship, and he’s been very kind to me in person, but he doesn’t give scoops and he doesn’t leak information for favor. He is also fiercely dedicated to his job with the Dallas and Texas Stars, and his business-like approach can come off a bit intimidating at times.

To give you a real-life example, earlier in my career, this was either 2014 or 2015, I criticized Jamie Oleksiak on Twitter for a play late in a game that I thought Oleksiak quit on. White saw the Tweet, he said something to me after the game, a little bit heated after a Texas’ loss, and while I defended myself, I was terrified I’d burned a bridge with the GM of the AHL team I was covering.

The next day, it was a Sunday game in San Antonio, I went up to White on press row to see if I needed to mend any fences and he told me it was “water on the bridge,” and that we both have jobs to do.

And it wasn’t BS. There was some gained respect on both sides since I wasn’t afraid to defend myself, and showed up to approach him the next day. Even if there was some disagreement in how we viewed the game, there was a mutual respect for how we each did our jobs.

That business-like approach, in a role that doesn’t come with draft-day glamour, limited White’s appeal in the GM job market. Like it or not, the GM job has historically required some glitz attached to it, something that teams can sell as a marketing tool and while that’s not the only reason someone gets the job, it can be a tiebreaker or give a leg up in getting on the list.

White, on the flip side, has very much operated like his boss in Dallas, Jim Nill. He’s been heavily focused on his current role, doesn’t go looking for favors, and while he’s media friendly, he’s not someone who throws out information lightly. He can be a bit more intimidating than Nill, personality wise, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing and might even be a strength in a place like Toronto.

Personally speaking, I’m not sure whether he is or isn’t the right person for a GM job in Toronto or Nashville. But I can say, in my opinion, there’s not much more anyone could have done with his post in Dallas and Texas, and that with a bit more self promotion, his name probably would have come up a couple years earlier in these searches.