Brackett's hiring provides Wild one of NHL's top amateur scouting minds

Judd Brackett began the COVID-19 quarantine on one side of the NHL's qualifying round matchup against the Wild as the Director of Amateur Scouting for the Vancouver Canucks.

But when the two clubs drop the puck on action, hopefully as soon as early August, Brackett will have changed sides. The longtime super scout joined the Wild on Thursday, being named to the same Director of Amateur Scouting role with Minnesota that he recently vacated in Vancouver.

"Never in my wildest imagination did I think that was going to be the case," Brackett told Wild.com by phone from his home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts on Thursday. "It certainly makes for an interesting [turn of events]. Everybody is really excited for hockey to come back, but for me, a little extra boost too."

In doing so, Brackett becomes the first external front office hire for Wild General Manager Bill Guerin, who is 11 months into his first year on the job. Brackett will join the Wild's front office immediately and will oversee the team's draft efforts after the NHL's 24-team postseason wraps up.

"It was really important that that relationship was strong," Guerin said. "Trust will be there and Judd has got great character. These decisions aren't made overnight and you have to do your homework."

Brackett's contract with the Canucks expired on June 30, but the team announced he would not return back in late May. He became a big priority for Guerin and the Wild, who now have one of the best scouting minds in the game leading their amateur scouting operation.

"[The opportunity] really came about in the last week or so," Brackett said. "No prior working history but I had a chance to learn about him and learn about the Wild. He's a tremendous person, high character, high values, really motivated. It just seemed like a really good fit."

While Brackett and Guerin have never worked together, they do share some common ground.

Both are Massachusetts born, with Guerin hailing from Worcester and Brackett from the Cape. Guerin is six years older than Brackett, but each played club hockey for the Springfield Olympics under legendary local coach Gary Dineen, one of Guerin's mentors in the game.

"I'm a quite a bit older than Judd, so I didn't really know Judd had played for Springfield," Guerin said. "But when he told me, it certainly didn't hurt, because I know the type of kids that play for that organization, especially when Gary was there. He only took high character guys."

Brackett began his career with the Canucks in 2008, after working as head scout and Vice President of Player Personnel for the Indiana Ice of the United States Hockey League. The Ice won a pair of Clark Cups in his time in Indiana. He spent seven seasons as an amateur scout for Vancouver before being elevated to the Director of Amateur Scouting in 2015.

"It was certainly very influential for me, working in the USHL," Brackett said. "It's the premier junior league in the United States and with the national development team now playing there, it is the most scouted, most densely populated league of players that are moving onto the college ranks and becoming pros.

"Watching the recruiting process there, being a part of that and meeting coaches and other scouts in the community has really led to a strong foundation for me inside the United States."

Brackett has been instrumental in helping to build one of the NHL's top young teams in Vancouver.

Brock Boeser, the Canucks' top pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, was a guy Brackett had his eye on, leaning on his experience as a scout in the USHL.

In 2017, Vancouver selected Elias Pettersson with the No. 5 overall selection, a pick that -- at the time -- was criticized by some as a reach. All Pettersson has done in his first 139 games in the NHL is score 55 goals and assist on 77 others, averaging nearly a point per game in becoming one of the most exciting young centers in the game.

Defenseman Quinn Hughes, picked seventh in 2018, is one of the League's premier young defensemen. His 53 points this season before the COVID-19 shutdown led all rookies in scoring, making Hughes the third defenseman in the NHL's modern era to lead first-year players in scoring, joining Bobby Orr and Brian Leetch.

But Brackett hasn't only been successful in the draft's top round.

Goaltender Thatcher Demko was picked 36th overall. He's viewed as one of the top young goaltending prospects in the NHL.

Adam Gaudette, selected in the fifth round in 2015, scored 12 goals and 33 points in his first full NHL season this year.

Other highly thought of Vancouver prospects selected during the Brackett era include Vasily Podkilzin (first round, 2019), Tyler Madden (third round, 2018), Will Lockwood (third round, 2016), Jack Rathbone (fourth round, 2017) and Nils Hoglander (second round, 2019).

"For me, personally, I've done amateur scouting. I've never done it full time, I've never lived in that world, but I do know how important that is," Guerin said. "In my position now, I have to have somebody there that I can trust when I'm not around. And I do. I trust all my guys and I'm adding another guy now that I think is really going to help us.

"Drafting and developing is critical for long-term success. When you're living in a salary cap world, you need to draft prospects and you need to develop them to come in. We put a premium on that, it's extremely important."

Related:

Photo courtesy of Canucks TV