Toronto bolsters its front office by snagging scouting mastermind Judd Brackett. The veteran evaluator joins the Maple Leafs to oversee player development following a successful tenure in Minnesota.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Wild watched a key piece of its Hockey Operations Department walk after his contract expired with the team.
Director of Scouting, Judd Brackett, has now taken a job with the Toronto Maple Leafs as the Assistant General Manager of Pleyer Evaluation under new General Manager John Chayka.
"We are thrilled to welcome Judd to our organization," Chayka said. "He has established one of the strongest amateur scouting and drafting track records in the NHL and has consistently demonstrated an ability to adapt and evolve his approach as the game changes. As we continue to build our hockey operations department, Judd will play a key role in integrating traditional scouting, video analysis, and data-driven insights to strengthen our decision-making process."
Brackett, 49, will oversee player evaluation across amateur scouting, as he has in the past, but also professional scouting, too.
The draft guru was responsible for Wild players like Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium, Hunter Haight, Riley Heidt, Charlie Stramel, Marat Khusnutdinov, Jesper Wallstedt, Liam Ohgren, Carson Lambos and Danila Yurov. He also drafted Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and Nils Hoglander in Vancouver before the Wild hired him.
Minnesota will have Assistant GM Mat Sells run the draft along with the director of European scouting.
The Wild do not have a second round pick for the next three seasons. They do not have a first this year as well. Minnesota has five picks in the upcoming draft starting with a third round pick.
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