Wild hire former Canucks draft guru Brackett to lead amateur scouting staff

The Minnesota Wild have named Judd Brackett as director of amateur scouting.

The announcement comes nine days after Brackett’s 12-year run with the Vancouver Canucks’s scouting staff officially came to an end.

The Canucks announced in May that Brackett’s tenure with the team would end June 30 after the two sides couldn’t negotiate a contract extension.

General manager Jim Benning said at the time that Brackett was offered a two-year deal, but he rejected it.

Under Brackett, the Canucks’ amateur scouting staff was instrumental in helping stock the club with impact young players and promising prospects, including forwards Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson, defenceman Quinn Hughes and goaltender Michael DiPietro.

Vancouver and Minnesota are scheduled to face off in a best-of-five post-season qualification series later this summer in Stage 4 of the NHL’s return to play strategy.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 9, 2020.