Wild lose key piece of front office to rival NHL team.

The Minnesota Wild are losing a key figure in their organization, and to make matters worse it appears he will be joining a rival team.

The news first broke courtesy of Wild insider Michael Russo on Sunday morning, with Russo reporting that director of amateur scouting Judd Brackett was leaving the organization. While losing an important figure like Brackett is always a tough blow, Russo is also reporting that Brackett will be joining a rival team although did not disclose which team that may be.

Brackett's fingerprints are all over the Wild organization with Brackett largely credited with running the team's last 5 drafts. That includes pickups like Liam Ohgren (19th overall) and Jesper Wallstedt ( 20th overall) who were selected with late first round picks that quickly developed into valuable assets for the franchise in one way or another.

Interestingly enough, Brackett is also the man largely credited with convincing the Vancouver Canucks to draft Quinn Hughes 7th overall at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, an extremely skilled defenseman that Wild fans now know very well.

Hughes was of course acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Canucks in December of 2025, a trade that once again has Brackett's fingerprints all over it. Not only did Brackett draft Hughes in Vancouver, but he arguably laid the groundwork for the eventual trade to Minnesota by drafting players like Zeev Buium, Marco Rossi, and Liam Ohgren who were all traded to the Canucks in that deal.

It's a tough loss for the Wild on Sunday to be sure, the only question now is which rival team will be benefiting from Beckett's departure?