Judd Brackett

[JM_]

59 minutes ago, steviewonder20 said:

https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/this-seasons-best-free-agent-might-end-up-being-vancouvers-judd-brackett
 

 

OK this Judd thing has now reached peak ridiculous. Now he's "super scout" Brackett, the seasons "best free agent"? This has become something thats now going to hurt Brackett, he can never live up to this. 

[TheRealistOptimist]

1 hour ago, steviewonder20 said:

https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/this-seasons-best-free-agent-might-end-up-being-vancouvers-judd-brackett
 

 

Yet another one sided article, which only gives credit to Brackett.

 

They just skip over the first 5-6 years of Brackett’s scouting career because there wasn’t anything to rave about. Then from 2014 onwards they give him all the credit. 
 

I do think Brackett has been a big part of the Canucks drafting success, I just think people are going way too far with the credit their giving him.  

[mll]

21 minutes ago, TheRealistOptimist said:

Yet another one sided article, which only gives credit to Brackett.

 

They just skip over the first 5-6 years of Brackett’s scouting career because there wasn’t anything to rave about. Then from 2014 onwards they give him all the credit. 
 

I do think Brackett has been a big part of the Canucks drafting success, I just think people are going way too far with the credit their giving him.  

 

Benning promoted him over others - there must have been a reason that he felt Brackett was the right guy for the job.  Canucks probably re-assess their former draft lists on the regular to improve their process.  With what they know today how far off was say their 2014 draft list and where could they have done better.   It may well be that players Brackett advocated for were never picked by the Canucks, but that when they review the lists several years later maybe they should have.  

[JM_]

27 minutes ago, mll said:

 

Benning promoted him over others - there must have been a reason that he felt Brackett was the right guy for the job.  Canucks probably re-assess their former draft lists on the regular to improve their process.  With what they know today how far off was say their 2014 draft list and where could they have done better.   It may well be that players Brackett advocated for were never picked by the Canucks, but that when they review the lists several years later maybe they should have.  

scouting is a team job, no one guy can accurately asses every single player out there. I have no doubt Judd is good at what he does and played a significant role in the team we see now. But this whole uber scout thing is dumb. 

[mll]

1 minute ago, Jimmy McGill said:

scouting is a team job, no one guy can accurately asses every single player out there. I have no doubt Judd is good at what he does and played a significant role in the team we see now. But this whole uber scout thing is dumb. 

It was in response to the comment on his 1st 5-6 years as a scout.  Benning didn't just promote him on a whim.  

[JM_]

4 minutes ago, mll said:

It was in response to the comment on his 1st 5-6 years as a scout.  Benning didn't just promote him on a whim.  

of course not. But 'super scout" I mean come on. Also Benning is supposed to be an idiot, just smart enough to promote Judd, but just stupid enough to ignore his recommendations, except for the 4 or 5 best guys that somehow Judd the Great managed to force Benning to pick? the whole narrative is just goofy. 

Edited May 13, 2020 by Jimmy McGill

[peaches5]

I personally feel like the Virtanen pick was a marketing ploy, like hiring Linden. Draft the local kid and hope fans fill the arena. I think it was a rookie mistake by Linden and Benning and hopefully they/Benning learned to just draft the best player and not the hometown favourite.

[peaches5]

7 hours ago, shiznak said:

Calgary (Weisbrod) was reaching pretty far in hopes of Janowski was going to turn out to be a superstar for them. While none of the latter picks never amount to anything. Jankowski was projected to be a late 2nd rounder - mid 3rd round pick (ranked 40 - 55 on most final rankings). The fact that he was picked 20+ spots ahead of his projected spot seems like an unconventional pick. Calgary could’ve traded the 21st pick to move down, gain some assets, and still probably could have pick Jankowski. 

This is my only concern I have with Brackett potentially leaving and Weisbrod being more hands on with the scouting of our future talents. I don’t want to see any off the board picks, in the first round, from our scouting staffs.

 

That pick was laughable at the time but seeing him play last year... He's a solid player. He struggled mightily this year and I was hoping we'd pick him up from scraps but he started playing a lot better again near the trade deadline. 

[CR7]

I honestly think IMO Thomas Gradin is/has been a more successful scout than Judd. Maybe Benning gave Judd the promotion because at the time he was a yes man. Now Judd wants to use the power he has and Benning is laughing at him saying NO!, who knows. Either way Buffalo and Boston didn't have Brackett and their scouting seemed to do fine with Benning involved

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

36 minutes ago, Jimmy McGill said:

scouting is a team job, no one guy can accurately asses every single player out there. I have no doubt Judd is good at what he does and played a significant role in the team we see now. But this whole uber scout thing is dumb. 

Honestly, the Canucks have done nothing during the 2014-2019 drafts to deserve calling anybody an “uber scout.” 
 

Vancouver has done well. But it’s really nothing out of the ordinary. The biggest factor in the team’s success has been having five top-10 picks, and seventeen picks inside the top-70.

 

Even with enviable draft position, there have been some hiccups. Virtanen and Juolevi are arguably missteps on the same level as Calgary’s Jankowski pick. Boeser was an excellent pick, but not exactly off the board. Pettersson was a franchise changing pick, but maybe only two spots earlier than where he’d have gone if the Canucks has passed on him. Quinn Hughes fell in their laps. He was #2/3 on my board for most of that year (and I even entertained the idea of him at #1). Canucks just got really lucky he fell, and it was a no brainer to nab him at #7. Podkolzin also fell in their lap IMO. 
 

The Canucks have done well with their other top-70 picks, getting McCann (another faller) with a late first, Lind (faller) in the second, Höglander (first round talent that fell in their lap), Woo (another faller), you see the pattern. Biggest factor is just not trading away too many picks (rebuilding 101) and having those early picks available to grab these guys. No magic in making those selection.

 

The only real magic, as I’ve said earlier, is getting quality players from mid-to-late rounds, and the bulk of those are the kids with New England connections, the region where Brackett, Benning, and Weisbrod all have deep roots. That’s really been the difference between getting average and above average draft performance over the past six drafts.

 

No genius work here. No uber-scouts. No draft gods. Just a selection of solid picks (on average) made from having good draft position (from losing games and not trading away the picks), and then adding some late steals picked from the region (New England) where our scouting department’s leadership group has the inside track can really play to their strengths. Throw in a sprinkling of good calls from our Euro scouts, the OHL, and the USHL, and you have the reasons for Vancouver’s draft success.

 

Not trying to really take away credit from anyone, just being realistic. It’s not easy. Brackett has performed admirably in his role. Plenty of teams have losing seasons, high picks, sell for more picks, and still **** the dog when draft day comes. The Canucks have performed well when they needed to, and have assembled a very nice group of young players and prospects through the draft. But it not exactly a shocking result. And nobody, Brackett or otherwise, has earned a statue outside the rink or saviour status.

[JM_]

21 minutes ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

Honestly, the Canucks have done nothing during the 2014-2019 drafts to deserve calling anybody an “uber scout.” 
 

Vancouver has done well. But it’s really nothing out of the ordinary. The biggest factor in the team’s success has been having five top-10 picks, and seventeen picks inside the top-70.

 

Even with enviable draft position, there have been some hiccups. Virtanen and Juolevi are arguably missteps on the same level as Calgary’s Jankowski pick. Boeser was an excellent pick, but not exactly off the board. Pettersson was a franchise changing pick, but maybe only two spots earlier than where he’d have gone if the Canucks has passed on him. Quinn Hughes fell in their laps. He was #2/3 on my board for most of that year (and I even entertained the idea of him at #1). Canucks just got really lucky he fell, and it was a no brainer to nab him at #7. Podkolzin also fell in their lap IMO. 
 

The Canucks have done well with their other top-70 picks, getting McCann (another faller) with a late first, Lind (faller) in the second, Höglander (first round talent that fell in their lap), Woo (another faller), you see the pattern. Biggest factor is just not trading away too many picks (rebuilding 101) and having those early picks available to grab these guys. No magic in making those selection.

 

The only real magic, as I’ve said earlier, is getting quality players from mid-to-late rounds, and the bulk of those are the kids with New England connections, the region where Brackett, Benning, and Weisbrod all have deep roots. That’s really been the difference between getting average and above average draft performance over the past six drafts.

 

No genius work here. No uber-scouts. No draft gods. Just a selection of solid picks (on average) made from having good draft position (from losing games and not trading away the picks), and then adding some late steals picked from the region (New England) where our scouting department’s leadership group has the inside track can really play to their strengths. Throw in a sprinkling of good calls from our Euro scouts, the OHL, and the USHL, and you have the reasons for Vancouver’s draft success.

 

Not trying to really take away credit from anyone, just being realistic. It’s not easy. Brackett has performed admirably in his role. Plenty of teams have losing seasons, high picks, sell for more picks, and still **** the dog when draft day comes. The Canucks have performed well when they needed to, and have assembled a very nice group of young players and prospects through the draft. But it not exactly a shocking result. And nobody, Brackett or otherwise, has earned a statue outside the rink or saviour status.

great summary Sid, 100% right imo. 

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

42 minutes ago, Jimmy McGill said:

great summary Sid, 100% right imo. 

Thanks.

And I’m not trying to take anything away from Brackett, other than this silly “god” rep he seems to have with some people. Judd Brackett is a really good scout, and potentially an even better manager. He’s been very successful running the Canucks scouting department, and one that, for the most part, employs largely the same staff as it did during the dark days. So clearly he’s doing something right (alongside other senior management on the scouting side of hockey ops, most notably Benning, who promoted Brackett to his role, and redefined the methodology/process used by our scouts). It’s also clear that Brackett is simply a very bright guy, a gifted conversationalist, very comfortable with the press and in front of cameras, has high likability, and just seems to exude many of the qualities you like to see in a manager. I think he’s going to become an AMG one day, and maybe even a GM/VP/President eventually. Brackett has a very bright future in the NHL. Hopefully he can be retained, promoted, and kept within the organization. But if not, he’ll definitely land on his feet somewhere.

 

And if Brackett leaves, it will be a loss of talent, but not an irreplaceable ones, and it definitely won’t be the doomsday scenario some people make it out to be. Even if it’s Brackett leaving and Weisbrod installed in his place, life will go on. The Canucks most likely will continue to draft fairly well, and get decent results, at least based on their draft position and pick volume (both of which hopefully will be declining, as a natural result of the team rising to contender status, and therefore picking later in the draft, and occasionally moving picks for “win now” roster additions).

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

Well that’s just weird. ^^
 

Wrote and submitted a long post and there’s nothing showing.

 

Oh well, I talk too much anyway! 
 

EDIT: Weirder still, the post reappeared! 

 

@StealthNuck is clearly up to some voodoo 

Edited May 13, 2020 by SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME

[TheRealistOptimist]

 

2 hours ago, mll said:

It was in response to the comment on his 1st 5-6 years as a scout.  Benning didn't just promote him on a whim.  

"The next season, Brackett was named Vancouver’s director of amateur scouting by Trevor Linden" 

A quote from this article someone posted above - https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/this-seasons-best-free-agent-might-end-up-being-vancouvers-judd-brackett

 

So was it Benning who promoted him?

[TheRealistOptimist]

I have 3 questions -

 

If Judd Brackett ever gets named GM somewhere, will he still be responsible for his teams draft success? (assuming they have any)

Also will he give full autonomy of the amateur scouting staff away?

 

Also would you want him to?

[AK_19]

2 hours ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

Honestly, the Canucks have done nothing during the 2014-2019 drafts to deserve calling anybody an “uber scout.” 
 

Vancouver has done well. But it’s really nothing out of the ordinary. The biggest factor in the team’s success has been having five top-10 picks, and seventeen picks inside the top-70.

 

Even with enviable draft position, there have been some hiccups. Virtanen and Juolevi are arguably missteps on the same level as Calgary’s Jankowski pick. Boeser was an excellent pick, but not exactly off the board. Pettersson was a franchise changing pick, but maybe only two spots earlier than where he’d have gone if the Canucks has passed on him. Quinn Hughes fell in their laps. He was #2/3 on my board for most of that year (and I even entertained the idea of him at #1). Canucks just got really lucky he fell, and it was a no brainer to nab him at #7. Podkolzin also fell in their lap IMO. 
 

The Canucks have done well with their other top-70 picks, getting McCann (another faller) with a late first, Lind (faller) in the second, Höglander (first round talent that fell in their lap), Woo (another faller), you see the pattern. Biggest factor is just not trading away too many picks (rebuilding 101) and having those early picks available to grab these guys. No magic in making those selection.

 

The only real magic, as I’ve said earlier, is getting quality players from mid-to-late rounds, and the bulk of those are the kids with New England connections, the region where Brackett, Benning, and Weisbrod all have deep roots. That’s really been the difference between getting average and above average draft performance over the past six drafts.

 

No genius work here. No uber-scouts. No draft gods. Just a selection of solid picks (on average) made from having good draft position (from losing games and not trading away the picks), and then adding some late steals picked from the region (New England) where our scouting department’s leadership group has the inside track can really play to their strengths. Throw in a sprinkling of good calls from our Euro scouts, the OHL, and the USHL, and you have the reasons for Vancouver’s draft success.

 

Not trying to really take away credit from anyone, just being realistic. It’s not easy. Brackett has performed admirably in his role. Plenty of teams have losing seasons, high picks, sell for more picks, and still **** the dog when draft day comes. The Canucks have performed well when they needed to, and have assembled a very nice group of young players and prospects through the draft. But it not exactly a shocking result. And nobody, Brackett or otherwise, has earned a statue outside the rink or saviour status.

Normally I would say BS to that but you have been remarkably consistent about that since even before Hughes got drafted by us. A poll happened before that draft on who was the 2nd best D after Dahlin and Hughes came in 3rd place after Boqvist and Bouchard. You were one of the few that picked Hughes. 

[Toews]

1 hour ago, TheRealistOptimist said:

I have 3 questions -

 

If Judd Brackett ever gets named GM somewhere, will he still be responsible for his teams draft success? (assuming they have any)

Also will he give full autonomy of the amateur scouting staff away?

 

Also would you want him to?

Full autonomy? No. No one gets full autonomy at any job unless they are also signing the cheques. I don't believe that Brackett is naive enough to demand that.

 

I believe a GM of a NHL organization has a lot on his plate and should surround himself with people they can trust to the do jobs they have been assigned to do. If you can't trust someone then let them go and find a replacement.

 

In good organizations, employees are made to feel like they have some autonomy over their work. This makes the employee feel empowered and valued. If you have worked on a project for months and then all of a sudden your boss comes in says, sorry but I am throwing out all your work and we are just going to use what I came up with. You are going to be asking yourself, "WTF am I still doing here?".

[mll]

2 hours ago, TheRealistOptimist said:

 

"The next season, Brackett was named Vancouver’s director of amateur scouting by Trevor Linden" 

A quote from this article someone posted above - https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/this-seasons-best-free-agent-might-end-up-being-vancouvers-judd-brackett

 

So was it Benning who promoted him?

I remember Benning going to media to explain why he promoted him - even called him a rising star in scouting.  There were some questions because he was fairly young but Benning felt strongly that he was the right person for the job after having watched him for a year.  He talked of how he would be mentored by some of their more experienced scouts (with Delorme being one of them).  He was also going to report and work closely with Weisbrod.  Benning had tasked Weisbrod to revamp their scouting process - he had that task in Calgary.    

 

The press release for promotions were in Linden's name as director of hockey ops.   There were several promotions and hirings announced in the same press release.  Weisbrod was promoted to AGM but it was clearly Benning that brought him over and wanted him in that role.  Brackett's promotion was in the same press release and he was going to report to Weisbrod.  Celebrini's promotion to head of human performance was also announced at the same time - that one was clearly a Linden decision as Benning wasn't involved in that part of the business then. 

 

 

4 hours ago, Jimmy McGill said:

of course not. But 'super scout" I mean come on. Also Benning is supposed to be an idiot, just smart enough to promote Judd, but just stupid enough to ignore his recommendations, except for the 4 or 5 best guys that somehow Judd the Great managed to force Benning to pick? the whole narrative is just goofy. 

Not going for a narrative and never implied that.  There's a reason Benning felt he deserved the promotion at the time.  Today Benning feels comfortable if they part ways.  Even Brackett talks of how it's a collaborative effort.  

 

Edited May 13, 2020 by mll

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

Nobody wins coming out of this.  The media has picked up this story and ran with it and likely won't stop until a resolution comes to pass.

 

All I see on media and on the sport radio shows now is that, John Weisbord did/said this, Jim Benning did/said this, Judd Brackett did/said this and it never stops.  The organization and the fans get dragged through the mud and volatility of this situation when we thought this organization was starting to regain some sort of stability.  

 

Just make a decision already, if Judd and management are budding heads, end the narrative and separate so that this speculation and gossip can stop.  If you think things can work out get it done. 

[shiznak]

11 hours ago, mll said:

Calgary were set to pick 14th and had no 2nd round pick that draft.  They couldn't wait until the 3rd round as he was projected to go in the 2nd round.  They moved down to 21st though and got a 2nd round pick (42nd) for moving back.   42nd was probably too close to where he could have been picked by another team.   

 

 

Regardless, picking him 21st when he was ranked in the 40s is too much of a risk and a waste of a first round pick. That would be the equivalent to us picking someone like Egor Afanasyev with our 10th overall pick last year, who was ranked as high as 16th but as low as 59th. 
 

Jankowski was ranked as high as 14th, and that was Craig Button’s personal rankings. Everyone else had him going in the late 2nd - mid 3rd round. It isn’t far off that he would still be there at 42.

Edited May 14, 2020 by shiznak