Why Judd Brackett was let go as the Canucks' Director of Amateur Scouting

The Canucks announced the departure of Judd Brackett on Friday, the generally accepted day of the week for burying news, but the writing has been on the wall for months.

Patrick Johnston at The Province was the first to report on the issues behind the scenes between Canucks GM Jim Benning and Director of Amateur Scouting Brackett. The Canucks' recent success at the draft table has turned Brackett into a bit of a folk hero in Vancouver, but his contract was set to expire at the end of the season.

Benning said that he had offered Brackett a two-year contract extension, but it was rejected. There was speculation as to why, but it narrowed down in recent months to an issue of autonomy. Brackett wanted to be able to run his own department, while Benning and Assistant GM John Weisbrod had expressed their desire to be more heavily involved in scouting.

On a conference call with the media on Friday, Benning confirmed that autonomy was one of the primary issues, but suggested that Brackett was asking for too much.

Jim Benning confirms that autonomy was the big divide with Judd Brackett.

"I believe in a chain of command... I don't know too many places where a team is going to give a head scout total autonomy to make all the picks without collaborating with people higher up..."

— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) May 29, 2020

That statement seems at odds with Brackett's approach to drafting, however, which has always emphasized collaboration. He has never taken sole credit for drafting any player. In many ways, Brackett's success as Director of Amateur Scouting has been more about his emphasis on a collaborative process than on his own keen eye as a scout.

Brackett's own statement on his private Twitter account made it clear that the issue of autonomy wasn't about who gets credit for draft picks, but about "personnel and process."

Statement from Judd Brackett. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/rHiRW44L72

— Daniel Wagner (@passittobulis) May 29, 2020

As Director of Amateur Scouting, it would be expected that Brackett would be in charge of the personnel in his department, though certainly there would be discussion with Benning and Weisbrod. That would extend to hiring and firing scouts, which appears to be one of the biggest sticking points.

This extends all the way back to last summer. In early July, shortly after the 2019 Entry Draft in Vancouver, the Canucks restructured their scouting department. Amateur scouts Chris MacDonald, Dan Palango, Paul Gallagher, and Doug Gasper all departed the team. 

MacDonald was hired by the Arizona Coyotes as Director of European Amateur Scouting, a promotion that Benning suggested was emblematic of the quality of the Canucks' scouting staff. 

"Other organizations are looking at our people and looking to give them higher opportunities and I take pride in that," said Benning. He didn't, however, comment on the departure of the other three scouts.

Gasper is now Assistant General Manager for the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings, while Palango and Gallagher do not yet appear to have jobs in hockey.

These moves were made by Benning, not Brackett. Palango, in particular, worked quite closely with Brackett, and was trusted as a crosschecker: a scout that would provide an important second opinion on reports from regional scouts.

It's likely that Brackett was unhappy to see a scout he trusted so much let go, particularly if it was done without his say so, undermining his authority as Director of Amateur Scouting. These and many other personnel decisions in the scouting department were made independent of Brackett's input.

Add that to other issues that have been reported recently — making trades for prospects "against the counsel of their scouting staff" and changing the draft board heading into day two of the 2019 draft — and you can see why Brackett wanted assurances of autonomy in his next contract.

Benning wasn't willing to make those assurances. It's clear that Benning and Weisbrod want to take a more hands-on approach with scouting, to the point that they let go of scouts that Brackett trusted and wanted to keep in the scouting department.

While Benning has suggested they will look to replace Brackett with a new Director of Amateur Scouting, though he's unsure if it will involve promoting someone from within the organization or hiring from outside the organization. Of course, that brings to mind similar assurances that they would replace Trevor Linden as President of Hockey Operations.

It's entirely possible that Benning and Weisbrod's desire to be more involved in scouting will result in Weisbrod taking on the Director of Amateur Scouting role in addition to his job as Assistant GM.