- Judd Brackett leaves the Wild for the Leafs’ AGM, player evaluation role
- Freddie Hamilton joins Toronto as chief of staff
- Read below for how the hire fits John Chayka’s front-office overhaul
John Chayka is rebuilding the Leafs front office in real time, and he just landed one of the most respected scouts in the league.
Toronto announced Monday that Judd Brackett is the new Assistant General Manager, Player Evaluation, with Freddie Hamilton coming on as Chief of Staff. Brackett spent the last five seasons running amateur scouting in Minnesota and built a draft reputation that’s hard to argue with.
Brackett ran the Wild’s draft table for the last five years. Jesper Wallstedt, Zeev Buium, and Danila Yurov all came in under his watch.
Before Minnesota, he spent 12 years with Vancouver, including five as director of amateur scouting. The Canucks haul on his watch included Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, and Brock Boeser.
Chayka praised the hire in the team’s statement Monday:
“He has established one of the strongest amateur scouting and drafting track records in the NHL. Judd will play a key role in integrating traditional scouting, video analysis, and data-driven insights to strengthen our decision-making process.”
Hamilton’s path looks different. He played 75 NHL games across stops in San Jose, Colorado, Calgary, and Arizona before retiring, then earned an MBA at Yale and moved into private equity at Bolt Ventures.
In Toronto, the 34-year-old will handle strategy and cross-functional planning across hockey operations.
This continues a quick reshape under Chayka, who took over after Brad Treliving was let go late in the 2025-26 season and is stacking the front office with his own people. Brackett gives him a scout-first executive who has drafted real NHL talent for two different rebuilds.
The 2026 NHL Draft is in Buffalo on June 26. Brackett walks in with a seat at the war room table.
