Before the 2021 NHL Draft began, Minnesota Wild director of amateur scouting Judd Brackett was letting it be known that this year is his longest draft board in his experience of being in a front office.
With that lengthy pile of names in-hand, Brackett went to work in a 24-hour slog of a draft weekend where the Wild have taken some immense risks but has received a lot of praise from public scouts about who they were able to pick in the top half. From hard-working forwards to respectable two-way defensemen, Minnesota got a crop that fit their projectable style.