Scouts throughout the NHL all have a story about the one prospect they watched for countless hours that they begged their organization to draft -- only to watch that player become a success elsewhere.
For Judd Brackett, his cautionary tale of what could have been has helped the Minnesota Wild build what might be the NHL's best farm system as part of a larger plan to become the next long-term Stanley Cup contender.
Before Brackett was the Wild's director of amateur scouting, he was an amateur regional scout. His life was about those numerous long car rides through hundreds of miles of dreary and repetitive landscapes, with the payoff in finding a prospect who could possibly reach the NHL.