Evan Gold is leaving the Boston Bruins organization and his role as the Providence Bruins general manager to explore other opportunities, and as one of the great young minds in hockey, many teams should be interested in him.
The Boston Bruins shook up their front office this week. They brought in Kevyn Adams and Dennis Bonvie while moving on from Evan Gold and other assistants from within. Gold was the general manager of the Providence Bruins and a big name in the GM circles.
Gold, like many people in the American Hockey League, is a young name to watch. He’s a GM many teams interviewed and wanted for their NHL teams, so expect plenty of interest in him even at this point in the summer.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are an easy connection. Like the Bruins, they also cleared out their front office this week and could bring in Gold, who was born and raised in the area.
Why Evan Gold Makes Sense For The Leafs
In his time in Providence, he proved that he could build up a winning environment and find elite talent. The Bruins didn’t have a great prospect pool but he brought in veterans who not only put them in a great position to win games but also allowed the prospects to learn the pro game and mature both on and off the ice.
The Toronto Marlies have an AHL GM who is coming off a Calder Cup title. Ryan Hardy built them into a competitive team, and he’s not the type of hockey mind the Maple Leafs would replace. However, Gold can be a part of the development group, helping find young players to bring to the NHL team.
The Maple Leafs are making a push to contend with their offseason moves, confirming that message. Yet, while trying to win now, they’ve quietly put together an impressive retool from Gavin McKenna to the prospects on the Marlies who took significant strides in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Having Gold around to oversee the retool will go a long way. While the Maple Leafs have a lot of people in their front office, arguably too many, Gold is someone they’ll want to have around.
The Maple Leafs Aren’t The Only Team That Makes Sense
The big news bomb on Wednesday morning was Steve Yzerman stepping down from the Detroit Red Wings GM role. It’s the ownership's way of admitting that the Yzerplan failed. After hiring a franchise icon, they might take the reverse route, hiring a GM with an AHL background who isn’t the big name out there yet is right for the job like Gold is.
The Vancouver Canucks are another team to keep in mind, a team that interviewed him for the GM job before hiring Ryan Johnson. So, maybe they make Gold a part of their front office while also reuniting him with his head coach from Providence, Ryan Mougenel, who was recently hired as an assistant.
The Tampa Bay Lightning and Syracuse Crunch are also worth keeping in mind. They don’t have a GM of their AHL team, and last season, Joel Bouchard, who was the head coach, was also the one making the front office moves for the AHL team. So, Gold can run the Crunch while working closely with the Lightning front office.
The New York Islanders have also become an intriguing option. Yes, Mathieu Darche runs the NHL team, and Chris Lamoriello is still the GM of the AHL team. However, the question is when Darche wants to make his own hire for the AHL team and have someone oversee the Hamilton Hammers.
Gold Is Another Part Of The Bruins Overhaul
The Bruins overhauled their AHL team from the top down this summer. It’s about as close as it gets to a rebuild at this level. Ryan Mougenel left the team earlier in the offseason, and now, Gold is gone too.
They will also have a different roster next season. Yes, they’ll have more prospects, but the veteran group that made them successful is no longer there. Riley Tufte joined the Utica Comets this summer while his linemates Patrick Brown and Matej Blumel are heading overseas.
It’s part of the gamble that the Bruins are taking. This is a team that wanted to change things up after a few years, yet is trying to fix something that isn’t broken. It’s tough to replace Gold and Mougenel, but they’ll try.
