Bruins Still Benefitting From Jeff Gorton’s Moves as Interim GM in 2006

Jeff Gorton was the Bruins interim general manager for a short time in 2006, but during his tenure, he helped to build a big part of their foundation today.

Following the 2005-06 NHL season, the Boston Bruins fired general manager Mike O’Connell, ending his six-year tenure in Boston. Assistant GM Jeff Gorton was named interim GM and was in charge of the Bruins 2006 NHL Entry Draft at General Motors Place in Vancouver in late June.

In an 11 day span, in mid-June, Gorton made four trades, mostly involving draft picks and prospects. Two of those four deals are still making a huge impact for the Bruins 14 years later.

Two Minor Deals

Gorton’s first trade happened a week before the draft when he dealt the Bruins seventh-round pick in the 2006 draft to the Toronto Maple Leafs. In exchange, the Bruins received the rights to right-wing Petr Tenkrat.

With their pick, Toronto chose Chris Frank 188th overall. Frank never played a game in the NHL. Tenkrat spent the 2006-07 season with the Bruins, scoring nine goals and he had five assists in 64 games. The following year, Tenkrat returned to his home country of Sweden to finish out his career between the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) and the Czech Professional Hockey League (CZE).

Gorton’s fourth move was his last move 11 days after the draft pick swap with the Maple Leafs when he traded defensemen Nick Boynton and a 2007 fourth-round pick to the Arizona Coyotes for Paul Mara. Mara played one season in Boston with three goals and 15 assists in 59 games in the 2006-07 season.

The middle two moves made by Gorton have had a long-lasting effect on the Bruins and their success in the last decade and a half.