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

By Scott Roche

BUFFALO, NY - JUNE 25: New York Rangers General Manager Jeff Gorton and New York Rangers Director, European Scouting Nickolai Bobrov looks on during the 2016 NHL Draft on June 25, 2016 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY - JUNE 25: New York Rangers General Manager Jeff Gorton and New York Rangers Director, European Scouting Nickolai Bobrov looks on during the 2016 NHL Draft on June 25, 2016 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Boston Bruins Brad Marchand
TAMPA, FLORIDA – DECEMBER 12: Brad Marchand #63 of the Boston Bruins reacts to a play during a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on December 12, 2019 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

An exchange of draft picks landed a key piece to the Bruins offense.

Gorton’s second move on draft day was with the New York Islanders. He traded the Bruins fourth and fifth-round picks in the 2006 draft for the Islanders’ third-round pick at No. 71. There, Gorton selected left wing Brad Marchand out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

What a selection this has turned out to be. One of the game’s biggest agitators, Marchand has turned into one of the game’s most consistent point producers. He has settled in with Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak to form one of the most, if not the most, dangerous and scoring first lines in the NHL.

Marchand does it all for the Bruins. He is one of the best players in each zone 5-on-5, he is on the top power play unit and he kills penalties. Even playing all three facets of the games, he still tied a career-high with a plus-25 last season in 70 games.

In 751 career games for the Bruins, he has 290 goals (56 game-winning tallies) and 356 assists. He has 52 career power play goals and 82 assists, while scoring 27 shorthanded goals. Last season before the season paused because of the coronavirus pandemic, he had 28 goals and 59 assists in all 70 games.

In the Toronto playoff bubble, he was by far and away Boston’s best player with seven goals and five assists in 13 games.

In the Bruins run to a Stanly Cup in 2011, he had 11 goals and eight assists with a plus-12 as a 22-year old in 23 postseason games. His best postseason was in 2019 when he had nine goals and 14 assists in 23 games as the Bruins lost Game 7 of the Final at home to the Blues.

He has become one of the Bruins’ top play-makers over the last couple of seasons. In 2017-18, he had 51 assists before he set a career-high 64 the following year. This season, he was on pace to set another career-high if the season was not paused.

Next. Bruins: Analyzing and grading the Riley Duran pick. dark

The Bruins hired Peter Chiarelli as GM in July of 2006 and Gorton went back to assistant GM. He would be fired a year later before being hired by the New York Rangers as a Pro Scout. In July of 2015, the Rangers hired him as their GM, but it was two moves that he made in 2006 at the NHL Entry Draft that helped to build a foundation that the Bruins are still seeing the benefits of today.

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