Are Vancouver Canucks going to hire Evan Gold as their next GM?
Even though it’s been 15 years, most hardcore Vancouver Canucks fans aren’t over the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. And they probably never will be.
Adding to the fan trauma is the fact that in 2014, the Canucks hired Boston Bruins assistant general manager Jim Benning to take over as GM in Vancouver. It led to one of the most disastrous GM tenures in recent NHL history.
So, are Canucks fans emotionally ready for the team to hire another Bruins executive to steer the ship?
With the Canucks whittling down their GM list to five candidates, one of the three individuals who we know got an in-person meeting was Bruins AGM Evan Gold.
And, fan trauma aside, he seems like a good candidate.
Unlike Benning (or Patrik Allvin, for that matter), Gold doesn’t come from an amateur scouting background. The Toronto native made his mark in NHL front offices by becoming a whiz in terms of navigating the salary cap and legal framework of the CBA. He’s been doing so since 2008, when he joined the Washington Capitals front office on a full-time basis.
However, his time with the team actually dated back to 2000, when he initially took on an internship with the Caps.
“I got a job licking envelopes and cold calling people,” Gold said on The Maine Hockey Report.
“That was pre-Ovechkin, remember? So, cold calling people about who wants to buy Caps tickets. That was a great learning experience for me. I got my foot in the door of an NHL franchise, which I was very glad to be doing, and kind of made a connection on the hockey ops side.”
When Gold joined the Caps full-time in 2008, he was hired by George McPhee.
Gold has now been with Boston for a decade, working as the director of legal affairs, assistant general manager, and GM of their AHL team, the Providence Bruins.
While his 15+ years working full-time in NHL front offices have led to a wealth of experiences, there’s one thing Gold is touted for: his salary cap wizardry.
His crowning achievement was arguably during the 2022-23 season, when Boston posted the best regular-season record in NHL history.
The Bruins marvellously maneuvered the salary cap twice with Jeremy Swayman’s last two contracts. (Marc DesRosiers/Imagn Images)
They had to perform salary gap gymnastics from the get-go, waiving popular veterans like Chris Wagner, Mike Rielly, and Nick Foglino, while also succinctly using the LTIR strategy for multiple players like Charlie McAvoy and Taylor Hall.
The Bruins also maintained cap flexibility the following season by signing Jeremy Swayman to a one-year bridge deal, allowing them to keep veterans like Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand on the roster.
Boston also rode a hard negotiation with Swayman before signing him to a long-term extension in 2024, something that Gold perhaps deserves some credit for.
“A candidate that’s really impressed since day one,” CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal said Thursday on Donnie and Dhali.
“Good, sharp hockey mind. One agent told me that Gold is a tough negotiator. He’s just not a spare part in Boston, he’s involved in their tough decisions.”
Gold seems to be emerging as a top candidate for the Canucks GM job, with Daily Faceoff’s Irfaan Gaffar stating Thursday that his money is on the 46-year-old becoming Vancouver’s next GM.
For a Canucks team that desperately needs to do things differently, they could do worse than targeting someone like Gold for their GM opening. His experience as a salary cap wizard, coupled with the fact that he’s been a key decision maker on a perennial playoff team in Boston, makes him a tantalizing target for the job.
“I’m proud that I’ve worked for two really great organizations,” Gold said. “I’ve been very fortunate to work with really good hockey people, people who’ve given me some elbow room to spread my wings a little bit and just learn and continue to grow.”