George Richards, FHN Publisher
In the wake of Bill Zito taking control of the Florida Panthers’ hockey operations, assistant general manager Eric Joyce has left the team after seven years.
Jason Bukala, who had been the Panthers’ director of amateur scouting, is also no longer with the team.
Joyce, 42, who had been with the Panthers the past seven years will be joining the Toronto Maple Leafs’ as their new director of hockey strategy.
Joyce had served as the GM of Florida’s AHL teams in San Antonio, Portland and Springfield during his time with the Panthers.
“Eric is a great guy and there is no ill will on either side of this,” said team president Matt Caldwell, a close friend of Joyce since they were both at West Point.
Joyce started with the Panthers in 2013 not long after Vinnie Viola bought the team.
He briefly served as the team’s co-general manager with Steve Werier during the 2016-17 season once Tom Rowe stepped down to coach the team.
Although Werier left the team once Dale Tallon returned as GM, Joyce remained and the was the team’s VP for hockey operations as well as assistant general manager.
Over the past seven years, Joyce has mostly been in charge of the Panthers’ AHL team which is currently based in Charlotte, N.C.
The Panthers apparently have not decided who will be GM of the Charlotte Checkers.
Both Zito and Paul Fenton, the former Minnesota GM who was hired by the Panthers as a senior advisor to Zito last month, have experience running AHL teams.
When Tallon was let go following Florida’s quick ouster by the Islanders in August, Joyce was initially thought to be a candidate for the GM job.
But Caldwell said he was not considered in part because the team wanted someone “with a fresh set of eyes.”
On Sept. 1, just before the Panthers offered Zito the job, Caldwell said Joyce was not considered because “we just didn’t think he was ready.”
The Panthers told prospective candidates that they would not only be in charge of hockey operations, but could bring in their own people and not be bound to people currently under contract.
When Zito brought in former NHL general managers Fenton and Rick Dudley a few weeks after he was hired, it appeared Joyce’s departure from the team was inevitable.
“We needed someone to come in and be able to lead our department without handcuffs,” Caldwell said. “Bill wanted to bring in his own guys.”
The Panthers also released Bukala, who had run their drafts since he replaced Scott Luce in 2016.
For this past draft, Zito ran point with head European scout Jari Kekalainen.