Greatly depleted in goaltending by the losses of Gerry Cheevers to the World Hockey Association and Dan Bouchard to the Atlanta Flames in the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft, Boston's goaltending was down to 36-year-old career minor leaguer Ross Brooks and 44-year-old late season acquisition Jacques Plante. Determined to bolster that position, new Boston general manager Harry Sinden traded Stanfield to the Minnesota North Stars for goaltender Gilles Gilbert. Shifted to the right wing for the centre-rich North Stars, he played a season and a half for Minnesota, with much reduced production.
