Milt Schmidt Milton Conrad Schmidt ( born March 5 , 1918 , died January 4 , 2017 ) was a Canadian professional center , coach and general manager , mostly for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League . He is an Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame . Early years . Born in Kitchener , Ontario , Schmidt ' s early years were spent there . He played junior hockey with the Kitchener Empires and Kitchener Greenshirts . Schmidt was a childhood friend of fellow Hall of Famers Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer . Playing career . Schmidt played junior hockey with Dumart and Bauer in Kitchener , Ontario before their rights were all acquired by the Bruins in 1935 . After playing a final year of junior hockey in Kitchener , and half a year with the Bruins ' AHL Providence Reds farm team , Schmidt would be called up to the Bruins during the 1937 season . He would quickly prove himself as a hardnosed center , a skilled stickhandler and smooth playmaker . Schmidt and his childhood friends Bauer and Dumart would be teamed together in the NHL as well . They formed the famous Kraut Line , and were a strong and dependable line for the Bruins for most of the following fifteen seasons . They were a key ingredient to the Bruins ' success as they rampaged to the regular season title and a hard fought Stanley Cup victory in 1939 . The following season would be Schmidt ' s true coming out party , as he led the league in scoring and guided the Bruins to another first place finish and the third most goals in team history to date . The 1941 season saw Schmidt spearhead the Bruins to their second Cup win in three years . However , the powerhouse Brown and Gold were decimated by World War II the following year as Schmidt , Bauer and Dumart enlisted in the Canadian military and superstar American goaltender Frank Brimsek enlisted with the American Coast Guard . The Kraut Line found success playing hockey for the Ottawa RCAF Flyers by winning the Allan Cup in 1942 before heading overseas . Schmidt , Bauer and Dumart would end up missing three productive NHL seasons due to their service in the War . Schmidt returned for the beginning of the 1946 season . He resumed his starring ways and finished fourth in league scoring in 1947 . Named captain in 1951 , Schmidt won the Hart Trophy as the league ' s most valuable player that year . He retired as a player partway through the 1954 – 1955 to take over head coaching duties , replacing Lynn Patrick . Coaching career . He would coach the Bruins up to the 1966 season with a year and a half hiatus . After coaching the Bruins for 11 seasons Schmidt was promoted to the General Manager position in 1967 just as the league ushered in six new franchises , doubling in size . Schmidt would prove to be a great architect in the new era of the NHL , acquiring and drafting several key players to build a Bruins team that won two more Stanley Cups titles in 1970 , 1972 . His biggest deal was a blockbuster as he acquired youngsters Phil Esposito , Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield from the Chicago Black Hawks in exchange for journeymen Pit Martin , Gilles Marotte and Jack Norris . After his long and loyal career in the Bruins organization , Schmidt left the team to become the first General Manager of the expansion Washington Capitals for the start of the 1975 season . Unfortunately for Schmidt , the Capitals set a benchmark in futility that still stands as an NHL record today , as the new franchise finished the year with a minuscule 21 points with the worst record in the 18 team league ( 8 wins - 67 losses - 5 ties . Retirement . Schmidt was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961 . After his retirement from hockey management , Schmidt remained involved with the Bruins through their alumni team and as manager of the " Boards and Blades Club " at the Boston Garden . Milt Schmidt ' s jersey # 15 was retired by the Boston Bruins on March 13 , 1980 . On October 6 , 2010 the Bruins celebrated Schmidt ' s 75 years with the team during " Milt Schmidt Night " . On this night he received 2 commemorative Stanley Cup miniatures to represent the two cups he had brought to the club , plus he personally raised his number to the rafters inside TD Garden . He was the last surviving member of both the Bruins ' 1939 and 1941 Stanley Cup teams . Upon the death of Elmer Lach on April 4 , 2015 he became the oldest suriving NHL player . On October 20 , 2016 , Schmidt along with Bobby Orr dropped the ceremonial puck at the Boston Bruins ' first home game of the season . Schmidt died after a recent stroke on January 4 , 2017 in Boston at the age of 98 ; at the time of his death he was the oldest living former NHL player .