1988 NHL Waiver Draft

The 1988 Waiver Draft was held on October 3. The rules were almost the same as they were in 1987. In 1986 and 1987 the non-playoff clubs were allowed to make choices for an unlimited number of rounds to start off the draft, and only after all of the non-playoff clubs passed on their choices in a round were the playoff clubs allowed to begin making selections. In 1988 the number of rounds where the non-playoff clubs had this exclusivity was set to a hard limit of two. In the third and all subsequent rounds the selection order would include the playoff clubs as well. As before in the rounds where only the non-playoff teams made picks they were not allowed to choose players from other teams in their own respective divisions.

The number of players on the protected lists increased again, back up to the 18 skaters and two goalies it had been in 1980 and 1981.

Player	Picked by	Picked from	Player dropped from protected list	Cash or claim?
Round 1
Stewart Gavin	Minnesota North Stars	Hartford Whalers	none	$7,500
Behn Wilson	Vancouver Canucks	Chicago Blackhawks	none	$2,500
Steve Dykstra	Pittsburgh Penguins	Edmonton Oilers	none	$12,500
Craig Redmond	New York Rangers	Edmonton Oilers	none	$20,000
Round 2
Tom Martin	Minnesota North Stars	Hartford Whalers	none	$30,000
Risto Siltanen	Vancouver Canucks	New Jersey Devils	none	$12,000
Jay Caufield	Pittsburgh Penguins	Minnesota North Stars	Dan Frawley	$40,000
Round 3
Andy Brickley	Boston Bruins	New Jersey Devils	Bill O'Dwyer	$12,500
Ken Hammond	Edmonton Oilers	Los Angeles Kings	Dave Hannan	$10,000
Round 4
Ken Leiter	Minnesota North Stars	New York Islanders	Curt Giles	$15,000
Dave Hannan	Pittsburgh Penguins	Edmonton Oilers	Dave Hunter	claim
Round 5
Jim Holford	Los Angeles Kings	Buffalo Sabres	Paul Guay	$30,000
Steve Smith	Buffalo Sabres	Calgary Flames	Doug Smith	$10,000
Doug Sulliman	Philadelphia Flyers	New Jersey Devils	Brad Marsh	$5,000
Doug Smith	Edmonton Oilers	Buffalo Sabres	Mark Lamb	$10,000
Round 6
Brad Marsh	Toronto Maple Leafs	Philadelphia Flyers	Dale DeGray	$2,500
Dale DeGray	Los Angeles Kings	Toronto Maple Leafs	Tim Watters	$12,500

Note that the Steve Smith taken by the Sabres from the Flames in the fifth round is not the same Steve Smith who played for the Oilers in the 1980s and infamously scored an own-goal in game seven of the 1986 Smythe Division Finals. That Steve Smith, full name James Stephen Smith, was born April 30, 1963 in Glasgow, Scotland. The Steve Smith taken in the 1988 Waiver Draft was born April 4, 1963 in Trenton, Ontario. He was drafted in 1981 by the Flyers and had just signed as a free agent with the Flames in the summer of 1988. He never played a game for the Flames. The other Steve Smith, the one who played for the Oilers in the '80s and scored that infamous goal against his own team in '86, did play for the Flames eventually. He retired in 1997 and spent a year with the Flames as an assistant coach, after which he made a comeback and played three more seasons with the Flames.

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NHL Draft Results