1990 NHL Waiver Draft

The 1990 Waiver Draft was held on October 1. The rules were the same as they were before except for the new provision that any player traded in the four weeks before the draft could not be reacquired by the club that traded him in the following season. This new rule was added to prevent teams from 'stashing' players on another team as the Flyers and Jets had done with Pete Peeters and Keith Acton in 1989.

Player	Picked by	Picked from	Player dropped from protected list	Cash or claim?
Round 1
Wayne Van Dorp	Quebec Nordiques	Chicago Blackhawks	???	$50,000
Randy Gregg	Vancouver Canucks	Edmonton Oilers	???	$15,000
Bengt-Åke Gustafsson	Detroit Red Wings	Washington Capitals	???	cash
Round 2
Shawn Anderson	Quebec Nordiques	Washington Capitals	???	cash
Mario Marois	St. Louis Blues	Quebec Nordiques	Harold Snepsts	cash
Round 3
Aaron Broten	Quebec Nordiques	Minnesota North Stars	???	$10,000
Rod Buskas	Los Angeles Kings	Pittsburgh Penguins	???	$10,000
Bob Bassen	St. Louis Blues	Chicago Blackhawks	Mario Marois	cash

The Canucks' choice of (Dr.) Randy Gregg in the first round was a... curious one. Gregg had declared that he would retire from the game of hockey after winning his fifth and final Stanley Cup with the Oilers. He hadn't filed his retirement papers with the league but made it known that any team that chose him in the waiver draft would be wasting a pick. His home town was Edmonton, he was completing his residency in Edmonton; he didn't want to live anywhere or do anything else than to practice medicine in Edmonton. This was the third time he had declared his retirement, and he intended it to be his last. The Canucks picked him anyway, just as they had picked Behn Wilson in the 1988 Waiver Draft. It took over a year of negotiating and very generous remuneration to convince Dr. Gregg to lace up the skates one last time. He played 21 regular season and seven playoff games with the Canucks in 1991-92, after which he retired for the fourth and final time from the game of hockey.

The Red Wings' choice of Bengt Gustafsson was another bizarre one. Gustafsson left the Capitals in 1989 and returned to his native Sweden. He wanted to raise his kids in Sweden. He had absolutely no desire to return to North America and play in the NHL but the Red Wings picked him anyway. They lost him to the Sharks in the 1991 Expansion Draft, and just as he promised Gustafsson never played professional hockey in North America again.

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1992 Waiver Draft→

NHL Draft Results