Sunday, August 26, 2018

1999 NHL Expansion Draft

For more information see the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft

The Atlanta Thrashers were the second of the last four NHL expansion teams to take to the ice. The Nashville Predators debuted in 1998, and in 1999 it was the Thrashers' turn.

The Thrashers were owned by Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a division of Time Warner. TBS also owned the Atlanta Hawks basketball club and Atlanta Braves baseball club. Harvey Schiller, president of TBS's Turner Sports division and the Thrashers, hired Don Waddell as the Thrashers' first GM on June 23, 1998 (two months to the day after the "cyber-launch" of the team's logo, unveiled on their website). In his youth Waddell was a defenceman at Northern Michigan University; in fact he was one of the last cuts to not make the 1980 U.S. Olympic team. He played most of his pro hockey career in the IHL, and after he retired as a player in 1988 at the age of 30 he became GM of the IHL's Flint Spirits. By 1995 he had become GM of the IHL's Orlando Solar Bears and a vice-president of RDV Sports, the Solar Bears' parent company that also owned the Orlando Magic basketball club. He left Orlando in 1997 to become assistant GM of the Detroit Red Wings under Ken Holland.

The rules of the 1999 Expansion Draft were set well in advance and were almost identical to the rules of the 1998 Expansion Draft. The only differences were that any team that lost a goalie in 1998 was exempt from losing another in 1999, and in 1999 teams could only chose to protect either one goaltender, five defencemen and nine forwards or two goaltenders, three defencemen and seven forwards—they had been afforded an extra forward or defenceman in 1998.

The Thrashers would chose only one player from each of the other clubs except for the Predators. The Predators, being that they had just finished their first season, were exempt from the draft entirely. Of those 26 players the Thrashers had to choose at least three goaltenders, eight defencemen and 13 forwards; the other two players could be of any position.

The draft announcement was made on Friday, June 25, 1999 beginning at 3:00 pm Eastern Time from the FleetCenter in Boston. A trade freeze went into effect on Sunday the 20th at 5:00 pm (less than 24 hours after the Stanley Cup was won by the Stars), and protected lists were filed on Monday the 21st.

Protected Lists


All teams chose to protect one goalie, five defencemen and nine forwards.

Mighty Ducks of AnaheimBoston BruinsBuffalo SabresCalgary Flames
Goaltenders
exemptByron DafoeDominik HasekFred Brathwaite
Defencemen
Kevin HallerRay BourqueJay McKeeTommy Albelin
Jason MarshallKyle McLarenRichard SmehlikJamie Allison
Fredrik OlaussonDon SweeneyRhett WarrenerSami Helenius
Ruslan SaleiMattias TimanderJason WoolleyCale Hulse
Pavel TrnkaDarren Van ImpeAlexei ZhitnikTodd Simpson
Forwards
Frank BanhamJason AllisonStu BarnesValeri Bure
Ted DonatoKen BelangerCurtis BrownRene Corbet
Travis GreenAnson CarterMichal GrosekHnat Domenichelli
Paul KariyaRob DiMaioBrian HolzingerJarome Iginla
Mike LeclercSteve HeinzeMike PecaAndrei Nazarov
Marty McInnisDmitri KhristichWayne PrimeauJeff Shantz
Steve RucchinRandy RobitailleMiroslav SatanCory Stillman
Teemu SelanneTim TaylorVaclav VaradaJason Wiemer
Jeremy StevensonLandon WilsonDixon WardClarke Wilm
Carolina HurricanesChicago BlackhawksColorado AvalancheDallas Stars
Goaltenders
Arturs IrbeJocelyn ThibaultPatrick RoyEd Belfour
Defencemen
Steven HalkoJamie AllisonGreg de VriesDerian Hatcher
Sean HillBrad BrownAdam FooteBrad Lukowich
Marek MalikAnders ErikssonJon KlemmRichard Matvichuk
Nolan PrattBoris MironovAaron MillerDarryl Sydor
Glen WesleyBryan MuirSandis OzolinshSergei Zubov
Forwards
Bates BattagliaTony AmonteAdam DeadmarshBrett Hull
Ron FrancisEric DazéShean DonovanMike Keane
Martin GelinasDoug GilmourTheoren FleuryJamie Langenbrunner
Sami KapanenJean-Yves LerouxPeter ForsbergJere Lehtinen
Andrei KovalenkoJosef MarhaValeri KamenskyGrant Marshall
Kent MandervilleDean McAmmondClaude LemieuxMike Modano
Jeff O'NeillChris MurrayShjon PodeinJoe Nieuwendyk
Keith PrimeauReid SimpsonJoe SakicDerek Plante
Gary RobertsAlexei ZhamnovStephane YelleJamie Wright
Detroit Red WingsEdmonton OilersFlorida PanthersLos Angeles Kings
Goaltenders
Chris OsgoodTommy SaloSean Burkeexempt
Defencemen
Chris CheliosSean BrownBret HedicanAki Berg
Mathieu DandenaultRoman HamrlikFilip KubaRob Blake
Nicklas LidstromChristian LaflammePaul LausJaroslav Modry
Larry MurphyJanne NiinimaaRobert SvehlaMattias Norstrom
Aaron WardJason SmithMike WilsonSean O'Donnell
Forwards
Kris DraperJosef BeranekPavel BureDonald Audette
Sergei FederovMike GrierRadek DvorakCraig Johnson
Tomas HolmstromBill GuerinRyan JohnsonIan Laperriere
Vyacheslav KozlovChad KilgerViktor KozlovGlen Murray
Martin LapointeGeorges LaraqueBill LindsayZigmund Palffy
Kirk MaltbyTodd MarchantScott MellanbyLuc Robitaille
Darren McCartyEthan MoreauRob NiedermayerBryan Smolinksi
Brendan ShanahanRyan SmythChris WellsJozef Stumpel
Steve YzermanDoug WeightRay WhitneyMarko Tuomainen
Montreal CanadiensNew Jersey DevilsNew York IslandersNew York Rangers
Goaltenders
exemptexemptFelix Potvinexempt
Defencemen
Patrice BriseboisKen DaneykoEric CairnsJason Doig
Vladimir MalakhovScott NiedermayerVladimir ChebaturkinBrian Leetch
Craig RivetLyle OdeleinKenny JonssonRumun Ndur
Igor UlanovSheldon SourayRich PilonPeter Popovic
Eric WeinrichScott StevensBarry RichterMathieu Schneider
Forwards
Benoit BrunetJason ArnottMariusz CzerkawskiAdam Graves
Shayne CorsonPatrik EliasSean HaggertyTodd Harvey
Saku KoivuBobby HolikBrad IsbisterMike Knuble
Trevor LindenRandy McKayOlli JokinenEric Lacroix
Martin RucinskyKrzysztof OliwaJorgen JonssonDarren Langdon
Brian SavageJay PandolfoClaude LapointeJohn MacLean
Turner StevensonDenis PedersonMark LawrencePetr Nedved
Scott ThorntonBrian RolstonMats LindgrenKevin Stevens
Dainius ZubrusPetr SykoraVladimir OrszaghNiklas Sundstrom
Ottawa SenatorsPhiladelphia FlyersPhoenix CoyotesPittsburgh Penguins
Goaltenders
Patrick LalimeJohn VanbiesbrouckNikolai KhabibulinTom Barrasso
Defencemen
Igor KravchukAdam BurtKeith CarneySven Butenschon
Janne LaukkanenEric DesjardinsJyrki LummeKevin Hatcher
Lance PitlickKarl DykhuisTeppo NumminenDarius Kasparaitis
Wade ReddenDan McGillisDeron QuintJiri Slegr
Jason YorkChris TherienOleg TverdovskyBrad Werenka
Forwards
Daniel AlfredssonRod Brind'amourGreg AdamsMatthew Barnaby
Radek BonkKeith JonesShane DoanJan Hrdina
Viacheslav ButsayevDaymond LangkowDallas DrakeJaromir Jagr
Andreas DackellJohn LeclairTavis HansenAlexei Kovalev
Bruce GardinerEric LindrosRobert ReichelRobert Lang
Steve MartinsSandy McCarthyJeremy RoenickKip Miller
Shawn McEachernMark RecchiKeith TkachukIan Moran
Vaclav ProspalMikael RenbergRick TocchetMartin Straka
Alexei YashinValeri ZelepukinJuha YlonenGerman Titov
St. Louis BluesSan Jose SharksTampa Bay LightningToronto Maple Leafs
Goaltenders
Roman TurekSteve ShieldsKevin HodsonCurtis Joseph
Defencemen
Jeff FinleyBryan MarchmentDrew BannisterBryan Berard
Al MacInnisJeff NortonCory CrossSylvain Côté
Ricard PerssonMarcus RagnarssonSergey GusevAlexander Karpovtsev
Libor ProchazkaMike RathjePetr SvobodaChris McAllister
Chris ProngerGary Suter Dimitri Yushkevich
Forwards
Jim CampbellMichal BrosColin ForbesSergei Berezin
Craig ConroyVincent DamphousseChris GrattonMike Johnson
Pavol DemitraJeff FriesenSteve KellyIgor Korolev
Mike EastwoodSteve GuollaMichael NylanderFredrik Modin
Jamal MayersStephane MatteauRobert PetrovickyYanic Perreault
Scott PellerinBrantt MyhresMike SillingerSteve Sullivan
Pascal RhéaumeOwen NolanCorey SpringMats Sundin
Pierre TurgeonMike RicciDarcy TuckerSteve Thomas
Scott YoungRon SternRob ZamunerTodd Warriner
Vancouver CanucksWashington Capitals
Goaltenders
Kevin WeekesOlaf Kolzig
Defencemen
Chad AllanSergei Gonchar
Adrian AucoinCalle Johansson
Ed JovanovskiKen Klee
Bryan McCabeJoe Reekie
Jason StrudwickBrendan Witt
Forwards
Todd BertuzziJames Black
Donald BrashearPeter Bondra
Darby HendricksonBenoit Gratton
Brad MaySteve Konowalchuk
Mark MessierAndrei Nikolishin
Alexander MogilnyAdam Oates
Markus NaslundChris Simon
Dave ScatchardJaroslav Svejkovsky
Harry YorkRichard Zednik

Available Players


In the days leading up to the expansion draft the existing clubs made a few trades:

  • Damian Rhodes from the Senators to the Thrashers for future considerations on June 18 (TRIVIA: Rhodes was therefore the very first Atlanta Thrasher)
  • Ted Donato and the rights to Antti-Jussi Niemi from the Senators to the Mighty Ducks for Patrick Lalime on June 18
  • Mathieu Biron, Josh Green, Olli Jokinen and a first round pick (8th overall—Taylor Pyatt) in the 1999 Entry Draft from the Kings to the Islanders for Marcel Cousineau, Zigmund Palffy, Bryan Smolinski and a fourth round pick in '99 (Daniel Johansson) on June 19
  • Roman Turek from the Stars to the Blues for a second round pick in '99 (Dan Jancevski) on June 20
  • Andrew Brunette from the Predators to the Thrashers for a conditional pick in the 2000 Entry Draft (5th round—Matt Hendricks) on June 21

Rather than try to acquire a starting goalie in the expansion draft Don Waddell made a deal with the Senators for Rhodes. Rhodes and Ron Tugnutt combined to make a very strong goaltending duo in Ottawa, but Tugnutt was coming off an excellent season and Rhodes was a pending Group II restricted free agent. Had they protected both Rhodes and Tugnutt they would have had to have offered a goalie with at least 10 games played in 1998-99; Tugnutt and Rhodes were the only two goalies the Senators played in '98-'99, so they would have had to have acquired one from another team. Being that Rhodes was a pending free agent (albeit restricted) and was expected to demand a hefty pay raise, the Senators acquired Patrick Lalime from the Ducks and traded Rhodes to the Thrashers for future considerations. Reportedly the future considerations were to not select one of the Senators' other goalies in the expansion draft, in effect making both Lalime and Tugnutt safe (officially the Senators protected Lalime). The Thrashers got themselves a bona fide starting goalie without having to draft one in the expansion draft and the Senators came through the draft pretty much scot-free.

The Blues acquired Roman Turek only hours after the Stars won the Stanley Cup. Grant Fuhr was 36 years old and about to turn 37, Jamie McLennan was a solid if unspectacular backup and former Vezina Trophy winner Jim Carey's career was over at this point. The Blues needed a new goalie and they found one in Stars' backup Turek. Turek would lead the Blues to a President's Trophy season in 1999-2000 but became known as a choke artist in the playoffs; the Blues were upset in the first round of the 2000 playoffs by the eighth-place San Jose Sharks and in 2001 they lost unceremoniously to the Avalanche in the conference finals. Turek was traded to the Flames in the summer of 2001.

The Panthers were also looking for at least one new goalie. Sean Burke was an adequate starter, filling in for the departed John Vanbiesbrouck in 1998-99, but backup Kirk McLean was an unrestricted free agent and was sure to leave for greener pastures. They didn't acquire one prior to the trade freeze but they made a deal with the Thrashers, which I write of in more detail below.

You might have noticed that the Thrashers' acquisition of Andrew Brunette was officially made on June 21, after the trade freeze went into effect. Being that the Predators weren't involved in the expansion draft the trade ban didn't apply to deals between the Predators and Thrashers.

The trade between the Islanders and Kings, "the Palffy trade", was an interesting one. The Islanders were owned by Steve Gluckstern, Howard Milstein and Edward Milstein's New York Sports Ventures at the time, and they were embroiled in a dispute with Nassau County officials to replace Nassau County Veterans Memorial Coliseum which even then, 15 years ago as of the writing of this, was in disrepair. Nassau balked at footing the bill for a new arena and in response NYSV said they'd cut the payroll of the Islanders by half in order to stem their losses (estimated to be over $20 million for the '98-'99 season). They had already traded away Bryan Berard, Scott Lachance, Ted Donato, Tommy Salo, Robert Reichel, Sergei Nemchinov and Trevor Linden. Palffy was the team's remaining highest player by far, set to make about $5 million (out of a total payroll of less than $25 million) in 1999-2000.

Leading up to the expansion draft Islanders GM Mike Milbury had been negotiating with the crosstown rival Rangers for Palffy's services; the Broadway Blueshirts could have certainly accommodated Palffy's salary. But there was an wrinkle to the negotiations with the Rangers: Cablevision, the company that owned the Rangers, owned the Islanders' local TV broadcast rights. Tentatively the Rangers offered Niklas Sundstrom, Todd Harvey, a prospect, their 11th overall '99 Entry Draft pick and $2.5 million in cash to the islanders for Palffy and defenceman Rich Pilon. The sticking point was the money. The Islanders' owners wanted more.

Negotiations between the Rangers and Islanders for Palffy went over and above GMs Milbury and Neil Smith's heads, right into the Cablevision corporate boardroom: Gluckstern and the Milsteins would give Palffy and Pilon to the Rangers for Sundstrom, Harvey, the prospect, pick and cash, and other concessions related to their television broadcast agreement (more games on TV, more money for the broadcast rights, etc.). It was also rumoured that NYSV was demanding that Cablevision financially support the construction of a new arena for the Islanders, or help lobby Nassau County officials to build one. Cablevision wouldn't have it and negotiations between the two groups fell apart.

The Kings stepped in and made the Islanders an offer: Palffy for prospects, the 8th overall pick and $2 million. It was suspected that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman himself became involved in the negotiations and would have cancelled the trade on the grounds that the Islanders' owners were deliberately debilitating the team by selling off their player assets for cash. They had already traded away Berard, Salo, Reichel, Linden, etc.; to trade away Palffy without acquiring tangible player assets in return would have crippled the team.

Eventually all parties came to amenable agreement: Palffy, Smolinski (about $1.75 million in payroll), minor league goalie Cousineau and a fourth round pick for 1996 30th overall entry draft pick Josh Green, 1997 3rd overall pick Olli Jokinen, 1998 21st overall pick Mathieu Biron and the 8th overall pick in 1999. Kings GM Dave Taylor was reportedly very hesitant to include Jokinen however Mike Milbury insisted and it was suspected the deal wouldn't have gone through the NHL's vetting without Jokinen's inclusion.

Available Players


Mighty Ducks of AnaheimBoston BruinsBuffalo SabresCalgary Flames
Goaltenders
exemptJoakim Persson#Tom DraperIITyler MossII
 Paxton SchaferIIDwayne RolosonAndrei TrefilovII
 Robbie TallasII Ken WreggetIII
Defencemen
Byron BriskeIIDean ChynowethIIJason HollandIISteve BancroftVI
Scott FergusonDave EllettMike HurlbutVIEric CharronII
Jamie PushorIIGrant LedyardIIIJames PatrickIIIDavid CooperVI
Terran SandwithVIAndrei Sapozhnikov#Darryl ShannonTrevor DoyleVI
Dan TrebilYevgeny ShaldybinII Johan Finnstrom#
Pascal TrepanierDennis VaskeIII Pavel Rajnoha#
Nikolai TsulyginTerry VirtueVI Dimitri Riabykin#
 Sergei Zhukov# Steve SmithIII
   Lee SorochanII
Forwards
Ted DruryKen BaumgartnerRandy CunneyworthBob BassenIII
Stu GrimsonPeter FerraroCraig FisherVIAndrew CasselsV
Peter LeboutillierChris TaylorVIJoe JuneauIIITom ChorskeIII
Eric LecompteII Paul KruseJeff Cowan
Jim McKenzie Scott NicholSteve Dubinsky
Tommi Miettinen# Domenic PittisNils Ekman#
Jeff Nielsen Rob RayJan Hlavac#
Igor NikulinVI Geoff SandersonIIMathias Johansson#
Craig ReichertVI Steffon WalbyVIAndreas Karlsson#
Tomas SandstromIII  Esa Keskinen#
Bob WrenII  Jan Labraaten#
   Jesper Mattsson
   Marty Murray
   Dave RocheII
   Ed Ward
   Sergei Zolotov#
Carolina HurricanesChicago BlackhawksColorado AvalancheDallas Stars
Goaltenders
Mike FountainVIKirk DaubenspeckIICraig BillingtonMike Bales
Pat JablonskiIIIMark FitzpatrickIIPetr FranekIIManny FernandezII
Trevor KiddMarc LamotheVI  
Defencemen
Paul CoffeyFrank BialowasJeff BuchananVIPetr Buzek
Joacim Esbjörs#Radim BicanekIIMichael GaulShawn Chambers
Al IafrateIIIDave MansonAlexei GusarovIIIAlan Letang
Dave KarpaIIDoug ZmolekSami HeleniusVIDoug LidsterIII
Curtis Leschyshyn Sylvain LefebvreIIICraig LudwigIII
Mike Rucinski Eric MessierMatt Martin
  Cam RussellIIEvgeny Petrochinin#
Forwards
Tom BuckleyIISylvain CloutierSerge AubinIIGuy CarbonneauIII
Kevin DineenIIIChris HerpergerVIChris DingmanKelly Fairchild
Dimitri Gorenko#Mark JanssensTomi Hirvonen#Marty FlichelII
Robert KronDavid LingDale HunterIIIAaron GaveyII
Scott LevinsIICraig MillsIIMikael Johansson#Benoit HogueIII
Paul RanheimEd OlczykIIIMartin LamarcheIITony HrkacIII
Ray SheppardIIIBob ProbertTomi Kallio#Lee JinmanII
Kevin SmythRyan VandenbusscheChristian MatteIISergei Luchinkin#
  Jeff OdgersJeff MitchellII
  Warren RycheIIIlDave ReidIII
  Rob ShearerDavid RobertsII
   Brent SeverynIII
   Brian Skrudland
   Pat VerbeekIII
Detroit Red WingsEdmonton OilersFlorida PanthersLos Angeles Kings
Goaltenders
Norm MaracleBob EssensaIIIAaron MacDonaldexempt
 Mike MinardIITodd MacDonaldII 
 Steve PassmoreVIKirk McLeanIII 
Defencemen
Todd GillIIIAdam BennettTerry CarknerDave BabychIII
Sean GillamIILadislav BenysekGord MurphyDoug BodgerIII
Yan GolubovskyJason BowenIIDaniel Tjarnqvist#Philippe Boucher
Doug HoudaIIIBrett HauerJeff WareIIGarry Galley
Uwe KruppMarty McSorleyIII Jan NemecekII
Jamie MacounIIICraig Millar Martin Strbak#
Ulf SamuelssonIIIFrank Musil Mark VisheauVI
 Sami Nuutinen  
 Reijo Ruotsalainen  
 Alexander Zhurik  
 Lukas Zib#  
Forwards
Pavel Agarkov#Kelly BuchbergerChad CabanaIIDan BylsmaII
Doug BrownBrad ChurchIIDino CiccarelliBrandon ConveryII
Wendel ClarkIIIJozef CiernyBrian FarrellIIRuss CourtnallIII
David Engblom#Jeff DawVICraig FergusonAndrew DaleII
Brent GilchristJim DowdIIJohan GarpenlovRay FerraroIII
Petr KlimaIIIPat FalloonIIAlex HicksMatt Johnson
Joey KocurChris FerraroVIKirk MullerNathan Lafayette
Igor LarionovJoe HulbigVIKonstantin ShafranovVISteve McKennaII
Barry PotomskiVIRalph IntranuovoHerberts VasiljevsIIIgor Melyakov#
Andrei Samokvalov#Daniel LacroixV Sandy MogerII
Anatoly UstugovRem MurrayII Jason MorganII
 Martin Reichel# Jason PodollanII
 Keijo Sailynoja# Sean ProngerII
 Alexander Selivanov Chris SchmidtII
 Jussi Tarvainen# Jukka Tiilikainen#
 Vladimir VorobievVI Vladimir TsyplakovII
   Tomas Vlasak#
   Juha Vuorivirta#
   Magnus Wernblom#
Montreal CanadiensNew Jersey DevilsNew York IslandersNew York Rangers
Goaltenders
exemptexemptWade FlahertyIIIexempt
  Mark McArthurII 
  Steve Valiquette 
Defencemen
Steve CheredarykIIBrad BombardirIITed CrowleyVIJeff Beukeboom
Brett ClarkKevin DeanDavid HarlockRich BrennanVI
Miloslav GurenVIGeordie KinnearVIDaniel Johansson#Ilja Gorohov#
Marc HusseyVIVlastimil KroupaMike MaderChris O'SullivanVI
Scott LachanceIIKen SuttonDean MalkocAdam SmithII
Alain NasreddineSergei VyshedkevichIIEvgeny NamestnikovVIChris TamerII
Stephane QuintalV Dick Tarnstrom#Brent ThompsonII
Forwards
Niklas Anger#Dave AndreychukIIINic BeaudoinIIDerek ArmstrongII
Sylvain BlouinVIEric BertrandVladimir Grachev#Kevin BrownVI
Martin GendronVISteve BrulePavel Gross#Christian DubéII
Jonas HoglundIISergei BrylinPeter Hogardh#Bob Errey
Eric HoudeIIBob CarpenterIIIMike HoughIIIBrent FedykIII
J.F. JompheIIScott DanielsIIRyan HuskaIIScott Fraser
Arto Kuki#Bobby HouseVIDane JacksonVIKen Gernander
Trent McClearySasha LakovicCraig JanneyIIIDaniel GoneauII
Boyd OlsonIISergei NemchinovMike KennedyIIChris Kenady
Oleg PetrovVadim SharifijanovTomas Klimt#Radoslav Kropac#
Patrick PoulinJeff WilliamsIIGino OdjickAlexander Lazarenko#
Peter Strom#Dody WoodJoe SaccoIIMike ManelukVI
Sergei ZholtokNikolai Zavarukhin#Jason StewartBrad Smyth
  Steve WebbEsa TikkanenIII
   Rudolf Vercik#
Ottawa SenatorsPhiladelphia FlyersPhoenix CoyotesPittsburgh Penguins
Goaltenders
Frederic CassiviIIRon HextallScott LangkowIIBrian LeitzaII
Ron TugnuttNeil LittleVIMikhail Shtalenkov 
  Henrik Smangs# 
  Jimmy WaiteII 
Defencemen
John GrudenArtem Anisimov#‡J.J. DaigneaultJonas Andersson-Junkka#
Chris LuongoIISteve DuchesneIIIGerald DiduckIIIGreg AndrusakVI
Patrick TraverseChris JosephIIJamie HuscroftIIIStefan Bergqvist
 Jeff LankSean McCannBobby DollasIII
 Dave MacIsaacVIStanislav NeckarIIMaxim Galanov
 Luke RichardsonMichel PetitIIITuomas GronmanVI
  Brad TileyViktor IgnatjevVI
   Jeff SerowikVI
   Neil Wilkinson
Forwards
Bill BergIIIMikael AnderssonMika Alatalo#Jan Alinc#
Phil CroweCraig BerubeIIIBob CorkumIIIBrian BoninVI
Nelson EmersonIIIDennis BonvieVIJim CumminsRob Brown
David Hruska#Marc BureauLouie DebruskTodd HlushkoII
Andreas JohanssonMark GreigJoe DziedzicIIMikhail Kazakevich#
David OliverIIPaul HealeyStephen LeachIIIDan KesaII
Mike ProkopecVIJody HullJocelyn LemieuxIIIJiri Kucera#
Andre RoyPatrik JuhlinFredrik Loven#Patrick LebeauVI
Yves SaraultIIDan KordicIIRob MurrayBrent PetersonVI
Andy SchneiderShawn McCoshBarry NieckarVIRyan SavoiaVI
Shaun Van AllenSteve McLarenBrian NoonanIIIMika Valila#
 Jim MontgomeryMike StapletonTyler WrightII
 Richard ParkIIMike SullivanIIIBoris Zelenko#
 Ruslan Shafikov#Andrei VasilyevVI 
 Radovan Sornik#  
 Martin Streit#  
 Roman Vopat  
 Peter White  
 Jason Zent  
St. Louis BluesSan Jose SharksTampa Bay LightningToronto Maple Leafs
Goaltenders
Jim CareyJonas Forsberg#Daren PuppaDoug BonnerII
Grant FuhrSean GauthierCorey SchwabIIGlenn Healy
Jamie McLennanBruce RacineVIDerek WilkinsonIIJeff Reese
 Mike Vernon  
Defencemen
Marc BergevinPeter AllenVIJassen CullimoreKevin DahlII
Rory FitzpatrickIIAlexandre BoikovIIKjell SamuelssonIIIDallas EakinsII
Edwin Frylen#Bill HoulderMichal SykoraIIGlen FeatherstoneII
Yuri Gunko#Angel Nikolov#David WilkieIITommi Rajamaki#
Brian HeimerFredrik Oduya Greg SmythIII
Chris McAlpineIIJon RohloffII Yannick Tremblay
Rudy PoeschekBob Rouse Dmitri Yakushin
Jamie RiversII   
Brad ShawIII   
Geoff SmithII   
Jason Widmer   
Forwards
Blair AtcheynumIIEric BennettVIJesse BelangerIINiklas AnderssonII
Kelly ChaseShawn BurrJason BonsignoreIILonny BohonosII
Geoff CourtnallJan CalounBrian BradleyIIIAaron BrandII
Tyson NashMike CraigIIColin CloutierIINathan Dempsey
Michel PicardIIMurray CravenAlexandre DaigleMark Deyell
Stephane RoyIIJarrett DeulingStephane RicherTie Domi
Kevin SawyerVIAnatoli Filatov#Paul YsebaertIIIMikael Hakansson#
Shayne ToporowskiTony Granato Derek King
Tony TwistIIITimo Hakanen Kris King
Terry YakeDave LowryIII Ladislav KohnII
 Mikko Markkanen# Marek Melenovsky#
 Joe MurphyIII David NemirovskyII
 Greg PankewiczVI Scott PearsonII
 Teemu Riihijarvi# Garry ValkIII
 Jarrod SkaldeII  
 Ron Sutter  
 Markus Thuresson#  
 Alexei Yegorov  
Vancouver CanucksWashington Capitals
Goaltenders
Corey HirschIIStephane Beauregard
Garth SnowIIMartin BrochuVI
 Michael RosatiII
 Rick TabaracciII
Defencemen
Roger Akerstrom#Nolan Baumgartner
Murray BaronPatrick BoileauII
Karri Kivi#Enrico CicconeII
Dana MurzynIIIStewart MalgunasII
Bert RobertssonVIDmitri Mironov
Mark WottonVISteve Poapst
 Mark TinordiIII
ForwardsNotes
Hakan Ahlund#Patrick AugustaVIII—pending Group II restricted free agent
Jevgeni Babariko#Brian BellowsIIIIII—pending Group III unrestricted free agent
Larry CourvilleIIMike EaglesV—pending Group V free agent
Dave GagnerMiika ElomoVI—pending Group VI free agent
Robb GordonIITrevor Halverson#—unsigned European draft choice
Roger Hansson#Mark MajorVI—Artem Vyacheslavovich Anisimov, born 1976 in Kazan, USSR
Trent KlattKelly MillerIII
Stefan Nilsson#Barrie Moore
Darren SinclairIIJeff Nelson
Steve StaiosIIMichal Pivonka
Steve WashburnIIJeff TomsII
Peter ZezelIIIStefan Ustorf

The Draft


PlayerPositionFrom
Jamie PushorDefencemanMighty Ducks of Anaheim
Peter FerraroRight WingBoston Bruins
Darryl ShannonDefencemanBuffalo Sabres
Ed WardRight WingCalgary Flames
Trevor KiddGoaltenderCarolina Hurricanes
Sylvain CloutierCentreChicago Blackhawks
Tomi KallioRight WingColorado Avalanche
Petr BuzekDefencemanDallas Stars
Norm MaracleGoaltenderDetroit Red Wings
Kelly BuchbergerRight WingEdmonton Oilers
Johan GarpenlovLeft WingFlorida Panthers
Matt JohnsonLeft WingLos Angeles Kings
Brett ClarkDefencemanMontreal Canadiens
Kevin DeanDefencemanNew Jersey Devils
David HarlockDefencemanNew York Islanders
Chris TamerDefencemanNew York Rangers
Phil CroweRight WingOttawa Senators
Jody HullRight WingPhiladelphia Flyers
Mike StapletonCentrePhoenix Coyotes
Maxim GalanovDefencemanPittsburgh Penguins
Terry YakeCentreSt. Louis Blues
Alexei YegorovRight WingSan Jose Sharks
Corey SchwabGoaltenderTampa Bay Lightning
Yannick TremblayDefencemanToronto Maple Leafs
Steve StaiosRight WingVancouver Canucks
Mark TinordiDefencemanWashington Capitals

Like the Predators the year before, the Thrashers were limited to choosing a maximum of six free agents, whether they were restricted or unrestricted. Whereas David Poile picked three Group III unrestricted free agents he thought would sign elsewhere for big money and get him compensatory draft picks in return Don Waddell chose only one: Mark Tinordi of the Washington Capitals. Unfortunately Tinordi neither signed with the Thrashers nor anyone else. In a game in February 1999 Tinordi broke his ankle; it was believed to be relatively minor at the time but would still require a few months of healing and recuperating.

It turned out to be a little more complex and acute than they'd thought. Tinordi broke his talus, one of the tarsal bones of the ankle that has very little blood supply to it and is notorious for taking a long time to heal. The blood flow to his talus actually stopped due to the damage from the incident, and the bone itself became necrotic over the summer of '99. His career was over. He had a bone graft in October 1999, began rehabilitation in February 2000, and never played pro hockey again.

The Predators used five of their expansion draft picks in 1998 on goalies, picking two of the franchise's future starting goalies (Mike Dunham and Tomas Vokoun), a high-priced free agent (Mike Richter) who would net the Predators a high compensatory draft pick, and a couple more whom the Predators could trade for other assets (Frederic Chabot and Mikhail Shtalenkov). By contrast Waddell picked only three goalies; the minimum. He believed he had already found his starting goalie in Damian Rhodes—Rhodes signed a big contract soon after being traded to the Thrashers—so Waddell used his extra picks on defencemen instead. Norm Maracle and Corey Schwab were chosen to battle for the back-up position to Rhodes, and Trevor Kidd was chosen because of a pre-arranged deal.

Remember what I said above about the Florida Panthers needing a new goalie? The Thrashers agreed to chose Trevor Kidd from the Carolina Hurricanes and trade him to the Panthers immediately following the draft for a package of players and a draft pick. It was one of eight trades the Thrashers made on the 25th, following the draft:

  • Panthers traded Gord Murphy, Daniel Tjarnqvist, Herberts Vasiljevs and the Senators' 6th round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft (previously acquired; later traded to the Stars, who selected Justin Cox) to the Thrashers for Trevor Kidd
  • Bruins traded Randy Robitaille to the Thrashers for Peter Ferraro
  • Sabres traded Dean Sylvester to the Thrashers for future considerations
  • Flames traded Andreas Karlsson to the Thrashers for future considerations
  • Red Wings traded Ulf Samuelsson to the Thrashers for future considerations
  • Devils traded Sergei Vyshedkevich to the Thrashers for future considerations
  • Coyotes traded Scott Langkow to the Thrashers for future considerations
  • Canucks traded a 4th round pick (Rob Zepp) and 9th round pick (Ray DiLauro) in the 1999 Entry Draft to the Thrashers for future considerations

Most of the deals were compensation to the Thrashers for staying away from certain players in the expansion draft. The Red Wings for example dealt pending free agent Ulf Samuelsson to the Thrashers as compensation for not selecting Igor Larionov. Samuelsson ended up signing a two-year deal with the Flyers after the 1999-2000 started however the Thrashers didn't receive any compensation due to free agent signings of their own. The Devils parted with Sergei Vyshedkevich as compensation for the Thrashers not taking Sergei Brylin, Sergei Nemchinov, Vadim Sharifijanov or Brad Bombardir.

The Bruins were very optimistic that Peter Ferraro would become a great player. Why they elected to protect Randy Robitaille instead of Ferraro and then trade Robitaille to the Thrashers to get Ferraro back, I don't know. You'd have to ask Harry Sinden. Both were pretty evenly matched in their point production at the AHL level. Ferraro had an unspectacular year for the NHL Bruins but was the AHL Providence Bruins' leading scorer in the playoffs—21 points to Robitaille's 20. Robitaille played almost the entire year in Providence and led the team in regular season scoring with 102 points in 74 games (1.38 points per game), however Ferraro played only 16 games in the AHL regular season but amassed 25 points (1.56 points per game) doing so.

Robitaille was a restricted free agent and refused to sign with the Thrashers, so he was traded to the Predators for Denny Lambert in August 1999 anyway. Over the course of the summer of '99 Don Waddell made several trades to shore up his fledgling roster:

  • Canucks traded the Lightning's first round pick in 1999 (1st overall and previously acquired—the Thrashers selected Patrik Stefan) to the Thrashers for the Thrashers' first round pick in '99 (2nd overall—the Canucks selected Daniel Sedin) and a conditional 3rd round pick in 2000 (traded to the Devils, who selected Max Birbraer) on June 26
  • Predators traded future considerations to the Thrashers for Phil Crowe on June 26
  • Stars traded Per Svartvadet to the Thrashers for the Panthers' 6th round pick in 1999 (previously acquired—the Stars selected Justin Cox) on June 26
  • Maple Leafs traded Martin Prochazka to the Thrashers for a 6th round pick in 2001 (Maxim Kondratiev) on July 15
  • Stars traded Jason Botterill and cash to the Thrashers for Jamie Pushor on July 15
  • Predators traded Denny Lambert to the Thrashers for the rights to Randy Robitaille on August 16
  • Mighty Ducks traded an 8th round pick in 2000 (Evan Nielsen) to the Thrashers for Ladislav Kohn on September 27 (the Thrashers acquired Kohn with the first pick in the waiver draft that day)

The Thrashers also signed Nelson Emerson and Ray Ferraro as free agents (the gain of two free agents versus the loss of one—Ulf Samuelsson—in the summer of '99 meant that the Thrashers received no compensatory draft picks for losing Samuelsson), and lost Terry Yake in the 1999 Waiver Draft.

Of the 26 players chosen by the Thrashers in the '99 Expansion Draft four were traded before the team's first training camp, another eight were gone by the end of the first season, and four more were gone over the following season. By the end of the 2001-2002 season, the Thrashers' third, only four players remained from the 26 chosen in the expansion draft. Tomi Kallio was traded to the Avalanche on December 2, 2002, Norm Maracle left after the 2002-2003 season, Yannick Tremblay left after the 2003-2004 season, and Chris Tamer was the only one who finished out his career with the organization, retiring as a player in 2005.

Roster turnover like that isn't uncommon for an NHL expansion team (the Predators lost a similar number over a similar time) but unfortunately for the Thrashers their group of expansion draftees was by far the worst of the four 1998-2000 expansion clubs. The Thrashers finished their first season with a dismal 14-57-7-4 record, good for only 39 points. It was the worst expansion team since the 1992-93 Senators' 24-point squad, and the worst team since the 1993-94 Senators' 37 points. No team has been as dismal since.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

2000 NHL Expansion Draft

For more information see the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft and 1999 NHL Expansion Draft

The Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild were the last two expansion clubs allowed into the NHL, admitted in 1997. They wouldn't take to the ice until 2000, after the completion of the construction of their new arenas: Nationwide Arena in Columbus and the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

The Blue Jackets hired Doug MacLean as general manager on February 11, 1998, about two-and-a-half months after he was dismissed as the Florida Panthers' head coach. MacLean also assumed the title of president shortly thereafter.

The Wild hired former Flames GM Doug Risebrough over a year later, on September 2, 1999.

The rules of the 2000 expansion draft were almost exactly the same as the rules of the 1999 and 1998 expansion drafts. Existing clubs were allowed to protect either up to one goalie, five defencemen and nine forwards or up to two goalies, three defencemen and seven forwards. The Blue Jackets and Wild would alternate selections in a 'snaking' pattern (ABBABAAB) and take two players from each of the 26 existing clubs participating in the draft (a total of 52). Neither the Atlanta Thrashers nor the Nashville Predators would participate, being that they had only taken to the ice one and two years before, respectively.

Each existing club was mandated to expose players with a minimum level of experience. If a team protected two goalies they had to offer a goalie with a minimum of 10 games played in 1999-2000, or 25 games over the course of 1998-99 and 1999-2000. A "game played" in this case was defined as a minimum 31 minutes in a game. A team protecting only one goalie did not have to offer a goalie with any NHL experience. Each team had to offer at least one defenceman and two forwards with 40 games played in the 1999-2000 season or 70 in 1998-99 and 1999-2000.

All first- and second-year professionals were exempt from selection as were any unsigned draft choices, except choices from Europe from 1996 or earlier.

Of the exposed players the Blue Jackets and Wild would select three goalies, eight defencemen and 13 forwards, and two more players of any position. Any existing club that lost a goalie could not lose a defenceman, and no more than one defenceman or goalie could be chosen from an existing club. Each of the new clubs could select a maximum of six players apiece that were due to become free agents of any sort.

The deadline for protected lists was 4:00 pm Mountain Daylight Time on June 12, two days after the Devils beat the Stars for the Stanley Cup. A trade freeze also went into effect at the same time, and would last until the end of the expansion draft on June 23. Prior to the trade deadline a few minor trades were made between the existing clubs:


  • Blackhawks traded Steve Passmore to the Kings for a 4th round draft pick in 2000 or 2001 to the Blackhawks (Blackhawks chose 2000, and selected Olli Malmivaara) on May 1
  • Mighty Ducks traded Trent Hunter to the Islanders for the Blue Jackets' 4th round pick in 2000 (Jonas Ronnqvist) on May 23
  • Hurricanes traded Paul Ranheim to the Flyers for an 8th round pick in 2002 (traded later to the Lightning, who selected Darren Reid) on May 31
  • Mighty Ducks traded the rights to Stephen Peat to the Capitals for a 4th round pick in 2000 (traded later to the Canadiens, who traded to Penguins, who selected Michel Ouellet) on June 1
  • Lightning traded the rights to Eric Beaudoin to the Panthers for a 7th round pick in 2000 (Marek Priechodsky) on June 1
  • Lightning traded Kevin Hodson to the Canadiens for a 7th round pick in 2000 (traded later to the Flyers, who selected John Eichelberger) on June 2
  • Lightning traded Rich Parent to the Senators for a 7th round pick in 2000 (traded later to the Sabres, who selected Paul Gaustad) on June 4
  • Flames traded Jean-Sebastien Giguere to the Mighty Ducks for a 2nd round pick in 2000 (traded later to the Capitals, who selected Matt Pettinger) on June 10
  • Mighty Ducks traded Ed Ward to the Devils for a 7th round pick in 2001 (Tony Martensson) on June 12
  • Thrashers traded Steve Staios to the Devils for a 9th round pick in 2000 (Simon Gamache) on June 12
  • Blackhawks traded Mark Janssens to the Flyers for a 9th round pick in 2000 (Arne Ramholt) on June 12
  • Predators traded Patrick Cote to the Oilers for the Coyotes' 5th round pick in 2000 (Matt Koalska) on June 12
  • Senators traded Patrick Traverse to the Mighty Ducks for Joel Kwiatkowski on June 12


The most notable trade in retrospect was the Flames trading Giguere to the Ducks. Giguere was about to become a restricted free agent and there was a risk that either one of the Blue Jackets or Wild would have taken the former first-round pick. Instead the Flames dealt him to Anaheim, getting something for him, and Anaheim took the risk that one of Guy Hebert or Corey Hirsch would be selected.

The Blue Jackets and Wild also made several trades, some of which were made with existing clubs on the condition that certain players would or would not be picked in the expansion draft.

  • Islanders traded Chris Nielsen to the Blue Jackets for a 4th round pick in 2000 (traded to the Ducks, who selected Jonas Ronnqvist) and a 9th round pick in 2000 (Dmitri Altarev) on May 11
  • Ducks traded Espen Knutsen to the Blue Jackets for a 4th round pick in 2001(Vladimir Korsunov) on May 25
  • Avalanche traded Marc Denis to the Blue Jackets for a 2nd round pick in 2000 (traded to the Hurricanes, who selected Tomas Kurka) on June 7
  • Sharks traded Jan Caloun, a 9th round pick in 2000 (Martin Paroulek) and a conditional pick in 2001 to the Blue Jackets for future considerations on June 11
  • Sharks traded Andy Sutton, a 7th round pick in 2000 (Peter Bartos) and a 3rd round pick in 2001 (later traded to the Thrashers, who traded to the Penguins, who traded to the Blue Jackets, who selected Aaron Johnson) to the Wild for an 8th round pick in 2001 (traded to the Flames, who selected Joe Campbell) and future considerations on June 11
  • Devils traded Krzysztof Oliwa and future considerations (the rights to Deron Quint) to the Blue Jackets for a 3rd round pick in 2001(Brandon Nolan) and future considerations (Turner Stevenson) on June 12
  • Stars traded Manny Fernandez and Brad Lukowich to the Wild for a 3rd round pick in 2000 (Joel Lundqvist) and a 4th round pick in 2002 (traded back to the Wild, who traded to the Kings, who selected Aaron Rome) on June 12

The Sharks' trades with the Blue Jackets and Wild were made in order to keep goalie Evgeni Nabokov safe; that was the "future considerations" in both cases. The Avalanche traded Marc Denis to the Blue Jackets as part of a more elaborate deal that I will explain below.

Protected Lists


Mighty Ducks of AnaheimBoston BruinsBuffalo SabresCalgary Flames
Goaltenders
J.S. GiguereByron DafoeMartin BironFred Brathwaite
John GrahameDominik Hasek
Defencemen
Jason MarshallHal GillJay McKeeTommy Albelin
Ruslan SaleiKyle McLarenRhett WarrenerWade Belak
Patrick TraverseDarren Van ImpeAlexei ZhitnikDenis Gauthier
Pavel TrnkaPhil Housley
Oleg TverdovskyDerek Morris
Forwards
Antti AaltoJason AllisonCurtis BrownValeri Bure
Marc ChouinardP.J. AxelssonChris GrattonJarome Iginla
Matt CullenAnson CarterMike PecaBill Lindsay
Paul KariyaMike KnubleErik RasmussenAndrei Nazarov
Ladislav KohnBrian RolstonMiroslav SatanMarc Savard
Mike LeclercSergei SamsonovVaclav VaradaJeff Shantz
Marty McInnisJoe ThorntonCory Stillman
Steve RucchinJason Wiemer
Teemu SelanneClarke Wilm
Carolina HurricanesChicago BlackhawksColorado AvalancheDallas Stars
Goaltenders
Arturs IrbeJocelyn ThibaultPatrick RoyEd Belfour
Defencemen
Steven HalkoJamie AllisonRay BourqueDerian Hatcher
Sean HillBrad BrownAdam FooteRichard Jackman
Marek MalikAnders ErikssonJon KlemmRichard Matvichuk
Nolan PrattBryan McCabeAaron MillerDarryl Sydor
Glen WesleyBoris MironovSandis OzolinshSergei Zubov
Forwards
Bates BattagliaTony AmonteAdam DeadmarshAaron Gavey
Rod Brind'amourEric DazéChris DingmanBrett Hull
Ron FrancisMichal GrosekPeter ForsbergMike Keane
Sami KapanenJean-Yves LerouxDan HinoteJamie Langenbrunner
Ian MacNeilDean McAmmondBrad LarsenJere Lehtinen
Sandy McCarthyMichael NylanderVille NieminenGrant Marshall
Jeff O'NeillSteve SullivanShjon PodeinMike Modano
Gary RobertsRyan VandenbusscheJoe SakicKirk Muller
Shane WillisAlexei ZhamnovStephane YelleJoe Nieuwendyk
Detroit Red WingsEdmonton OilersFlorida PanthersLos Angeles Kings
Goaltenders
Chris OsgoodTommy SaloTrevor KiddStephane Fiset
Jamie Storr
Defencemen
Chris CheliosSean BrownBret HedicanAki Berg
Mathieu DandenaultRoman HamrlikJohn JakopinRob Blake
Steve DuchesneJanne NiinimaaTodd SimpsonMattias Norstrom
Nicklas LidstromJason SmithRobert Svehla
Aaron WardIgor UlanovMike Wilson
Forwards
Kris DraperMike GrierPavel BureKelly Buchberger
Sergei FederovBill GuerinViktor KozlovIan Laperriere
Tomas HolmstromChad KilgerOleg KvashaGlen Murray
Vyacheslav KozlovGeorges LaraquePaul LausZigmund Palffy
Martin LapointeTodd MarchantScott MellanbyLuc Robitaille
Kirk MaltbyEthan MoreauRob NiedermayerBryan Smolinski
Darren McCartyRem MurrayMike SillingerJozef Stumpel
Brendan ShanahanRyan SmythRay Whitney
Steve YzermanDoug WeightPeter Worrell
Montreal CanadiensNew Jersey DevilsNew York IslandersNew York Rangers
Goaltenders
Jeff HackettMartin BrodeurKevin WeekesMike Richter
José Théodore
Defencemen
Patrice BriseboisJosef BoumedienneEric CairnsJason Doig
Craig RivetKen DaneykoZdeno CharaBrian Leetch
Sheldon SourayScott NiedermayerKenny JonssonSylvain Lefebvre
Scott StevensJamie RiversDale Purinton
Colin WhiteRay SchultzStephane Quintal
Forwards
Benoit BrunetJason ArnottMariusz CzerkawskiJason Dawe
Saku KoivuSergei BrylinJosh GreenRob DiMaio
Trevor LindenPatrik EliasBrad IsbisterRadek Dvorak
Martin RucinskyBobby HolikOlli JokinenTheoren Fleury
Brian SavageJohn MaddenClaude LapointeAdam Graves
Sergei ZholtokRandy McKayMats LindgrenEric Lacroix
Dainius ZubrusAlexander MogilnyDimitri NabokovDarren Langdon
Jay PandolfoDave ScatchardPetr Nedved
Petr SykoraSteve WebbTim Taylor
Ottawa SenatorsPhiladelphia FlyersPhoenix CoyotesPittsburgh Penguins
Goaltenders
Jani HurmeBrian BoucherNikolai KhabibulinJean-Sebastien Aubin
Patrick Lalime
Defencemen
Chris PhillipsAndy DelmoreKeith CarneyBob Boughner
Wade ReddenEric DesjardinsJyrki LummeSven Butenschon
Jason YorkDan McGillisStan NeckarDarius Kasparaitis
Luke RichardsonTeppo NumminenJanne Laukkanen
Chris TherienRadoslav SuchyJiri Slegr
Forwards
Daniel AlfredssonMark GreigDanny BriereMatthew Barnaby
Magnus ArvedsonDaymond LangkowShane DoanRene Corbet
Radek BonkJohn LeClairTravis GreenRobert Dome
Andreas DackellEric LindrosTrevor LetowskiJan Hrdina
Shawn McEachernKent MandervilleRobert ReichelJaromir Jagr
Vaclav ProspalGino OdjickMikael RenbergAlexei Kovalev
Andre RoyKeith PrimeauJeremy RoenickRobert Lang
Paul RanheimKeith TkachukAlexei Morozov
Mark RecchiJuha YlonenMartin Straka
St. Louis BluesSan Jose SharksTampa Bay LightningToronto Maple Leafs
Goaltenders
Brent Johnson Steve ShieldsDan CloutierCurtis Joseph
Roman Turek
Defencemen
Al MacInnisShawn HeinsSergey GusevCory Cross
Chris ProngerBryan MarchmentPavel KubinaAlexander Karpovtsev
Bryce SalvadorMarcus RagnarssonMarek PosmykDanny Markov
Mike RathjePetr SvobodaChris McAllister
Gary SuterAndrei ZyuzinDmitri Yushkevich
Forwards
Lubos BarteckoVincent DamphousseStan DruliaSergei Berezin
Craig ConroyJeff FriesenDwayne HayTie Domi
Pavol DemitraTodd HarveyBrian HolzingerJonas Hoglund
Michal HandzusAlexander KorolyukMike JohnsonDmitri Khristich
Jamal MayersPatrick MarleauRyan JohnsonIgor Korolev
Pierre TurgeonOwen NolanFredrik ModinYanic Perreault
Scott YoungMike RicciWayne PrimeauMats Sundin
Marco SturmJaroslav SvejkovskySteve Thomas
Niklas SundstromTodd WarrinerDarcy Tucker
Vancouver CanucksWashington Capitals
Goaltenders
Felix PotvinOlaf Kolzig
Defencemen
Adrian AucoinSergei Gonchar
Murray BaronCalle Johansson
Ed JovanovskiKen Klee
Mattias OhlundJoe Reekie
Jason StrudwickBrendan Witt
Forwards
Todd BertuzziJames Black
Donald BrashearPeter Bondra
Andrew CasselsJan Bulis
Trent KlattUlf Dahlen
Brendan MorrisonSteve Konowalchuk
Markus NaslundAndrei Nikolishin
Denis PedersonAdam Oates
Peter SchaeferChris Simon
Vadim SharifijanovRichard Zednik

Players Available for Selection


Mighty Ducks of AnaheimBoston BruinsBuffalo SabresCalgary Flames
Goaltenders
Tom AskeyVIRobbie TallasIIDwayne RolosonIIGrant Fuhr
Guy HebertTyrone Garner
Corey HirschIIAndrei TrefilovII
Dominic Roussel
Blaine RussellII
Defencemen
Timo Ahmaoja#Elias AbrahamssonIIJean-Luc Grand-PierreIIEric CharronV
Ladislav BenysekJohnathan AitkenJason HollandIIBobby DollasIII
Mike CrowleyShane BelterDoug HoudaJohan Finnstrom#
Scott FergusonVIVratislav CechMike HurlbutFilip KubaII
Kevin HallerVMike MatteucciIIJames PatrickIIIStewart MalgunasV
Dean MalkocIIKeith McCambridgeRichard SmehlikFredrik Oduya
Fredrik OlaussonIIIMarty McSorleyIIIJason WoolleyIIPavel Rajnoha#
Lloyd ShawIIBrandon SmithDmitri Riabykin#
Pascal TrepanierDon SweeneyIIIDarryl ShannonIII
Nikolai TsulyginMattias TimanderSteve Smith
Denis TimofeyevLee SorochanII
Eric Van AckerBrad WerenkaIII
Sergei Zhukov#
Forwards
Frank BanhamVIShawn BatesIIStu BarnesJason BotterillII
Ted DonatoIIIKen BelangerEric BoultonMarc Bureau
Stu GrimsonIIIAaron DowneyVIRandy CunneyworthIIIJeff CowanII
Tony HrkacPeter FerraroMatt DavidsonIISteve DubinskyII
Tobias Johansson#Steve HeinzeIIMark DutiaumeIIBenoit Gratton
Peter LeboutillierVIJoe HulbigVICraig FisherVIAndreas JohanssonII
Tommi Miettinen#Dmitri KvartalnovDoug GilmourMathias Johansson#
Kip MillerVAntti LaaksonenVIDenis HamelEsa Keskinen#
Jeff NielsenCameron MannIIPaul KruseVSergei KrivokrasovII
Jeremy StevensonVIPeter NordstromScott NicholVIJan Labraaten#
Tony TuzzolinoIISean ProngerIIDominic PittisVIJesper Mattson
Bob WrenJoel PrpicVIRob RayIIIMarty Murray
Anders Soderberg#Geoff SandersonIIDave RocheII
Joel TrottierChris TaylorVIMartin St. Louis
Landon WilsonVladimir TsyplakovIIIJosef Straka#
Jeff ZehrDixon WardIIIJohn TrippII
Sergei Zolotov#
Carolina HurricanesChicago BlackhawksColorado AvalancheDallas Stars
Goaltenders
Mark FitzpatrickIIIMarc LamotheVIDavid AebischerChad Alban
Marc MagliarditiErasmo SaltarelliFrederic CassiviVIMike BalesVI
Kai Fischer#
Petr Franek
Rick TabaracciIII
Defencemen
Steve BancroftVIRadim BicanekJason BowenIIFrederic BouchardII
Paul CoffeyIIITed CrowleyVIGreg De VriesJoel BouchardII
Len EsauVIKevin DeanIIIMichael GaulVIShawn ChambersIII
Sergei FedetovIIDallas EakinsVAlexei GusarovSylvain CôtéIII
Hugh HamiltonIITodd RohloffVISami HeleniusVIAlan Letang
Dave KarpaIIMarty WilfordIIEric MessierIIDave MansonIII
Curtis LeschyshynDoug ZmolekDan SmithIIMatt MartinII
Mike RucinskiVIEvgeny Petrochinin#
Jamie Pushor
Mark Wotton
Forwards
Eric DandenaultVIBlair AtcheynumDave AndreychukIIIGuy Carbonneau
Jeff DanielsVJeff ChristianVISerge AubinVIKelly FairchildVI
Gilbert DionneVJeff DawTomi Hirvonen#Sergei Luchinkin#
Martin GelinasChris HerpergerVIMikael Johansson#Warren Luhning
Dmitri Gorenko#David LingChristian MatteVIChris MurrayII
Andrei KovalenkoIIJosef MarhaJeff OdgersBrian SkrudlandIII
Robert KronEd OlczykIIIDave ReidScott ThorntonV
Mike MorroneIINathan PerrottIIRob ShearerJamie WrightII
Andrei PetruninDerek PlanteII
Askhat Rakhmatulin#Bob Probert
Byron RitchieII
Todd SimonVI
Kevin Smyth
Detroit Red WingsEdmonton OilersFlorida PanthersLos Angeles Kings
Goaltenders
David ArsenaultIIMike MinardIIRyan BachMarcel CousineauII
Manny LegaceBill RanfordIIISean GauthierMike O'NeillVI
Ken WreggetKay WhitmoreDenis Khlopotnov#Steve Passmore
Mikhail ShtalenkovIIITravis Scott
Rich Shulmistra
Mike Vernon
Defencemen
Todd GillAdam BennettLance PitlickPhilippe BoucherII
Yan GolubovskyIIBrett HauerBrent ThompsonRich BrennanVI
Uwe KruppFrank MusilIIIJeff WareIIGarry GalleyIII
Maxim KuznetsovIIAlain NasreddineIIDave MacIsaacVI
Larry MurphyIIISami NuutinenJaroslav Modry
Bert RobertssonJan NemecekII
Reijo RuotsalainenSean O'Donnell
Alexander ZhurikMartin Strbak#
Lukas Zib#
Forwards
Pavel Agarkov#Kevin BrownVILen BarrieEric BelangerII
Doug BrownJozef CiernyPaul BrousseauVIDan BylsmaII
David Engblom#Patrick CoteChad CabanaVIBob Corkum
Johan Forsander#Boyd DevereauxIIDave DuerdenIIAllan EgelandVI
Brent GilchristIIIJim DowdAlex HicksIINelson Emerson
Alexandre JacquesIIRalph IntranuovoCraig ReichertVICraig JohnsonII
Joey KocurIIIDan LacoutureIIRay SheppardIIINathan LafayetteII
Darryl LaplanteIIRob MurrayVCam StewartSteve McKenna
Igor LarionovIIIMichel PicardVRocky ThompsonIIIgor Melyakov#
Stacy RoestMartin Reichel#Jason Morgan
Anatoly UstyugovKeijo Sailynoja#Jason PodollanII
Pat VerbeekAlexander SelivanovIIPavel Rosa
B. J. YoungIIJussi Tarvainen#Mikael Simons#
German TitovIIIJohn Thomas
Alexander VolchkovJukka Tiilikainen#
Vladimir VorobievVIMarko TuomainenVI
Juha Vuorivirta#
Magnus Wernblom#
Montreal CanadiensNew Jersey DevilsNew York IslandersNew York Rangers
Goaltenders
Frédéric ChabotMike BuzakVIWade FlahertyMilan HnilickaVI
Eric FichaudFrederic HenryIIJean-François Labbé
Kevin HodsonChris TerreriKirk McLean
Vitali Yeremeyev#
Defencemen
Byron BriskeIIBrad BombardirIan HerbersDrew BannisterII
Matthieu DescoteauxIIVladimir MalakhovIIIIlja Gorokhov#
Karl DykhuisPasi Petrilainen#Kevin HatcherIII
Miloslav GurenDeron QuintIIRich Pilon
Scott LachanceIIKen SuttonOla Sandberg#
Christian LaflammeMathieu SchneiderIII
Mike McBainIITerry Virtue
Barry RichterDavid WilkieII
Stephane RobidasII
Eric Weinrich
Forwards
Niklas Anger#Jiri BicekTed DruryDerek ArmstrongII
Jesse BelangerVSteve BruleVIMark LawrenceAlexandre DaigleII
Shayne CorsonIIISylvain CloutierVIChristian Dubé
Jim CumminsIISteve KellyIIKen Gernander
Craig DarbyIISasha LakovicVIDaniel GoneauII
Jonathan DelisleIIClaude LemieuxIIIValeri Kamensky
Matt HigginsIISergei NemchinovIIIChris KenadyVI
Arto Kuki#Richard RochefortIIRadoslav Kropac#
Trent McClearyIIRob SkrlacIIAlexander Lazarenko#
Boyd OlsonIISteve StaiosJohn MacLean
Oleg PetrovEd WardBrad Smyth
Patrick PoulinIIJeff WilliamsKevin StevensIII
Terry RyanDody WoodP. J. StockVI
Kim StaalNikolai Zavarukhin#Dmitry Subbotin#
Turner StevensonRudolf Vercik#
Peter Strom#Chris WellsII
Timo Vertala#
Ottawa SenatorsPhiladelphia FlyersPhoenix CoyotesPittsburgh Penguins
Goaltenders
Tom BarrassoIIIPer-Ragnar Bergkvist#Sean BurkeIIITyler MossVI
Mike FountainNeil LittleSylvain DaigleIIPeter SkudraII
Rich ParentVIJohn VanbiesbrouckBob EssensaIIIRon TugnuttIII
Henrik Smangs#
Defencemen
Erich GoldmannIIArtem Anisimov#‡Trent CullVIJonas Andersson-Junkka#
Kevin GrimesAdam BurtIIIJ. J. DaigneaultIIIStefan Bergqvist
John GrudenIIJeff LankVIDan FochtIIPeter PopovicIII
Igor KravchukDean MelansonSean GagnonVIJohn Slaney
Grant LedyardIIIUlf SamuelssonChris JosephDan TrebilVI
David Van DrunenIIFrançois Leroux
Per-Anton Lundstrom#
Sean McCannVI
Lyle OdeleinIII
Brad TileyVI
Forwards
Viacheslav ButsayevIICraig BerubeIIIGreg AdamsIIIJan Alinc#
Ivan CiernikIITravis BrigleyIIPhilippe AudetIIJosef Beranek
Kevin DineenMartin CervenIILouie DebruskDennis BonvieVI
Colin ForbesJody HullIIIDallas DrakeIIIRob BrownIII
David Hruska#Mark JanssensTavis HansenTom ChorskeIII
Joe JuneauKeith JonesBenoit HogueIIIPat FalloonII
Kevin MillerIIIMike ManelukVIEric HoudeIIMikhail Kazakevich#
Yves SaraultIISteve McLarenVISteven KingVIJiri Kucera#
Andy SchneiderJim MontgomeryIIFredrik Loven#Stephen LeachIII
Jeff ShevalierVISean O'BrienVICraig MillsIIIan Moran
Shaun Van AllenIIIRuslan Shafikov#David OliverIITimo Seikkula#
Rob ZamunerRadovan Somik#Kevin SawyerVIMika Valila#
Martin Streit#Mike SullivanTyler Wright
Rick TocchetIIIShayne ToporowskiIIBoris Zelenko#
Steve WashburnIIJean-Guy Trudel
Peter White
Todd WhiteVI
Valeri ZelepukinIII
St. Louis BluesSan Jose SharksTampa Bay LightningToronto Maple Leafs
Goaltenders
Jamie McLennanJonas Forsberg#Zac BierkIIGlenn HealyIII
Terry FriesenDieter KochanFrancis LariveeII
Evegeny NabokovIIDaren PuppaIIIJimmy Waite
Defencemen
Marc BergevinChris ArmstrongJassen CullimoreGreg AndrusakVI
Vladimir ChebaturkinJon ColemanVIBryan MuirIIBryan Berard
Dave EllettIIIAngel Nikolov#Jason RobinsonNathan Dempsey
Jeff FinleyJeff NortonIIIGerald Diduck
Edwin Frylen#Bob RouseTommi Rajamaki#
Yuri Gunko#Terran SandwithVI
Bryan HellmerVID.J. SmithII
Dan KeczmerV
Ricard PerssonII
Dmitri Plekhanov#
Rudy PoeschekIII
Libor ProchazkaII
Darren RumbleV
Matt Smith
Forwards
Bob BassenIIIMichal Bros#Shawn BurrKevyn Adams
Derek BekarIIAdam ColagiacomoXavier DelisleIILonny BohonosII
Sylvain BlouinVIMike CraigVBruce GardinerJason BonsignoreII
Jim CampbellIIJarrett DeulingVIDan KesaIIAaron Brand
Kelly ChaseIIIDoug FriedmanSteve MartinsIIWendel ClarkIII
Mike EastwoodIIITony GranatoRobert PetrovickyIIMark DeyellII
Derek KingIIIEric LandryVIReid SimpsonIIIKris KingII
Reed LowIIDave LowryIIIPavel TorgayevVIDon MacLeanII
Tyson NashVIStephane MatteauAlyn McCauleyII
Scott PellerinIIBrantt MyhresIIMarek Melenovsky#
Andrei PetrakovPeter RoedIIDavid Nemirovsky
Pascal RhéaumeJarrod SkaldeIIRyan PepperallII
Stéphane RicherIIIRon SternShawn ThorntonII
Stéphane RoyRon SutterIIIGarry Valk
Tore Vikingstad#Brian WisemanII
Vancouver CanucksWashington Capitals
Goaltenders
Tim KeyesIIStephane Beauregard
Corey SchwabIICraig BillingtonIII
Garth SnowIIMartin BrochuVI
Sebastian Charpentier
Defencemen
Roger Akerstrom#Nolan BaumgartnerII
Chad AllanIIPatrick Boileau
Greg HawgoodJamie Huscroft
Karri Kivi#Dmitri Mironov
Chris O'SullivanVIOleg Orekhovsky#
Brent SopelIISteve PoapstVI
Rob ZettlerIII
Sergei Zimakov#
ForwardsNotes
Hakan Ahlund#Mike EaglesIIIII—pending Group II restricted free agent
Evgeny Babariko#Miika ElomoIII—pending Group III unrestricted free agent
Brian BoninVITrevor HalversonVIV—pending Group V free agent
Paul FeroneIIJim McKenzieIIVI—pending Group VI free agent
Martin GendronVIBarrie MooreVI#—unsigned European draft choice
Roger Hansson#Ryan Mulhern—Artem Vyacheslavovich Anisimov, born 1976 in Kazan, USSR
Darby HendricksonJoe MurphyIII
Brad MayJeff Nelson
Mark MessierIIIMichal PivonkaIII
Stefan Nilsson#Joe SaccoIII
Lubomir VaicIIJeff TomsII
Harry YorkIIStefan Ustorf
Terry YakeIII

The Expansion Draft


The expansion draft was held on Friday, June 23 at the Westin Hotel in Calgary. The entry draft was held over the following Saturday and Sunday at the Saddledome.

Over.PlayerPicked fromPicked by
Goaltenders
1Rick TabaracciColorado AvalancheColumbus Blue Jackets
2Jamie McLennanSt. Louis BluesMinnesota Wild
3Mike VernonFlorida PanthersMinnesota Wild
4Frédéric ChabotMontreal CanadiensColumbus Blue Jackets
5Dwayne RolosonBuffalo SabresColumbus Blue Jackets
6Chris TerreriNew Jersey DevilsMinnesota Wild
Defencemen
7Sean O'DonnellLos Angeles KingsMinnesota Wild
8Mattias TimanderBoston BruinsColumbus Blue Jackets
9Bert RobertssonEdmonton OilersColumbus Blue Jackets
10Curtis LeschyshynCarolina HurricanesMinnesota Wild
11Tommi RajamakiToronto Maple LeafsColumbus Blue Jackets
12Ladislav BenysekMighty Ducks of AnaheimMinnesota Wild
13Chris ArmstrongSan Jose SharksMinnesota Wild
14Jamie PushorDallas StarsColumbus Blue Jackets
15Filip KubaCalgary FlamesMinnesota Wild
16Lyle OdeleinPhoenix CoyotesColumbus Blue Jackets
17Radim BicanekChicago BlackhawksColumbus Blue Jackets
18Oleg OrekhovskyWashington CapitalsMinnesota Wild
19Mathieu SchneiderNew York RangersColumbus Blue Jackets
20Ian HerbersNew York IslandersMinnesota Wild
21Artem AnisimovPhiladelphia FlyersMinnesota Wild
22Jonas Andersson-JunkkaPittsburgh PenguinsColumbus Blue Jackets
Forwards
23Geoff SandersonBuffalo SabresColumbus Blue Jackets
24Stacy RoestDetroit Red WingsMinnesota Wild
25Darryl LaplanteDetroit Red WingsMinnesota Wild
26Turner StevensonMontreal CanadiensColumbus Blue Jackets
27Scott PellerinSt. Louis BluesMinnesota Wild
28Robert KronCarolina HurricanesColumbus Blue Jackets
29Steve HeinzeBoston BruinsColumbus Blue Jackets
30Jim DowdEdmonton OilersMinnesota Wild
31Tyler WrightPittsburgh PenguinsColumbus Blue Jackets
32Sergei KrivokrasovCalgary FlamesMinnesota Wild
33Jeff NielsenMighty Ducks of AnaheimMinnesota Wild
34Kevyn AdamsToronto Maple LeafsColumbus Blue Jackets
35Jeff OdgersColorado AvalancheMinnesota Wild
36Dmitry SubbotinNew York RangersColumbus Blue Jackets
37Dallas DrakePhoenix CoyotesColumbus Blue Jackets
38Steve McKennaLos Angeles KingsMinnesota Wild
39Bruce GardinerTampa Bay LightningColumbus Blue Jackets
40Michal BrosSan Jose SharksMinnesota Wild
41Joe JuneauOttawa SenatorsMinnesota Wild
42Barrie MooreWashington CapitalsColumbus Blue Jackets
43Darby HendricksonVancouver CanucksMinnesota Wild
44Martin StreitPhiladelphia FlyersColumbus Blue Jackets
45Kevin DineenOttawa SenatorsColumbus Blue Jackets
46Jeff DawChicago BlackhawksMinnesota Wild
47Jeff WilliamsNew Jersey DevilsColumbus Blue Jackets
48Stefan NilssonVancouver CanucksMinnesota Wild
Additional Players
49Zac BierkTampa Bay LightningMinnesota Wild
50Sergei LuchinkinDallas StarsColumbus Blue Jackets
51Cam StewartFlorida PanthersMinnesota Wild
52Ted DruryNew York IslandersColumbus Blue Jackets

The foremost question on your mind, dear reader, is probably "Why did the Blue Jackets chose Rick Tabaracci with the first pick?". I personally have a soft spot for "the Tabby Cat", but Tabaracci was 31 years old at the time, an unrestricted free agent, and not a highly sought after one at that. Teams that lost free agents were entitled to receive compensatory entry draft picks, and the more those free agents were paid the higher the pick. The Predators' David Poile got a couple compensatory picks after taking Mike Richter and Uwe Krupp in the 1998 Expansion Draft; those two players were expected to receive large contracts and therefore high compensatory picks. Tabaracci wasn't going to sign a big contract with anyone.

Rick Tabaracci was chosen first overall in this expansion draft because of the deal the Avalanche made with the Blue Jackets for Marc Denis two weeks earlier. Denis was a promising young player who was expected to become a great starting goaltender. Most expansion teams start out with a pair of older goalies who hold down the fort until a younger, better goalie can be found. Doug MacLean thought he had scored himself his goalie-of-the-future by trading for Denis. The catch was he not only had to give the Avalanche his 2nd round entry draft pick for Denis, he also had to take Rick Tabaracci in the expansion draft. In taking Tabaracci it meant that the Avalanche wouldn't lose another goalie or defenceman in the draft. It guaranteed that the only other player they would lose would be one of their exposed forwards, any of which they could have done without.

This wasn't the only selection made as part of a side deal. Immediately following the draft the Wild and Blue Jackets made three trades apiece:

  • Sabres traded Matt Davidson, Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre, the Sharks' 5th round pick in 2000 (Tyler Kolarik) and a 5th round pick in 2001 (traded later to the Flames, who traded to the Red Wings, who selected Andreas Jamtin) to the Blue Jackets for future considerations
  • Canadiens traded a 2nd round pick in 2001(Kiel MacLeod) to the Blue Jackets for future considerations
  • Bruins traded a 5th round pick in 2000 (Scott Heffernan) to the Blue Jackets for future considerations
  • Flames traded Dan Cavanaugh and an 8th round pick in 2000 or 2001 (Wild chose 2001—Jake Riddle) to the Wild for Mike Vernon
  • Stars traded Aaron Gavey, Pavel Patera, an 8th round pick in 2000 (Eric Johansson) and the Wild's 4th round pick in 2002 (traded to the Kings, who selected Aaron Rome) to the Wild for Brad Lukowich, a 3rd round pick in 2001 (Yared Hagos) and a 9th round pick in 2001 (Dale Sullivan)
  • Devils traded Brad Bombardir to the Wild for Chris Terreri and a 9th round pick in 2000 (traded to the Lightning, who selected Thomas Ziegler)
  • Coyotes traded the rights to Rickard Wallin to the Wild for Joe Juneau

The Sabres traded Davidson, Grand-Pierre and the draft picks to the Blue Jackets in exchange for the Blue Jackets taking goalie Dwayne Roloson and winger Geoff Sanderson. Roloson was expendable—the Sabres elected to protect Marty Biron instead—and losing a goalie meant not losing a defenceman, such as Jason Woolley or Richard Smehlik. Sanderson was an offensively-minded forward who struggled under the Sabres' defence-first style of play at the time. In six seasons in Hartford he had seasons of 34, 36, 41 and 46 goals; in Buffalo the best he mustered was 13. Sanderson had been left exposed in the 1999 Expansion Draft but the Thrashers passed. Sanderson would go on to play over three seasons in Columbus and lead the team in scoring that first season with 30 goals and 56 points. Roloson on the other hand was not tendered a qualifying offer to retain his rights and became an unrestricted free agent. He signed a contract with the AHL's Worcester IceCats, and in 2001 returned to the NHL after signing a contract with (ironically) the Minnesota Wild.

The Canadiens traded the draft pick to the Blue Jackets for the Blue Jackets taking Fred Chabot. They did the exact same thing with the Predators in 1998. Losing Chabot meant that they wouldn't lose another goalie or a defenceman such as Eric Weinrich or Stephane Robidas.

Similarly the Wild had acquired Manny Fernandez from the Stars as their goalie-of-the-future, so their goalie selections were also not particularly imperative. Mike Vernon was 37 years old and approaching the end of his career. The Flames were almost certain to lose backup goalie Grant Fuhr to retirement and after trading away J.S. Giguere their only other goalies were RFA Andrei Trefilov and 21-year-old Tyrone Garner. Trefilov was on his way back to Europe and Garner needed much more pro experience if he ever hoped to make the NHL, so the Flames acquired Vernon for a former 2nd round draft pick (Dan Cavanaugh eventually played six years in the AHL, never making a single appearance in an NHL game) and an 8th round pick (a token sum).

The Devils had stocked up on extra forwards prior to the draft, adding Ed Ward and Steve Staios in separate trades, hoping to lose these surplus forwards and keep their Stanley Cup champion roster intact. Devils GM Lou Lamoriello took the risk no one would take the 35-year-old Chris Terreri, who other than a couple years in San Jose and Chicago had spent his career in New Jersey. Doug Risebrough called Lamoriello's bluff and took Terreri anyway. There were some extenuating circumstances at play. Lou Lamoriello is famous for his loyalty to his players, and he had known Terreri since he was head coach of the Providence College Friars hockey team and Chris Terreri was a 17-year-old freshman. Terreri was also close friends with Devils' starter Martin Brodeur. So, following the draft Lamoriello traded Bombardir to the Wild to get Terreri back. In retrospect it was misguided from a hockey operations point of view: less than a year later Terreri was traded to the New York Islanders due to his poor play and retired as a player at the end of the season. But like I said Lou Lamoriello is famous for being loyal to his players; when Terreri retired as a player Lamoriello hired him as the Devils' AHL affiliate's goaltending coach. (Chris Terreri has been the Devils' goalie coach since 2010.)


The Blue Jackets and Wild finished 23rd and 25th overall respectively in their first season. They were well out of playoff contention however they could take some solace in being far better than their expansion brethren Atlanta Thrashers, who finished 28th overall with a scant 60 points. By their third season the Wild had improved to the point that they made the playoffs for the first time, and ended up going to the conference finals (they were upset by the Mighty Ducks). In 13 seasons the Wild have made the playoffs five times. Success has been a little harder to come by in Columbus. The team did not improve upon its inaugural season's record until their fifth year, and in their 13 seasons of play the Blue Jackets have only made the playoffs twice.

Follow-up Question: How did the Islanders end up with only four players exposed?

(June 18, 2016)

In the comments below someone with the handle 'Admin' (Hi! Thanks for the question!) has asked [paraphrased] "How did the Islanders end up with only four players exposed?" The short answer is: they followed the rules. I feel your question deserves a more comprehensive answer than that though, so let's explore that together.

First, let's go over the rules:

  • Protected list: they could protect either two goalies, three defencemen and five forwards, or one goalie, five defencemen and nine forwards. They elected to do the latter.
  • Players with fewer than three years of pro experience were not available for selection by the Blue Jackets or Wild, and did not have to be protected.
  • The Islanders—given they protected one goalie, five defencemen and nine forwards—had to offer at least one defenceman and two forwards with 40 games played in the 1999-2000 season or 70 combined games played across the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons, and one goalie with any experience.

Now let's go over the Islanders' roster at the end of the season, broken down by goalies, defencemen and forwards.

Goalies: Wade Flaherty, Roberto Luongo, Steve Valiquette, Kevin Weekes

Luongo (one year of pro experience) and Valiquette (two years) were exempt by virtue of their inexperience. The Islanders had to leave at least one goalie exposed, so they chose to protect Weekes and expose Flaherty. In choosing to protect only one goalie the Islanders were entitled to protect five defencemen and nine forwards.

Defencemen: Mathieu Biron, Eric Brewer, Eric Cairns, Zdeno Chara, Vladimir Chebaturkin, Ray Giroux, Ian Herbers, Jamie Heward, Kenny Jonsson, Evgeny Korolev, Jamie Rivers, Ray Schultz

Heward was claimed on waivers by the Blue Jackets on May 26, a little over two weeks before the draft. Chebaturkin's contract expired and he signed a deal with the Blues three days before the draft. Biron, Brewer, Giroux and Korolev were exempt given their inexperience.

Remember that five out of the remaining six could be protected. They protected Cairns, Chara, Jonsson, Rivers and Schultz, and left Herbers exposed.

Forwards: Mikael Andersson, Tim Connolly, Mariusz Czerkawski, Johan Davidsson, Ted Drury, Josh Green, Sean Haggerty, Brad Isbister, Olli Jokinen, Jason Krog, Claude Lapointe, Mark Lawrence, Mats Lindgren, Petr Mika, Bill Muckalt, Dimitri Nabokov, Vladimir Orszagh, Scott Pearson, Dave Scatchard, Mike Watt, Steve Webb

Haggerty and Watt were claimed off waivers by the Predators about three weeks before the draft. Andersson, Davidsson, Orszagh and Pearson's contracts expired and they signed new ones with European clubs prior to the draft. Connolly, Krog, Mika, and Muckalt were exempt given their inexperience.

That left Czerkawski, Drury, Green, Isbister, Jokinen, Lapointe, Lawrence, Lindgren, Nabokov, Scatchard and Webb, and of those 11 players the Islanders could protect nine and leave two exposed. The two they left exposed had to have at least 40 NHL games played in the '99-'00 season, or 70 over '98-'99 and '99-'00. Nabokov had only played in 30 NHL games over that two-season span, so by default one of the spots on the protected list had to be used on him. The remaining spots on the list were used on Czerkawski, Green, Isbister, Jokinen, Lapointe, Lindgren, Scatchard and Webb, leaving Drury and Lawrence up for grabs.

And there you have it: they were a young team with many players not having to be protected due to the limited length of their professional careers, they only protected one goalie which gave them the option to protect the most defencemen and forwards possible, and they ended up only having to offer the absolute bare minimum of one goalie, one defenceman and a pair of forwards. Also keep in mind that they had a fairly small total number of players under contract to begin with, almost certainly a result of the penny-pinching of then-owners Howard Milstein and Steve Gluckstern. Milstein and Gluckstern sold the team to Charles Wang and Sanjay Kumar in April, 2000.

Copyright

© 2012-2017 Mark Parsons