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.

←1989 Waiver Draft

1992 Waiver Draft→

NHL Draft Results

1989 NHL Waiver Draft

The 1989 Waiver Draft was held on October 2. The rules were broadly speaking the same as they were in 1988 (e.g. protected lists of 18 players and two goaltenders) except for the number of rounds at the beginning of the draft where only the clubs that failed to make the playoffs in the preceding season were allowed to participate. In 1986 and 1987 it was unlimited—playoff clubs would begin selecting only after all of the non-playoff clubs passed on their choices in a round—and in 1988 this was amended to a hard cap of two rounds. In 1989 the limit was reduced to one and only one round. It would remain this way until the waiver draft was abolished after the 2004-05 lockout.

This was on the face of it a much more subdued affair than the drafts in 1987 and 1988. Only eight players were chosen, and none were claimed as compensation after being dropped from their club's protected list. The fallout from trades before and after the draft were the biggest newsmakers. I will explain after the draft results.

Player	Picked by	Picked from	Player dropped from protected list	Cash or claim?
Round 1
Greg C. Adams	Quebec Nordiques	Vancouver Canucks	???	cash
Dave Hannan	Toronto Maple Leafs	Pittsburgh Penguins	???	cash
Moe Mantha	Winnipeg Jets	Philadelphia Flyers	???	$5,000
Kent Nilsson	New Jersey Devils	Edmonton Oilers	???	cash
Round 2
Dave Mackey	Minnesota North Stars	Chicago Blackhawks	???	cash
Craig Coxe	Vancouver Canucks	Chicago Blackhawks	???	cash
Mikael Andersson	Hartford Whalers	Buffalo Sabres	???	cash
Nick Kypreos	Washington Capitals	Philadelphia Flyers	???	$20,000

So, what was all the hub-bub about trades? There were two of them that had an impact on the results of the draft. On September 28, mere days before the draft, the Flyers traded goalie Pete Peeters and forward Keith Acton to the Jets for future considerations. The Jets had a young team and could protect Peeters and Acton without sacrificing any of their other players. On October 3, the day after the draft, the Jets traded Peeters and Acton back to the Flyers for a draft pick and other considerations. (Specifically, the Jets received the Maple Leafs' fifth round pick in the 1991 Entry Draft (which the Flyers had acquired on Sept. 9 in a trade for Mark Laforest—the Jets used the pick on Finnish defenceman Juha Ylonen) and the future considerations in another previous trade involving Shawn Cronin were cancelled.) The others teams immediately cried foul; it was obvious that the Flyers 'stashed' Peeters and Acton with the Jets in order to prevent them from being eligible for selection.

The NHL investigated the matter and on December 2, after two months of internal deliberations, President John Ziegler fined both the Flyers and Jets $10,000 each for using the guise of trades to loan players and keep them from being taken in the waiver draft. The trades were not rescinded: the Flyers kept Peeters and Acton and the Jets kept the draft pick they were given.

In 1990 the waiver draft rules were amended such that any players traded by a club in the four weeks preceding the waiver draft were not allowed to be reacquired by that club in the season that followed.

←1988 Waiver Draft

1990 Waiver Draft→

NHL Draft Results

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.

←1987 Waiver Draft

1989 Waiver Draft→

NHL Draft Results

1987 NHL Waiver Draft

The 1987 Waiver Draft was held on October 5. The rules were the same as they were in 1986, except that non-playoff clubs were only allowed to choose to not drop a player from their protected lists when they made a selection in the first rounds of exclusive selections amongst themselves. In '86 they were afforded this luxury in any round.

Player	Picked by	Picked from	Player dropped from protected list	Cash or claim?
Round 1
Kevin Maguire	Buffalo Sabres	Toronto Maple Leafs	none	$40,000
Reijo Ruotsalainen	New Jersey Devils	Edmonton Oilers	none	cash
Randy Boyd	Vancouver Canucks	New York Islanders	none	cash
Al Tuer	Minnesota North Stars	Edmonton Oilers	none	cash
Charlie Simmer	Pittsburgh Penguins	Boston Bruins	none	$2,500
Round 2
Risto Siltanen	New Jersey Devils	Quebec Nordiques	none	cash
Round 3
all non-playoff clubs passed
Round 4
Tim Tookey	Los Angeles Kings	Philadelphia Flyers	Dave Williams	cash
Glen Cochrane	Chicago Blackhawks	Vancouver Canucks	Jack O'Callahan	cash
Bill Root	St. Louis Blues	Hartford Whalers	Doug Wickenheiser	claim
Willi Plett	Boston Bruins	New York Rangers	Dave Reid	cash
Round 5
Ed Hospodar	Buffalo Sabres	Philadelphia Flyers	Dave Fenyves	claim
Jack O'Callahan	New Jersey Devils	Chicago Blackhawks	Risto Siltanen	cash
Doug Wickenheiser	Vancouver Canucks	Hartford Whalers	Brent Peterson	claim
Stu Kulak	Quebec Nordiques	New York Rangers	Richard Zemlak	claim
Round 6
Richard Zemlak	Minnesota North Stars	New York Rangers	Al Tuer	cash

This was easily the busiest waiver draft ever up to that point. 17 players changed hands as a result of 15 draft picks. Doug Wickenheiser and Richard Zemlak were members of the Whalers and Rangers respectively for mere minutes: when the Blues took Bill Root from the Whalers in the fourth round the Blues dropped Wickenheiser from their protected list, and the Whalers claimed him as compensation for Root in lieu of cash. However, he was not placed on the Whalers' protected list. In the fifth round Wickenheiser was taken from the Whalers by the Canucks. Similarly Zemlak was dropped when the Nordiques chose Stu Kulak from the Rangers, and in the next round was taken from the Rangers by the North Stars.


Some sources state that two other players changed hands during this waiver draft: Mark Lamb from the Red Wings to the Oilers and Paul Fenton from the Rangers to the Kings. I have not found any period sources to substantiate this. I suspect they may have been offered on waivers later that same day for a reduced draft price (teams were free to set whatever waiver price they wanted up to the maximum).

←1986 Waiver Draft

1988 Waiver Draft→

NHL Draft Results

1986 NHL Waiver Draft

The 1986 Waiver Draft was held on October 6. The protected lists were expanded to 17 skaters and two goaltenders, as it had been in 1982 and 1983.

The order of selection changed slightly this year. Beginning this year the non-playoff clubs from the previous season would not only have priority over the playoff clubs but they would be allowed to have the first round of selections to themselves, and all subsequent rounds until each of them had passed on their selections. Once they had all passed within a round the playoff clubs would be allowed to begin selections, and have a round of selections to themselves. All following rounds would be as they were in prior drafts: non-playoff clubs in inverse order of points in the preceding regular season followed by playoff clubs in inverse order of points.

The non-playoff clubs would also be allowed to choose whether or not to drop a player from their protected lists when they made a selection, thereby forcing the club from which they made a claim to accept the waiver price instead of having the opportunity to claim a player as compensation.

The only caveat to this scheme that afforded the non-playoff clubs exclusive rounds of selections was that in those first rounds they were not allowed to pick a player from a team in their own division.

Player	Picked by	Picked from	Player dropped from protected list	Cash or claim?
Round 1
Bob Bourne	Los Angeles Kings	New York Islanders	none	$2,500
Clark Gillies	Buffalo Sabres	New York Islanders	none	$2,500
Round 2
Mal Davis	Los Angeles Kings	Buffalo Sabres	none	$7,500
Wilf Paiement	Buffalo Sabres	New York Rangers	none	$2,500
Round 3
all non-playoff clubs passed
Round 4
Pat Hughes	St. Louis Blues	Buffalo Sabres	Eddy Beers	$2,500
Gord Sherven	Hartford Whalers	Edmonton Oilers	Bill Gardner	$40,000
John Blum	Washington Capitals	Boston Bruins	Mark Taylor	$15,000

The dismantling of the New York Islanders dynasty was in full swing by this point. They lost Dave Langevin in the '85 Waiver Draft and had already traded away Butch Goring and John Tonelli. Bob Nystrom retired in the off-season, and in the first round of the '86 Waiver Draft they lost long-time players Bob Bourne and Clark Gillies. '86-'87 would also be Mike Bossy's final season; he declared his retirement from playing hockey in 1988 due to ongoing problems with his back.

TRIVIA: Bob Bourne's son Justin, a hockey player in his own right who played in the AHL and ECHL before retiring due to injuries, married Clark Gillies' daughter Brianna in 2011.

←1985 Waiver Draft

1987 Waiver Draft→

NHL Draft Results

1985 NHL Waiver Draft

The 1985 Waiver Draft was held on October 7. The rules were the same as they were in 1984.

Player	Picked by	Picked from	Player dropped from protected list	Cash or claim?
Round 1
Willy Lindstrom	Pittsburgh Penguins	Edmonton Oilers	???	$2,500
Randy Velischek	New Jersey Devils	Minnesota North Stars	???	$35,000
Brent Peterson	Vancouver Canucks	Buffalo Sabres	???	$10,000
Randy Boyd	New York Islanders	Chicago Black Hawks	Dave Langevin	$20,000
Dwight Schofield	Washington Capitals	St. Louis Blues	???	$7,500
Round 2
Mike Blaisdell	Pittsburgh Penguins	New York Rangers	???	$15,000
Dave Langevin	Minnesota North Stars	New York Islanders	???	$5,000
Round 3
Dan Frawley	Pittsburgh Penguins	Chicago Black Hawks	???	$30,000
Round 4
Craig Levie	Calgary Flames	St. Louis Blues	???	$12,500

←1984 Waiver Draft

1986 Waiver Draft→

NHL Draft Results

1984 NHL Waiver Draft

The 1984 Waiver Draft was held on October 9. The rules were the same as they were in 1983 except that the protected lists were reduced to only 16 skaters and a pair of goalies.

Player	Picked by	Picked from	Player dropped from protected list	Cash or claim?
Round 1
Wayne Babych	Pittsburgh Penguins	St. Louis Blues	Tom Roulston	$12,500
Dave Pichette	New Jersey Devils	St. Louis Blues	Gary McAdam	$15,000
Jeff Brubaker	Toronto Maple Leafs	Edmonton Oilers	Terry Martin	claim
Wally Weir	Hartford Whalers	Quebec Nordiques	Marty Howe	$2,500
Craig Levie	St. Louis Blues	Minnesota North Stars	Rik Wilson	$20,000
André Doré	New York Rangers	Quebec Nordiques	Larry Patey	$12,500
Billy Carroll	Edmonton Oilers	New York Islanders	Larry Melnyk	$10,000
Round 2
Bruce Crowder	Pittsburgh Penguins	Boston Bruins	Greg Fox	$15,000
Dave Lumley	Hartford Whalers	Edmonton Oilers	Jack Brownschilde	$10,000

←1983 Waiver Draft

1985 Waiver Draft→

NHL Draft Results

1983 NHL Waiver Draft

The 1983 NHL Waiver Draft was held on Monday, October 3. The rules were the same as they were in 1982.

Player	Picked by	Picked from	Player dropped from protected list	Cash or claim?
Round 1
Grant Mulvey	Pittsburgh Penguins	Chicago Black Hawks	Paul Gardner	cash
Mike Crombeen	Hartford Whalers	St. Louis Blues	Mark Renaud	cash
Don Nachbaur	Los Angeles Kings	Edmonton Oilers	Mark Lofthouse	cash
Terry Johnson	St. Louis Blues	Quebec Nordiques	Jack Carlson	cash
Mark Renaud	Buffalo Sabres	Hartford Whalers	John Van Boxmeer	cash
Jean Hamel	Montreal Canadiens	Quebec Nordiques	Jeff Brubaker	cash
Round 2
Mike Zuke	Hartford Whalers	St. Louis Blues	Ross Yates	cash
Dwight Schofield	St. Louis Blues	Montreal Canadiens	Bobby Crawford	cash
Jeff Brubaker	Calgary Flames	Montreal Canadiens	Greg Meredith	cash
John Van Boxmeer	Quebec Nordiques	Buffalo Sabres	Pat Price	cash
Round 3
Bobby Crawford	Hartford Whalers	St. Louis Blues	Doug Sulliman	cash

As you can see many of the choices in the last couple rounds were players who had been dropped by their respective teams when the teams made earlier choices. E.g. when the Whalers selected Mike Crombeen from the Blues they dropped Mark Renaud from their protected list, and Renaud was later claimed by the Sabres. When the Sabres selected Renaud they dropped John Van Boxmeer from their protected list; Van Boxmeer was selected in the second round by the Nordiques.

Grant Mulvey, selected with the first pick by the Penguins, was also coveted by the New Jersey Devils, who held the third overall pick. The Devils passed on that third overall pick, and all subsequent picks. The only player they were interested in was Mulvey, who had scored 30 goals in his last full season ('81-'82) but had missed almost the entire '82-'83 season with a serious knee injury. The Hawks left him exposed because they doubted that he could ever play at a high level again. After the draft the Devils' GM Billy MacMillan and Penguins' GM Eddie Johnston made a deal: the Penguins would trade Mulvey to the Devils for future considerations.

Only one problem: that was against the rules! The NHL vetoed the deal. The Penguins weren't allowed to trade Mulvey unless he had been offered on waivers first, similar to what happened between the Capitals and Canadiens with respect to Pierre Bouchard at the 1978 Waiver Draft. In the case of Grant Mulvey, the Penguins and the Devils, the only team that held waiver priority before the Devils was the Whalers and the Whalers weren't particularly interested in Mulvey. The Penguins put Mulvey on waivers on October 6 and the Devils' claim for him was successful. It took a few extra days but Grant Mulvey was a New Jersey Devil. He ended up playing 12 games for the Devils and the rest of the season with the Maine Mariners of the AHL. At the end of the '83-'84 season, having won the Calder Cup with the Mariners, Grant Mulvey retired.

←1982 Waiver Draft

1984 Waiver Draft→

NHL Draft Results

1974 NHL Expansion Draft

The Background

Let me set the scene for you. It's June, 1972. The National Hockey League is a sixteen-team circuit, with new teams in Atlanta and on Long Island, New York having just finished participating in an expansion draft. The new teams will begin play in the fall of 1972. So too will the World Hockey Association, an upstart twelve-team league founded by a pair of mavericks whose primary objective is to disrupt the professional hockey business.

To get started the WHA needed two things: players and places to play. They would have to compete with the old-guard NHL for both. Players would come after promises of substantially more wealth. Finding places to play was more difficult. Half of the WHA member clubs were based in smaller cities that the NHL had no serious intention of ever expanding to: Cleveland, Edmonton, Houston, Ottawa, Quebec City and Winnipeg. In those cities they would only have to face competition for hockey fans from minor league and junior teams. The other half of the league took the NHL head-on in New York City, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and the Twin Cities of Minnesota. Not only were these teams vying for the same hockey fans as the NHL teams they were also vying for arenas to play in.

The WHA's New York Raiders (the name cheekily referencing the WHA's 'raiding' the NHL) were going to play at the planned arena in the 'burbs on Long Island. The NHL saw this coming and made their first pre-emptive strike against the WHA: they granted an expansion franchise to play on Long Island at the new arena. The New York Islanders as they became known signed a long-term lease at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the WHA was shut out. The Raiders had to settle for an exorbitantly expensive lease in Manhattan, at Madison Square Garden. The Raiders would also have to settle for whatever leftover dates they could get after the Rangers and NBA's Knicks had priority.

The New England Whalers signed a lease with the Boston Garden. As was the case with the Raiders in New York the Whalers had to compete for dates at the Garden with the NHL's Bruins and NBA's Celtics. When the Garden was unavailable they made do at the much smaller Boston Arena, home of Northeastern University's hockey team and former home of the Bruins.

By contrast the Chicago Cougars were unable to secure ice time at Chicago Stadium. They hoped to play at a new suburban arena but financing for the arena project wasn't secured in time for the season (the Cougars' owners, brothers Jordon and Walter Kaiser, were eventually unable to secure any financing at all and sold the team to players Ralph Backstrom, Dave Dryden and Pat Stapleton in 1974; the team folded in 1975, five years before the proposed arena in Rosemont was built and opened). They were forced to play games at the International Amphitheatre, originally built in the 1930s to host livestock exhibitions. Similarly the Philadelphia Blazers were forced to play games at the Philadelphia Civic Center, former home of the NBA's 76ers.

The Los Angeles Sharks had the luxury of a pair of venues being available: the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena and Long Beach Arena. The NHL's Kings were forced to build their own arena in 1967, The Forum, because the WHL's Los Angeles Blades held the lease at the Memorial Sports Arena.

St. Paul, Minnesota built its own new pro sports arena in the early '70s and the Minnesota Fighting Saints became the first tenant of the St. Paul Civic Center in downtown St. Paul.

Arenas were as much a driving force in the locations of the WHA's franchises as they were in the NHL's choices for expansion franchises. The 1972 expansion to Long Island and Atlanta was a deliberate effort to keep WHA teams out of the arenas and to limit the WHA's growth. The story was the same in the next round of expansion. Kansas City, Missouri was building a new arena for the NBA's Kansas City Kings and Washington, D.C. planned a new arena in downtown, tentatively called the Eisenhower Memorial Center. In order to keep the WHA out the NHL let Washington and Kansas City in. Expansion franchises were awarded to Baltimore Bullets owner Abe Pollin in Washington and an enormous group (more than 30 individuals) in Kansas City on June 8, 1972. The teams would begin play in 1974.

Pollin's downtown arena never materialized and he built his own arena instead, the Capital Centre, in suburban Largo, Maryland. He chose to name his new hockey team the Capitals, and hired outgoing Boston Bruins general manager Milt Schmidt as his GM in April, 1973.

The Kansas City group was originally going to name their club the Mohawks: 'MO' for Missouri and 'Hawks' as a reference to Jayhawkers, a nickname for Kansans. That was quashed by the Black Hawks' owners. There was only room enough in the NHL for one team nicknamed 'Hawks'. The owners hired St. Louis Blues GM Sid Abel, formerly of the Red Wings, in April, 1973 to take up the same post and begin building the team. The team was named 'Scouts' in June of 1973 after the statue in the city's Penn Valley Park.

The Rules

The rules of the 1974 expansion draft were almost exactly the same as they were in 1972. The existing clubs were allowed to protect 15 skaters and a pair of goaltenders, and the teams who lost goaltenders in the 1972 draft—Canadiens, Black Hawks, Bruins and Kings—were allowed to exempt themselves from losing a goalie in 1974. The Canadiens and Kings left themselves open to losing a goaltender again. The existing teams would lose three players each, including a maximum of one goaltender, and each selection would be followed by a fill-in player added to the team's protected list. The expansion clubs would chose a pair of goaltenders and 22 skaters each.

The amateur draft was held by conference call and earlier than normal (May 28th, 29th and 30th) in order to keep the WHA from knowing who chose who and giving the NHL a head start in contract negotiations with the players. The Capitals won a coin toss over the Scouts for the first selection in the amateur draft so first choice in the expansion draft two weeks later was given to the Scouts.

The draft began at 2:00 pm on June 12, in the Grand Salon of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

The Protected Lists

Atlanta Flames	Boston Bruins	Buffalo Sabres	California Golden Seals
Goaltenders
Dan Bouchard	exempt	Gary Bromley	Gilles Meloche
Phil Myre		Rocky Farr	Gary Simmons
Skaters
Curt Bennett	Johnny Bucyk	Larry Carriere	Mike Christie
Dwight Bialowas	Wayne Cashman	Rick Dudley	Len Frig
Jerry Byers	Gary Doak	Norm Gratton	Stan Gilbertson
Rey Comeau	Darryl Edestrand	Bill Hajt	Hilliard Graves
Buster Harvey	Phil Esposito	Jerry Korab	Dave Hrechkosy
Ed Kea	Dave Forbes	Jim Lorentz	Spike Huston
Bob Leiter	Ken Hodge	Don Luce	Joey Johnston
Jean Lemieux	Don Marcotte	Rick Martin	Wayne King
Randy Manery	Terry O'Reilly	Gerry Meehan	Al MacAdam
Bob Murray	Bobby Orr	Brian Spencer	Ted McAneeley
Noel Price	Derek Sanderson	Gilbert Perreault	Jim Neilson
Pat Quinn	Bobby Schmautz	Craig Ramsay	Craig Patrick
Jacques Richard	Gregg Sheppard	Rene Robert	Bob Stewart
Larry Romanchych	Dallas Smith	Mike Robitaille	Stan Weir
John A. Stewart	Carol Vadnais	Jim Schoenfeld	Larry Wright
Chicago Black Hawks	Detroit Red Wings	Los Angeles Kings	Minnesota North Stars
Goaltenders
exempt	Doug Grant	Gary Edwards	Cesare Maniago
	Jim Rutherford	Rogie Vachon	Fern Rivard
Skaters
Ivan Boldirev	Red Berenson	Bob Berry	Chris Ahrens
Germain Gagnon	Thommie Bergman	Gene Carr	Fred Barrett
Dennis Hull	Henry Boucha	Mike Corrigan	Jude Drouin
Doug Jarrett	Ron Busniuk	Butch Goring	Barry Gibbs
Cliff Koroll	Guy Charron	Terry Harper	Bill Goldsworthy
Keith Magnuson	Marcel Dionne	Sheldon Kannegiesser	Danny Grant
Chico Maki	Jean Hamel	Neil Komadoski	Dennis Hextall
John Marks	Bill Hogaboam	Don Kozak	Don Martineau
Pit Martin	Pierre Jarry	Dan Maloney	Lou Nanne
Stan Mikita	Nick Libett	Bob Murdoch	Dennis O'Brien
Jim Pappin	Jack Lynch	Mike Murphy	Murray Oliver
Dick Redmond	Hank Nowak	Frank St. Marseille	J.P. Parise
Phil Russell	Mickey Redmond	Vic Venasky	Tom Reid
Dale Tallon	Doug Roberts	Juha Widing	Fred Stanfield
Bill White	Bryan Watson	Tom Williams	Ron Wilson
Montreal Canadiens	New York Islanders	New York Rangers	Philadelphia Flyers
Goaltenders
Ken Dryden	Chico Resch	Eddie Giacomin	Bernie Parent
Wayne Thomas	Billy Smith	Gilles Villemure	Bobby Taylor
Skaters
Pierre Bouchard	Craig Cameron	Jerry Butler	Bill Barber
Yvan Cournoyer	Dave Fortier	Bill Fairbairn	Tom Bladon
Guy Lafleur	Billy Harris	Rod Gilbert	Bobby Clarke
Yvon Lambert	Gerry Hart	Ed Irvine	Bill Clement
Jacques Laperriere	Lorne Henning	Walt McKechnie	Gary Dornhoefer
Guy Lapointe	Ernie Hicke	Gilles Marotte	Andre Dupont
Chuck Lefley	Gary Howatt	Brad Park	Bob Kelly
Jacques Lemaire	Walt Ledingham	Jean Ratelle	Orest Kindrachuk
Pete Mahovlich	Billy MacMillan	Dale Rolf	Reggie Leach
Henri Richard	Bert Marshall	Larry Sacharuk	Ross Lonsberry
Jim Roberts	Bob Nystrom	Rod Seiling	Rick MacLeish
Larry Robinson	Jean Potvin	Pete Stemkowski	Don Saleski
Serge Savard	Doug Rombough	Walt Tkaczuk	Dave Schultz
Steve Shutt	Ralph Stewart	Steve Vickers	Ed Van Impe
Murray Wilson	Eddie Westfall	Bert Wilson	Jim Watson
Pittsburgh Penguins	St. Louis Blues	Toronto Maple Leafs	Vancouver Canucks
Goaltenders
Andy Brown	Eddie Johnston	Doug Favell	Bruce Bullock
Denis Herron	Wayne Stephenson	Dunc Wilson	Gary Smith
Skaters
Syl Apps	Don Awrey	Willie Brossart	Gregg Boddy
Chuck Arnason	Ace Bailey	Tim Ecclestone	Andre Boudrias
Dave Burrows	Bill Collins	Ron Ellis	David Dunn
Nelson Debenedet	Dave Gardner	George Ferguson	John Gould
Ab Demarco	Wayne Merrick	Bill Flett	Jocelyn Guevremont
Steve Durbano	Brian Ogilvie	Brian Glennie	Dennis Kearns
Vic Hadfield	Barclay Plager	Rick Kehoe	Bobby Lalonde
Bob “Battleship” Kelly	Bob Plager	Dave Keon	Don Lever
Ron Lalonde	Pierre Plante	Jim McKenny	Larry McIntyre
Bernie Lukowich	Greg Polis	Garry Monahan	Chris Oddleifson
Lowell MacDonald	Phil Roberto	Mike Pelyk	Gerry O'Flaherty
Bob Paradise	Glen Sather	Gary Sabourin	Tracy Pratt
Jean Pronovost	Floyd Thomson	Darryl Sittler	Barry Wilkins
Ron Schock	Garry Unger	Errol Thompson	Jim Wiley
Ron Stackhouse	Rik Wilson	Norm Ullman	Brian McSheffrey

The Draft

Ovr.	Player	Picked By	Picked From	Fill-In
Goaltenders
1	Michel Plasse	Kansas City Scouts	Montreal Canadiens	John Van Boxmeer
2	Ron Low	Washington Capitals	Toronto Maple Leafs	Lyle Moffatt
3	Peter McDuffe	Kansas City Scouts	New York Rangers	Ron Harris
4	Michel Belhumeur	Washington Capitals	Philadelphia Flyers	Joe Watson
Skaters
5	Simon Nolet	Kansas City Scouts	Philadelphia Flyers	Terry Crisp
6	Dave Kryskow	Washington Capitals	Chicago Black Hawks	J. P. Bordeleau
7	Butch Deadmarsh	Kansas City Scouts	Atlanta Flames	Keith McCreary
8	Yvon Labre	Washington Capitals	Pittsburgh Penguins	Jean-Guy Lagace
9	Brent Hughes	Kansas City Scouts	Detroit Red Wings	Claude Houde
10	Pete Laframboise	Washington Capitals	California Golden Seals	Morris Mott
11	Paul Terbenche	Kansas City Scouts	Buffalo Sabres	Larry Mickey
12	Bob Gryp	Washington Capitals	Boston Bruins	Al Simmons
13	Gary Coalter	Kansas City Scouts	California Golden Seals	Del Hall
14	Gord Smith	Washington Capitals	Los Angeles Kings	Bob Nevin
15	Gary Croteau	Kansas City Scouts	California Golden Seals
16	Steve Atkinson	Washington Capitals	Buffalo Sabres	Joe Roberts
17	Randy Rota	Kansas City Scouts	Los Angeles Kings	Larry Brown
18	Bruce Cowick	Washington Capitals	Philadelphia Flyers
19	Lynn Powis	Kansas City Scouts	Chicago Black Hawks	Duane Wylie
20	Denis Dupere	Washington Capitals	Toronto Maple Leafs	John Grisdale
21	John Wright	Kansas City Scouts	St. Louis Blues	Larry Giroux
22	Joe Lundrigan	Washington Capitals	Toronto Maple Leafs
23	Ted Snell	Kansas City Scouts	Pittsburgh Penguins	Duane Rupp
24	Randy Wyrozub	Washington Capitals	Buffalo Sabres
25	Chris Evans	Kansas City Scouts	Detroit Red Wings	Charlie Shaw
26	Mike Bloom	Washington Capitals	Boston Bruins	Andre Savard
27	Bryan Lefley	Kansas City Scouts	New York Islanders	Neil Nicholson
28	Gord Brooks	Washington Capitals	St. Louis Blues	Murray Kuntz
29	Robin Burns	Kansas City Scouts	Pittsburgh Penguins
30	Bob Collyard	Washington Capitals	St. Louis Blues
31	Tom Peluso	Kansas City Scouts	Chicago Black Hawks
32	Bill Mikkelson	Washington Capitals	New York Islanders	Vic Teal
33	Kerry Ketter	Kansas City Scouts	Atlanta Flames	Morris Stefaniw
34	Ron Anderson	Washington Capitals	Boston Bruins
35	Normand Dubé	Kansas City Scouts	Los Angeles Kings
36	Mike Lampman	Washington Capitals	Vancouver Canucks	Jim Mair
37	Richard Lemieux	Kansas City Scouts	Vancouver Canucks	Larry Gould
38	Lew Morrison	Washington Capitals	Atlanta Flames
39	Dave Hudson	Kansas City Scouts	New York Islanders
40	Steve West	Washington Capitals	Minnesota North Stars	Rod Norrish
41	Ken Murray	Kansas City Scouts	Detroit Red Wings
42	Larry Bolonchuk	Washington Capitals	Vancouver Canucks
43	Dennis Patterson	Kansas City Scouts	Minnesota North Stars	Blake Dunlop
44	Murray Anderson	Washington Capitals	Minnesota North Stars
45	Ed Gilbert	Kansas City Scouts	Montreal Canadiens	Claude Larose
46	Larry Fullan	Washington Capitals	Montreal Canadiens
47	Doug Horbul	Kansas City Scouts	New York Rangers	John Bednarski
48	Jack Egers	Washington Capitals	New York Rangers

Once again Canadiens GM Sam Pollock used the rules to manipulate the results in his favour with a masterful touch. He had used three goaltenders in the '73-'74 season: Michel Larocque, Wayne Thomas and Michel Plasse. Ken Dryden had taken the year off after contract negotiations broke down, but Dryden would be back for '74-'75. Pollock knew he could afford to lose another goalie and did so so that he could keep one of his other players. When Plasse was chosen by the Scouts first overall the Canadiens added John Van Boxmeer to their protected list. Neither the Scouts nor the Capitals were interested in Claude Larose, the only other notable player left off the protected list by the Canadiens.

The Scouts and Capitals were the unfortunate victims of the rise of the WHA and arguable over-expansion by the NHL: the talent pool was notably thin for this expansion draft. You may have noticed that a few notable players were left off the protected lists, such as Frank Mahovlich of the Canadiens and Dave Dryden of the Sabres. It was already known that these players were going to the WHA.

Several newspapers (Toronto Star and Montreal Gazette for example) commented that this draft was easily the worst expansion draft yet, and the $6,000,000 expansion fees exacted from the Capitals and Scouts was the most amount of money paid for the least amount of talent in any expansion draft to date at the time. Several players didn't play in another NHL game again after this draft, and many more played less than a season's worth. In fact Tom Peluso, chosen 31st overall by the Scouts from the Black Hawks and Steve West, chosen 40th overall by the Capitals from the North Stars, never played in the NHL at all.

1982 NHL Waiver Draft

The 1982 NHL Waiver Draft was held October 4. The number of skaters allowed to be protected this year was dropped from 18 to 17.

Player	Picked by	Picked from	Player dropped from protected list	Claim player or cash
Round 1
Murray Brumwell	New Jersey Devils	Minnesota North Stars	Kevin Maxwell	$50,000
Jack Carlson	St. Louis Blues	Minnesota North Stars	Mike Zuke	cash
Doug Lecuyer	Pittsburgh Penguins	Winnipeg Jets	Peter Lee	cash
Bill Baker	New York Rangers	St. Louis Blues	Tim Bothwell	claim
Round 2
Carol Vadnais	New Jersey Devils	New York Rangers	Graeme Nicolson	claim
Round 3
Dave Hutchison	New Jersey Devils	Washington Capitals	Randy Pierce	cash
Round 4
Bob Hoffmeyer	Edmonton Oilers	Philadelphia Flyers	Garry Lariviere	cash

←1981 Waiver Draft

1983 Waiver Draft→

NHL Draft Results

1981 NHL Waiver Draft

The 1981 NHL Waiver Draft was held October 5. 13 players were taken, the most to date in a waiver draft.

Protected lists this year were 18 skaters and two goaltenders, as they were in 1980.

Player	Picked by	Picked from	Player dropped from protected list	Claim player or cash
Round 1
Craig Levie	Winnipeg Jets	Montreal Canadiens	Doug Lecuyer	$50,000
John Wensink	Colorado Rockies	Quebec Nordiques	Bob Attwell	$10,000
Mike McDougall	Hartford Whalers	New York Rangers	Paul Shmyr	$40,000
Terry Murray	Washington Capitals	Philadelphia Flyers	Dennis Ververgaert	$2,500
Ron Delorme	Vancouver Canucks	Colorado Rockies	Drew Callander	$12,500
Yvon Lambert	Buffalo Sabres	Montreal Canadiens	Rob McClanahan	$2,500
Al Sims	Los Angeles Kings	Hartford Whalers	Claude Larochelle	$7,500
Gary Edwards	St. Louis Blues	Edmonton Oilers	Doug Grant	$2,500
Round 2
Serge Savard	Winnipeg Jets	Montreal Canadiens	Rick Bowness	$2,500
Rob McClanahan	Hartford Whalers	Buffalo Sabres	Gilles Lupien	$4,500
John Bednarski	Pittsburgh Penguins	Buffalo Sabres	Gregg Sheppard	$5,000
Round 3
Trevor Johansen	Los Angeles Kings	St. Louis Blues	Scott Gruhl	$15,000
Round 4
Jeff Brubaker	Montreal Canadiens	Hartford Whalers	Doug Jarvis	$40,000

←1980 Waiver Draft

1982 Waiver Draft→

NHL Draft Results

1980 NHL Waiver Draft

After all of the hoopla surrounding the 1978 Waiver Draft it's not much of a surprise to me that the following waiver draft in 1980 was a much more subdued affair. (There was no waiver draft in 1979 because of the WHA merger.) Only five players were taken, none of them controversially, and nobody made any attempts to claim ineligible players.

Protected lists this year were 18 skaters and two goaltenders. As always first-year professionals were exempt. Teams were no longer allowed to protect additional young players as they had been in '77 and '78.

The draft was held on October 8.

Player	Picked by	Picked from	Player dropped from protected list	Claim player or cash
Yvon Vautour	Colorado Rockies	New York Islanders	Gary Croteau	cash
John Wensink	Quebec Nordiques	Boston Bruins	Curt Brackenbury	cash
Rick Smith	Detroit Red Wings	Boston Bruins	Dennis Polonich	cash
Curt Brackenbury	Edmonton Oilers	Quebec Nordiques	Colin Campbell	cash
Colin Campbell	Vancouver Canucks	Edmonton Oilers	Harold Phillipoff	cash

Many sources also attribute the Nordiques' acquisition of Dan Geoffrion from the Canadiens to this draft but that was not the case. Geoffrion was indeed left off the Canadiens' protected list but the Nordiques had priority claim on him. One of the conditions of the merger agreement between the WHA and NHL was that any players reclaimed by the NHL clubs from the WHA clubs and subsequently offered on waivers had to be offered to the former WHA club from which he was reclaimed first. If his former WHA club waived their claim he would then be offered to the other three WHA clubs. If they waived, he would then be allowed to be claimed by any club. Geoffrion had to be offered to the Nordiques first, before the draft. The Nordiques claimed him, and after the draft traded him to the Jets for cash.

Another condition of this arrangement was the waiver price. The Nordiques only paid $100 for Geoffrion. The amount of money they received from the Jets for him later that day was undisclosed, but it was surely more than a hundred bucks.

←1978 Waiver Draft

1981 Waiver Draft→

NHL Draft Results

1978 NHL Waiver Draft

The fall-out from the 1978 Waiver Draft would make this one of the most interesting developments in league politics, Montreal Canadiens history, and relations between the NHL and NHLPA in the late 1970s.

Protected lists this year were 18 skaters, two goaltenders, and two other players with no more than two years of pro experience. I haven't found the entire protected lists but I know Rod Schutt and Pat Hughes were the Canadiens' two young 'additions'.

Player	Picked by	Picked from	Player dropped from protected list	Claim player or cash
Round 1
Pierre Bouchard	Washington Capitals	Montreal Canadiens	?	$2,500
Larry Giroux	St. Louis Blues	Detroit Red Wings	?	$12,500
Pierre Plante	New York Rangers	Detroit Red Wings	?	$10,000
Jim Lorentz	Detroit Red Wings	Buffalo Sabres	?	$2,500
Round 2
Mike Korney	New York Rangers	Montreal Canadiens	Dan Newman	claim

Although only five players were chosen—two more than in 1977—this draft took over two hours to complete on October 9, 1978. "Why did it take so long," you ask? The Montreal Canadiens.

First, the Canucks tried to claim Cam Connor from the Canadiens. Connor had played in the WHA and never signed a contract in the NHL with the Canadiens. The Canucks reasoned that given he had completed four years of pro hockey in the WHA and was not on the Canadiens' protected list he should have been eligible for selection. The Canucks' move to acquire Connor was deliberated over the conference call and rejected on the basis that Connor was not even on the Canadiens reserve list, had never signed an NHL contract, and was therefore an unsigned draft choice ineligible for selection.

The Rockies pulled the same move as the Canucks, claiming Mark Napier from the Canadiens. Again, despite the fact that Napier had played in the WHA for three years he had never signed an NHL contract so in the eyes of the league and under the terms of the waiver draft by-law had never played 'professionally'. He was an unsigned amateur draft choice, ineligible for selection.

This despite the fact both Connor and Napier had attended the Canadiens' training camp in '78, and it was a foregone conclusion that they would play for the Canadiens in '78-'79. The fact they hadn't signed with the Canadiens was a formality. The Canucks and Rockies protested that the Canadiens were deliberately evading the rules of the waiver draft.

More controversy erupted when the North Stars (who would have normally had the first overall pick due to having finished last in '77-'78; they were moved to last in the selection order as a condition of the merger with the Cleveland Barons) tried to claim Bill Nyrop from the Canadiens. Nyrop grew up in Minnesota, married a girl from Minnesota in August of '78, and abruptly left Canadiens' training camp in September to move back to Minnesota. Nyrop was suspended by the league—at the Canadiens' behest—for failing to report back to training camp. The Canadiens were accused again of trying to evade the rules and use every loophole at their disposal.

(Nyrop was eventually traded to the North Stars in 1980.)

The most controversial outcome of the draft wouldn't come until days afterward. The Capitals used their first overall choice to pick Pierre Bouchard of the Canadiens. The Canadiens didn't have room to protect all of their veteran players so GM Irving Grundman, successor to legendary GM Sam Pollock, left Bouchard exposed and made a backroom deal with the Capitals: if the Capitals chose Bouchard with the first overall choice and traded him back to the Canadiens later the Canadiens would give the Capitals Rod Schutt, a former first-round amateur draft pick who had played two good seasons with the AHL's Nova Scotia Voyageurs.

On October 10 (the day after the draft) they made the trade: Bouchard from the Capitals back to the Canadiens for Schutt.

However, the next day league president John Ziegler voided the deal and cited the league by-laws: Bouchard could not be traded—to the Canadiens or anyone else—without having cleared waivers. Grundman and Capitals GM Max McNab misread the rules. The following Monday, October 16, the Canadiens and Capitals appealed to the Board of Governors to have the waiver draft by-law rewritten to allow the trade. The appeal was unsuccessful, and Bouchard remained with the Capitals.

Bouchard was a native Montrealer, son of former Canadiens captain Émile "Butch" Bouchard, and had no interest in playing hockey for any other team. Rather than report to Washington he quit altogether, announcing his retirement. It was Irv Grundman's first gaffe (first of many...) as general manager of the Canadiens.

←1977 Waiver Draft

1980 Waiver Draft→

NHL Draft Results

Sources:
Ramsay, Donald. (Oct. 14, 1978). "NHL's legal costs may hit $5-million". Globe & Mail: Toronto. p.S12 accessed online April 7, 2013

1977 NHL Waiver Draft

The first waiver draft! Held on Monday, October 10, this was the first such draft since the demise of the intra-league draft in the '75-'76 season.

The protected lists were 18 skaters, two goaltenders, and up to three other players with no more than two years of pro experience. First-year pros were exempt.

This new waiver draft was supposed to spur player movement however only three players—one more than the pair taken in the '75 Intra-League Draft—were chosen. The Toronto Star attributed this lack of movement to too many players being protected so too few of any interest to other teams being on offer.

Protected Lists

Atlanta Flames	Boston Bruins	Buffalo Sabres	Chicago Black Hawks	Cleveland Barons	Colorado Rockies
Goaltenders
Dan Bouchard	Gerry Cheevers	Gerry Desjardins	Tony Esposito	Gary Edwards	Michel Plasse
Phil Myre	Gilles Gilbert	Don Edwards	Mike Veisor	Gilles Meloche	Doug Favell
Skaters
Curt Bennett	John Bucyk	Lee Fogolin	Ivan Boldirev	Fred Ahern	Ron Andruff
Guy Chouinard	Wayne Cashman	Danny Gare	J. P. Bordeleau	Mike Christie	Chuck Arnason
Bill Clement	Gary Doak	Jocelyn Guevremont	Alain Daigle	Mike Fidler	Gary Croteau
Rey Comeau	Dwight Foster	Bill Hajt	Jim Harrison	Dave Gardner	Ron Delorme
Tim Ecclestone	Doug Halward	Jerry Korab	Randy Holt	Bob Girard	Denis Dupéré
Barry Gibbs	Stan Jonathan	Jim Lorentz	Bob Kelly	Rick Hampton	Tom Edur
John Gould	Don Marcotte	Don Luce	Cliff Koroll	Bjorn Johansson	Paul Gardner
Ken Houston	Pete McNab	Rick Martin	Dave Logan	Ralph Klassen	Dave Hudson
Ed Kea	Rick Middleton	Gilbert Perreault	Keith Magnuson	Al McAdam	Rick Jodzio
Bobby Lalonde	Mike Milbury	Craig Ramsay	John Marks	Jim McCabe	Mike Kitchen
Tom Lysiak	Terry O'Reilly	Jacques Richard	Stan Mikita	Dennis Maruk	Bryan Lefley
Richard Mulhern	Brad Park	Rene Robert	Grant Mulvey	Wayne Merrick	Roger Lemelin
Harold Phillipoff	Jean Ratelle	Andre Savard	Bob Murray	Bob Murdoch	Jim McElmury
Willi Plett	Bobby Schmautz	Ron Schock	Mike O'Connell	Jim Neilson	Wilf Paiement
Pat Ribble	Gregg Sheppard	Jim Schoenfeld	Pierre Plante	Gary Sabourin	Nelson Pyatt
Dave Shand	Al Sims	Derek Smith	Darcy Rota	Greg Smith	Andy Spruce
Bobby Simpson	Rick Smith	Fred Stanfield	Phil Russell	Bob Stewart	Mark Suzor
Eric Vail	John Wensink	Alex Tidey	Dale Tallon	Paul Tantardini	John Van Boxmeer
Second-year pros
		Terry Martin
		Gary McAdam
		Ken Breitenbach
Detroit Red Wings	Los Angeles Kings	Minnesota North Stars	Montreal Canadiens	New York Islanders	New York Rangers
Goaltenders
Ron Low	Gary Simmons	Paul Harrison	Ken Dryden	Chico Resch	John Davidson
Jim Rutherford	Rogie Vachon	Pete LoPresti	Michel Larocque	Billy Smith	Gilles Gratton
Skaters
Michel Bergeron	Larry Brown	Kent-Erik Andersson	Pierre Bouchard	Bob Bourne	Don Awrey
Mike Bloom	Gene Carr	Fred Barrett	Rick Chartraw	Jude Drouin	John Bednarski
Steve Durbano	Marcel Dionne	Nick Beverley	Yvan Cournoyer	Clark Gillies	Wayne Dillon
Larry Giroux	Glenn Goldup	Per-Olov Brasar	Bob Gainey	Billy Harris	Phil Esposito
Danny Grant	Butch Goring	Jerry Engele	Rejean Houle	Gerry Hart	Nick Fotiu
Danny Gruen	Dave Hutchison	Roland Eriksson	Guy Lafleur	Lorne Henning	Rod Gilbert
Jean Hamel	Neil Komadoski	Bill Fairbairn	Yvon Lambert	Gary Howatt	Ron Greschner
Dave Hanson	Don Kozak	Doug Hicks	Guy Lapointe	Dave Lewis	Bill Goldsworthy
Dennis Hextall	Randy Manery	Steve Jensen	Jacques Lemaire	Bill MacMillan	Pat Hickey
Greg Joly	Bob Murdoch	Lou Nanne	Gilles Lupien	Bert Marshall	Ken Hodge
J. P. Leblanc	Mike Murphy	Dennis O'Brien	Pete Mahovlich	Bob Nystrom	Greg Holst
Nick Libett	Gary Sargent	Alex Pirus	Bill Nyrop	J. P. Parisé	Ed Johnstone
Bill Lochead	Dave Schultz	Tom Reid	Doug Risebrough	Denis Potvin	Dave Maloney
Dan Maloney	Lorne Stamler	Jim Roberts	Larry Robinson	Jean Potvin	Greg Polis
Al McDonough	Vic Venasky	Glen Sharpley	Serge Savard	Pat Price	Larry Sacharuk
Perry Miller	Russ Walker	Dean Talafous	Steve Shutt	Andre St. Laurent	Walt Tkaczuk
Jim Nahrgang	Tom Williams	Tim Young	Mario Tremblay	Bryan Trottier	Carol Vadnais
Dennis Polonich	Bert Wilson		Murray Wilson	Ed Westfall	Steve Vickers
Second-year pros
Rick Bowness			Brian Engblom
Al Cameron			Doug Jarvis
Bob Ritchie			Pierre Mondou
Philadelphia Flyers	Pittsburgh Penguins	St. Louis Blues	Toronto Maple Leafs	Vancouver Canucks	Washington Capitals
Goaltenders
Bernie Parent	Denis Herron	Yves Belanger	Gord McRae	Cesare Maniago	Dale Rideout
Wayne Stephenson	Dunc Wilson	Ed Staniowski	Mike Palmateer	Curt Ridley	Gary Smith
Skaters
Bill Barber	Russ Anderson	Bruce Affleck	Don Ashby	Rick Blight	Garnet Bailey
Tom Bladon	Syl Apps, Jr.	Red Berenson	Bruce Boudreau	Larry Carriere	Guy Charron
Mel Bridgman	Wayne Bianchin	Rick Bourbonnais	Pat Boutette	Brad Gassoff	Bill Collins
Bobby Clarke	Dave Burrows	Jerry Butler	Randy Carlyle	Jere Gillis	Doug Gibson
Bob Dailey	Colin Campbell	Bernie Federko	Ron Ellis	Larry Goodenough	Rick Green
Paul Holmgren	Blair Chapman	Len Frig	George Ferguson	Hilliard Graves	Yvon Labre
Barry Dean	Mike Corrigan	Bob Hess	Brian Glennie	John Grisdale	Ron Lalonde
Gary Dornhoefer	Jacques Cossette	Claude Larose	Inge Hammarstrom	Dennis Kearns	Jack Lynch
Bob Kelly	Jim Hamilton	Chuck Lefley	Lanny McDonald	Don Lever	Mike Marson
Orest Kindrachuk	Rick Kehoe	Bob MacMillan	Jim McKenny	Jack McIlhargey	Walt McKechnie
Rick Lapointe	Pierre Larouche	Jamie Masters	Bob Neely	Garry Monahan	Gerry Meehan
Reggie Leach	Lowell MacDonald	Larry Patey	Borje Salming	Chris Oddleifson	Hartland Monahan
Ross Lonsberry	Greg Malone	Dick Redmond	Darryl Sittler	Gerry O'Flaherty	Craig Patrick
Rick MacLeish	Dennis Owchar	Jim Roberts	Errol Thompson	Ron Sedibauer	Bill Riley
Don Saleski	Bob Paradise	Rod Seiling	Ian Turnbull	Harold Snepsts	Peter Scamurra
Jim Watson	Jean Pronovost	John Sarke	Jack Valiquette	Ralph Stewart	Bob Sirois
Joe Watson	Brian Spencer	Brian Sutter	Kurt Walker	Dennis Ververgaert	Gord Smith
	Ron Stackhouse	Garry Unger	Dave Williams	Mike Walton	Bryan Watson

The Draft

Player	Picked by	Picked from	Player dropped from protected list	Claim player or cash
Paul Woods	Detroit Red Wings	Montreal Canadiens	Jim Nahrgang	$50,000
Dave Forbes	Washington Capitals	Boston Bruins	Peter Scamurra	$12,500
Wayne Thomas	New York Rangers	Toronto Maple Leafs	Gilles Gratton	$12,500

←1975 Intra-League Draft

1978 Waiver Draft→

NHL Draft Results

The NHL Waiver Draft — Origins and The Rules

As I had said in my post about the 1975 Intra-league Draft, the last intra-league draft, interest in the draft was at that point almost non-existent. The talent pool had been diluted by expansion and the creation of the WHA and the draft price of $40,000 scared off most of the teams. It wasn't worth picking players at the intra-league draft anymore so the teams decided in the middle of the '75-'76 season that there was no point in continuing the practice.

However, there was still the problem of enormous imbalance in league standings. The intra-league draft was created in the early '50s to mitigate the problem and it was starting to work by the mid-'60s. It stopped working after expansions in '67, '70, '72 and '74 tripled the league membership.

In 1977 the NHL, in the middle of merger negotiations with the WHA and ongoing negotiations with the NHLPA regarding the merger with the WHA and a host of other matters, reworked the intra-league draft. All parties recognized that the competitive imbalance in the league was as bad as it had ever been and due to escalating salaries it was becoming harder and harder for some of the expansion teams to continue to do business. The league's planned 1976 expansion to Denver and Seattle was cancelled. The Cleveland Barons were within hours of folding outright in February of 1977. The Penguins did declare bankruptcy in 1975. The Blues and North Stars ownership groups weren't willing to absorb massive losses anymore and wanted to sell, but there weren't any prospective buyers. The Islanders, only a few years old at the time, were mired in debt. Something had to be done to help them and whatever it was it couldn't repeat the mistakes of the intra-league draft.

The plan that was agreed to going forwarded was an amended version of the intra-league draft. The new draft would be called the waiver draft. Instead of occurring at the June meetings within days of the amateur draft it would be pushed back to within a week of the start of the regular season, at the end of training camps (similar to the original intra-league draft rules proposed by Clarence Campbell in the early '50s). The drafting procedures were basically the same as the intra-league draft: selection order is the reverse of the regular season standing, teams file protected lists, they drop players from their protected lists when they select a player, the team that lost the player can choose between a cash payment or the player dropped by the other team as compensation, etc. What changed substantially was the draft price.

Whereas the intra-league draft price was, by the '70s, a flat $40,000 fee for every player (and $30,000 for every dropped player claimed as compensation) the waiver draft price was on a sliding scale. The price was tied to the age and experience of the player. Younger players with less experience would command a higher price and as the player gained more experience the waiver draft price for him would slide further and further down. The hope was that keeping the price for younger players higher would be sufficient disincentive to any team that might pluck a player off the reserve list of one of its rivals for the sole purpose of hurting the other team—they'd really have to want that young player. Conversely having a lower price for veteran players would be an incentive for them to be chosen and for them to continue their careers where they were really needed instead of withering on the vine on a deep team or worse, like being buried in the minors. Something I'm sure recent players like Wade Redden, Sheldon Souray, Rostislav Olesz and Jeff Finger wished they had the option of avoiding, I'm sure!

All first-year professional players were exempt from claim, no matter their age. The rules were eventually amended such that a player's draft exemption period would last for a certain number of seasons of professional hockey based on the player's age when he signed his first pro contract, or the exemption would lapse if the player appeared in a minimum number NHL of games.

In the event of a war players who were serving in the military were exempt, as were players suspended by the league (not by the club) and players who signed as a free agent with a club outside of the NHL. This "free agent" clause was particularly important at the time the waiver draft rules were written given the WHA's penchant for poaching players from the NHL; the NHL club could however choose to expose a player on their free agent list. If a "free agent" was not exposed in the waiver draft and he returned to the NHL mid-season he would have to go through waivers first though, so there was incentive for teams to expose such players.

Just as it was in the intra-league draft each club could only lose three players (excluding players transferred as compensation), and this three player limit was increased by one for every draft choice the team made. Waiver draft rules were amended so that the three player limit included a maximum of only one goaltender, unless the club chose to expose one or more additional goaltenders.

Another rule (which was of particular importance in 1978...) was that a player claimed in the waiver draft could not be traded to another team during the following season unless the player was offered on waivers and cleared. This clause was designed to prevent teams from crafting backroom deals.

Going forward I will strive to present as much information on each year's waiver draft as I can find. Some years were covered in much more detail by the press than others.

←1975 Intra-League Draft

1977 Waiver Draft→

NHL Draft Results

1991 NHL Expansion Draft

I used scare quotes in the title of my last post about the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft and I'm going to use them again throughout this post. Find 'expansion' in a dictionary and it is defined something to the effect of "becoming larger". Broadly speaking any new team in a professional sports league is an "expansion team" if it increases the league membership, but in the context of professional sports the term "expansion team" implies a team created ex novo ("from new").

Whether or not you or I think the WHA's clubs joining the NHL was more a 'merger' than an 'expansion' the facts are that at the end of the 1978-79 NHL season there were 17 member clubs and by the beginning of the 1979-80 season there were 21. The NHL held a draft to provide players to the four new clubs from the existing 17. The NHL went well out of its way to make it look like these clubs were started from scratch in 1979.

The WHA teams elected to join the NHL for a variety of reasons but chief among them was the instability of the WHA itself. The volume of franchise movement in the WHA was enormous, and the four teams that joined the NHL were far and away the healthiest financially speaking (and even then three of the four teams moved in the 1990s). In the late 1970s the NHL was facing financial difficulties of its own. In 1978 the Cleveland Barons and Minnesota North Stars merged. The Barons' owners, George and Gordon Gund, took over the North Stars and the two teams were combined in a messy compromise that kept one of the teams in existence for the then-foreseeable future. It was the first time the NHL had contracted since 1942.

The Gund brothers lost money in Minnesota too and after years of losses the matter came to a head in 1990. The NHL was faced with another problem that would also stretch the common definition of "expansion team".

By the summer of 1990 it was no secret that the Gunds had no desire to keep operating the North Stars in Minnesota and they were intent on moving the team to the San Francisco Bay Area. Ironically they were minority owners in the California Golden Seals and were the architects of their move from the Bay Area to Cleveland in 1976. They blamed the Seals' problems on having been located in Oakland instead of San Francisco, and the failure of the proposed Yerba Buena Center arena project in 1976 (which would have built a new arena in the heart of San Francisco) was the final nail in the Seals' coffin. (It would have been built on what is now the site of the Moscone Center.) In the time that had passed since the Seals left for Cleveland the city of San Jose, at the south end of the bay, had grown rapidly and in the 1980s became known as the centre of Silicon Valley. In 1988 San Jose voters approved a funding for a new pro hockey arena; they broke ground in the spring of 1990.

As I said the Gunds were intent on moving the North Stars to San Jose but the NHL governors wanted to keep a presence in Minnesota, well-known as the state with the largest grass-roots support for hockey. Rather than becoming embroiled in a lawsuit such as the one between the Oakland Raiders and National Football League in the early 1980s the NHL struck a deal with the Gunds which would grant them the right to an expansion franchise located in San Jose, and in turn the Gunds would sell the North Stars to former Whalers owner Howard Baldwin and Morris Belzberg.

In order to reach this compromise the NHL and the Baldwin ownership group made very large, very unusual concessions: the Gunds' new franchise in San Jose would be allowed to take over the contracts of many of the North Stars' players. They would take some of the staff with them as well, including GM Jack Ferreira, Assistant GM Dean Lombardi, and chief scouts Chuck Grillo and Les Jackson. The North Stars would also participate in the expansion draft alongside the San Jose team. Yes, that's right: an existing team would pick players in an expansion draft. Like I said this would stretch the common definition of "expansion team". Some people have called this agreement in effect the 'demerger' of the North Stars/Barons franchise.

Under the terms of the agreement the new San Jose team would take 30 players from the North Stars in a dispersal draft. The North Stars would be able to protect 14 skaters and two goalies with at least 50 games of NHL experience. San Jose would then pick 14 skaters and two goalies with less than 50 games of NHL experience. The two teams would then alternate picking players off the North Stars' reserve list until the San Jose team had picked a total of 30 players.

Unlike previous expansion teams from the '60s and '70s the San Jose club would not get first overall selection in the entry draft. The existing team with the worst record in '90-'91 would select first overall and San Jose would select second. In subsequent rounds the order would be reversed and San Jose would have the first pick in the round. Keep in mind this was the year that Eric Lindros, then the most highly touted prospect since Mario Lemieux, would be eligible for selection. It was assumed that whoever had first overall pick would use it to select Lindros. The NHL governors would allow the Gunds to have their team in California but they stopped short of gifting Lindros to them.

The agreement with the Gunds was announced on May 5, 1990. Ferreira, Lombardi, Grillo and Jackson were to stay on with the North Stars until the end of June however Baldwin hired Bobby Clarke to be the new GM on June 8. It was also around this time that Norm Green entered the picture.

Green, a shopping mall developer from Calgary, was an 18% stakeholder in the Flames. He sold his share of the Flames and bought 51% of the North Stars from Baldwin and Belzberg. Almost immediately after hiring Bobby Clarke Baldwin sold his remaining 24.5% share of the North Stars to Green.

Meanwhile the Gunds announced that the new team in the Bay Area would be known as the San Jose Sharks, and they would temporarily play home games at the Cow Palace in Daly City until the San Jose Arena was finished (trivia: the Cow Palace was home to the WHL's San Francisco Seals in the 1960s, the team that became the NHL's California [Golden] Seals. One of the conditions of the 1967 expansion was that the Bay Area franchise couldn't play at the Cow Palace. It was deemed "unfit for the NHL" by the Board of Governors. The NHL's Seals played all of their home games across the bay at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena, except for five games played at the Cow Palace in the '68-'69 season).

By October of 1990 Green bought out Belzberg and had sole ownership of the team. Green had completely taken over within five months of the sale to Baldwin and Belzberg, and he wanted to change the deal with the Sharks. He felt it was too onerous on the North Stars (arguably true), and sought to revise the terms such that the North Stars would be allowed to keep more of their young players. The Sharks and North Stars would continue to renegotiate the terms of the dispersal throughout the 1990-91 season, well into May of 1991 in fact. It was only in mid-May that they finally came to an agreement as to how to split the players. Originally the dispersal and expansion draft were to be held on June 17 however it was moved ahead to May 30 in order to give the teams time to offer contracts to impending free agents (whose contracts would expire July 1). The draft began at 3 p.m. central time, by conference call.

The details of the final agreement between the North Stars and Sharks were never made public as far as I know. I've never found a source that describes the process in great detail, but I suspect that instead of a complicated draft procedure between the two clubs they simply negotiated and agreed on which players the Sharks would be allowed to take. In the end they took four members of the North Stars active roster, ten from the Kalamazoo Wings (the North Stars' IHL affiliate), and ten unsigned entry draft choices (mostly from the NCAA). The Sharks were also given the North Stars' second round pick in the 1991 Entry Draft (30th overall, used to select Sandis Ozolinsh) and their first round pick in the 1992 Entry Draft (10th overall, used to select Andrei Nazarov), reportedly in exchange for not taking Mike Craig in the "dispersal draft".

The first 24 San Jose Sharks were:

1991 Dispersal Draft
Player	1990-91 team
Shane Churla	Minnesota North Stars
Brian Hayward	Minnesota North Stars
Neil Wilkinson	Minnesota North Stars
Rob Zettler	Minnesota North Stars
Ed Courtenay	Kalamazoo Wings (IHL)
Kevin Evans	Kalamazoo Wings (IHL)
Link Gaetz	Kalamazoo Wings (IHL)
Dan Keczmer	Kalamazoo Wings (IHL)
Dean Kolstad	Kalamazoo Wings (IHL)
Peter Lappin	Kalamazoo Wings (IHL)
Pat MacLeod	Kalamazoo Wings (IHL)
Mike McHugh	Kalamazoo Wings (IHL)
Jarmo Myllys	Kalamazoo Wings (IHL)
J.F. Quentin	Kalamazoo Wings (IHL)
Scott Cashman	Boston University (Hockey East)
Murray Garbutt	Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
Rob Gaudreau	Providence College (Hockey East)
Arturs Irbe	Dinamo Riga (Soviet Championship)
Shaun Kane	Providence College (Hockey East)
Larry Olimb	University of Minnesota (WCHA)
Tom Pederson	University of Minnesota (WCHA)
Bryan Schoen	University of Denver (WCHA)
John Weisbrod	Harvard University (ECAC)
Doug Zmolek	University of Minnesota (WCHA)

The rules of the expansion draft were such that the North Stars and Sharks would pick 10 players each, a total of 20, one from each of the other clubs. The Sharks had first pick and had to pick a goalie. The North Stars would then have their choice of either a goalie or a defenceman with the second pick. The following six selections had to be used on defencemen and the final 12 picks were reserved for forwards.

Each of the 20 other clubs would lose only one player; once they had lost a player the North Stars and Sharks were not able to pick another from that team. The other 20 clubs were allowed to protect 16 skaters and a pair of goaltenders. All first- and second-year pros were exempt from selection and did not have to be protected. They were also forced to expose at least one goaltender with at least 60 minutes of NHL experience, one defenceman with at least 40 games played in the NHL in the 1990-91 season or 70 games over the course of the '89-'90 and '90-'91 seasons combined, and one forward with at least 40 NHL games in 1990-91 or 70 games over the preceding two seasons. As a result of these minimum experience rules a few players were pressed into action by their teams just so they could be exposed at the expense of protecting others; for example, Damian Rhodes of the Toronto Maple Leafs. At the time the only other goalies the Leafs had with NHL experience were Peter Ing and Jeff Reese, so Rhodes saw action in a single game (a 3-1 win over the Red Wings) so that the Maple Leafs could leave him exposed in the expansion draft. Rhodes wouldn't play in the NHL again until the '93-'94 season.

Rather than give the Sharks and North Stars the other clubs' protected lists, as was customary in the expansion drafts of the '70s, they were instead presented with a list of players available for selection. This list also included players who were on the teams' (restricted) free agent, voluntarily retired and inactive lists. Why the voluntarily retired and inactive players were included I do not know; it became something of a joke that the Sharks could stock their roster with all-time greats like Jean Beliveau, Bobby Clarke and Denis Potvin. Whatever the true explanation is I have listed the retired and inactive players separately, as none of them were actually chosen. The North Stars and Sharks were permitted to claim only one "free agent" player in the course of the draft.

Available Players

Boston Bruins	Buffalo Sabres	Calgary Flames	Chicago Blackhawks	Detroit Red Wings
Andy Brickley	Brian Curran	Rich Chernomaz	Bruce Cassidy	John Chabot
John Carter	Dale DeGray	Kerry Clark	Martin Desjardins	Alain Chevrier
Lou Crawford	François Guay	Paul Fenton	Paul Gillis	Bengt-Åke Gustafsson#
Peter Douris	Jeff Hamilton#	Steve Guenette	Michel Goulet	Marc Habscheid
Norm Foster	Steve Ludzik	Kevan Guy	Jim Johannson	Glen Hanlon
Nevin Markwart	Mikko Makela	Tim Hunter	Rick Lanz	Randy Hansch
John Mokosak	Don McSween	Rick Lessard	Bob McGill	Brad Marsh
Allen Pedersen	Gates Orlando#	Brian MacLellan	Greg Millen	Chris MacRae
Michael Thelven	Greg Paslawski	Scott McCrady	Brian Noonan	Dean Morton
Jim Wiemer	Dirk Rueter#	Sergei Pryakhin	Darren Pang
	Steve Smith	Richard Zemlak	Jim Playfair
	Hannu Virta#		Warren Rychel
	Steve Weeks		Mike Stapleton
	Jay Wells		Dan Vincelette
			Bill Watson#
			Sean Williams
Edmonton Oilers	Hartford Whalers	Los Angeles Kings	Montreal Canadiens	New Jersey Devils
Mario Barbe	Mikael Andersson	Scott Bjugstad	Frederic Chabot	Craig Billington
Dan Currie	Dave Babych	Mal Davis#	J. J. Daigneault	Doug Brown
John English	Marc Bergevin	Mario Gosselin	Donald Dufresne	Pat Conacher
Greg Hawgood	Brian Chapman	Bob Halkidis	Brent Gilchrist	Jamie Huscroft
Charlie Huddy	Daryl Reaugh	Rick Hayward	Sylvain Lefebvre	Marc Laniel
Tomas Jonsson	John Stevens	Tom Laidlaw	Jayson More	Jeff Madill
Fabian Joseph#	Emanuel Viveiros	John Miner#	Mats Naslund#	David Marcinyshyn
Marc Laforge	Terry Yake	Petr Prajsler	Jim Nesich	Rollie Melanson
Mark Lamb		Ilkka Sinisalo	Ryan Walter	Kent Nilsson#
John Leblanc#		Jim Thomson	Dan Woodley	Lee Norwood
Tommy Lehman#		John Tonelli		Janne Ojanen
Ken Linseman		Tim Watters		Walt Poddubny
Norm Maciver				Jeff Sharples
Max Middendorf				Claude Vilgrain
Selmar Odelein#
Pokey Reddick
Reijo Ruotsalainen#
Shaun Van Allen
Mike Ware
New York Islanders	New York Rangers	Philadelphia Flyers	Pittsburgh Penguins	Quebec Nordiques
Bill Berg	Paul Broten	Don Biggs#	Jock Callander	Mario Brunetta#
Brad Dalgarno	Bob Froese	Mike Bullard#	Jay Caulfield	Gerald Bzdel
Rob Dimaio	Lee Giffin#	Rod Dallman	Jeff Daniels	Mario Doyon
Jeff Finley	Stephane Guerard	Brian Dobbin	Gilbert Delorme	Scott Gordon
Rick Green	Mark Hardy	David Fenyves	Gord Dineen	Alan Haworth#
Paul Gagne#	Anders Hedberg#	Mark Freer	Randy Gilhen	Miloslav Horava
Jeff Hackett	Jody Hull	Mark Howe	Randy Hillier	Jeff Jackson
Brad Lauer	Kelly Kisio	Willie Huber#	Jiri Hrdina	Guy Lafleur
Derek Laxdal	Mark Laforest	Chris Jensen	Kim Issel	Brent Severyn
George Maneluk	Guy Larose	Tim Kerr	Mark Kachowski	Trevor Stienberg
Hubie McDonough	Joe Paterson	Dale Kushner	Peter Lee#
Chris Pryor	Lindy Ruff	Normand Lacombe	Dave Michayluk
Mick Vukota	Sam St-Laurent	Pete Peeters	Glenn Mulvenna
		Shaun Sabol	Barry Pederson
		Glen Seabrooke	Bruce Racine
			Bryan Trottier
			Wendell Young
St. Louis Blues	Toronto Maple Leafs	Vancouver Canucks	Washington Capitals	Winnipeg Jets
David Bruce	Normand Aubin#	Peter Bakovic	Robin Bawa#	Randy Carlyle
Yves Heroux	Aaron Broten	Brian Blad	Tim Bergland	Tom Draper
Dominic Lavoie	Lucien DeBlois	Jack Capuano	Craig Duncanson	Dallas Eakins
Darrell May	Jerry Dupont#	Craig Coxe	Chris Felix	Bryan Erickson
Alain Raymond	Mike Foligno	Ian Kidd	Mark Ferner	Todd Flichel
Harold Snepsts	Todd Hawkins	Bob Mason	Brent Hughes	Bob Joyce
Tom Tilley	Kent Hulst	Andrew McBain	John Kordic	Mark Kumpel
Steve Tuttle	Greg Johnston	Robert Nordmark	Mike Liut	Tyler Larter
Alain Vigneault#	Kevin Maguire	Risto Siltanen#	Rob Murray	Moe Mantha
Ron Wilson	Mike Millar	Stan Smyl	Mike Richard#	Chris Norton
	Rob Ramage	Carl Valimont	Steve Seftel	Roger Ohman#
	Dave Reid	Behn Wilson#	Neil Sheehy	Kent Paynter
	Damian Rhodes		Dave Tippett	Rudy Poeschek
	Mike Stevens		Alfie Turcotte	Scott Schneider
	Gilles Thibaudeau		Simon Wheeldon	Phil Sykes
				Jim Vesey

Note:
# denotes free agent

Voluntarily Retired and Inactive Players Available

Boston Bruins	Buffalo Sabres	Calgary Flames	Chicago Blackhawks	Detroit Red Wings
Gord Kluzak	Lee Fogolin†	Brian Engblom†	Dave Feamster	Murray Eaves†
Willi Plett	Jan Ludvig	Jim Peplinski†	Cliff Koroll	Bernie Federko
Frank Simonetti				Dave Lewis
Louis Sleigher				Mike O'Connell
Edmonton Oilers	Hartford Whalers	Los Angeles Kings	Montreal Canadiens	New Jersey Devils
Glen Cochrane	Andre Lacroix		Bruce Baker	Michel Bolduc
Dave Hunter	Larry Pleau		Jean Beliveau	Murray Brumwell
Craig Redmond			Yvan Cournoyer	Mark Gordon†
			Ken Dryden	Bob Lorimer
			John Ferguson	Bob Sauve
			Bob Gainey
			Jean Hamel
			Pierre Mondou
			Mario Tremblay
New York Islanders	New York Rangers	Philadelphia Flyers	Pittsburgh Penguins	Quebec Nordiques
Mark Hamway	Dave Archibald	Bill Barber	Bob Gladney	Alain Côté
Kevin Herom	Pierre Larouche	Bobby Clarke
Jim Koudys	Andre Villeneuve
Garry Lacey
Kurt Lackton
Don Maloney
Stefan Persson
Denis Potvin
St. Louis Blues	Toronto Maple Leafs	Vancouver Canucks	Washington Capitals	Winnipeg Jets
Eddy Beers	Bill Kitchen	Marc Crawford	Terry Murray	Bob Brooke†
Ed Kea†	Dan Maloney	Randy Gregg†		Daryl Stanley
Paul MacLean	Brad Smith†	Larry Melnyk
Scott Paluch†	Greg Terrion	Paul Reinhart
Brian Suter		Darcy Rota
		Ian Tennant

Note:
† denotes inactive. All other players were voluntarily retired.

Expansion Draft

Ovr.	Player	From	By
1	Jeff Hackett	New York Islanders	San Jose Sharks
2	Rob Ramage	Toronto Maple Leafs	Minnesota North Stars
3	Jayson More	Montreal Canadiens	San Jose Sharks
4	Dave Babych	Toronto Maple Leafs	Minnesota North Stars
5	Rick Lessard	Calgary Flames	San Jose Sharks
6	Allen Pedersen	Boston Bruins	Minnesota North Stars
7	Bob McGill	Chicago Blackhawks	San Jose Sharks
8	Charlie Huddy	Edmonton Oilers	Minnesota North Stars
9	Tim Kerr	Philadelphia Flyers	San Jose Sharks
10	Kelly Kisio	New York Rangers	Minnesota North Stars
11	Jeff Madill	New Jersey Devils	San Jose Sharks
12	Randy Gilhen	Pittsburgh Penguins	Minnesota North Stars
13	David Bruce	St. Louis Blues	San Jose Sharks
14	Rob Murray	Washington Capitals	Minnesota North Stars
15	Greg Paslawski	Buffalo Sabres	San Jose Sharks
16	Tyler Larter	Winnipeg Jets	Minnesota North Stars
17	Bengt-Åke Gustafsson	Detroit Red Wings	San Jose Sharks
18	Jim Thomson	Los Angeles Kings	Minnesota North Stars
19	Craig Coxe	Vancouver Canucks	San Jose Sharks
20	Guy Lafleur	Quebec Nordiques	Minnesota North Stars

As you can see the North Stars elected to take a defenceman with their first pick, second overall, choosing Maple Leafs' captain Rob Ramage. Ramage, 32, was among five veteran players over the age of 30 selected by the North Stars. The others were: Dave Babych (30), Charlie Huddy (31; he turned 32 three days after the draft), Kelly Kisio (31) and Guy Lafleur (39). It was clear that the Sharks were trying to build a younger team. By contrast they chose only two players older than 30, Tim Kerr (31) and Bengt Gustafsson (33), and the average age of the Sharks' selections was 26.7 years (compared to the North Stars' 28.8).

The youngest players chosen were Jayson More and Jeff Hackett, both 22 years old at the time (although Hackett's birthday is June 1, so he turned 23 only a couple days after the draft).

Conversely the North Stars picked 39-year-old Guy Lafleur with the final pick of the draft. Why would the North Stars waste a pick on a player who had already made his intentions to retire at the end of the 1990-91 season clear? As Bobby Clarke put it, "there was no one left". He didn't want to pick Lafleur at all.

Lafleur was chosen as a last resort due to a quirky culmination of the draft rules. Because each of the other 20 teams could only lose one player and all the other teams except the Nordiques had lost a player the 20th and final pick had to be a player from the Nordiques. The 9th through 20th picks had to be forwards, so the 20th pick had to be a Nordiques forward. Clarke wasn't interested in any of the Nordiques forwards and didn't want to pick up an unnecessary contract so he wanted to make a throwaway pick on a player he wouldn't have to pay. He wanted to take Alan Haworth.

Haworth hadn't played for the Nordiques in a couple years and was plying his trade in Switzerland instead. He was considered a 'defected' player and a restricted free agent and the Nordiques continued to hold his NHL rights. But, as I said before, there was a rule that only one player off the free agent list could be chosen in the draft, and with the 17th overall pick the Sharks chose Bengt Gustafsson. Gustafsson left the Capitals after the 1988-89 season and was playing in Sweden. Like Haworth he was a 'defected' player and a restricted free agent; the Red Wings acquired his rights in the 1990 Waiver Draft.

Clarke tried to claim Haworth but the selection was refused, and he was told he had to make another. Reluctantly he chose Le démon blond instead. Lafleur hadn't yet filed his voluntary retirement papers with the NHL offices so he was still eligible for selection. Clarke reportedly apologized over the conference call to Nordiques general manager Pierre Pagé (who coincidentally had been the North Stars' head coach prior to the deal to sell the team to Baldwin and Belzberg).

To allow Lafleur to retire in a more dignified manner, as a Quebec Nordique as he intended rather than as a North Star by circumstance, Clarke and Pagé made a deal the very next day (May 31): Lafleur was traded by the North Stars back to the Nordiques for Alan Haworth.

It's remarkable how quickly most of the players chosen in this draft were traded away, and how little use the draft was for either team in retrospect. Lafleur was one of several players who were traded away almost immediately. In fact immediately following the conclusion of the draft the Sharks announced their first ever trade: Tim Kerr, the first forward chosen, was traded to the Rangers for Brian Mullen and future considerations. Jack Ferreira candidly admitted that the deal was prearranged and the Sharks never had any intention of keeping Kerr (he would only play parts of the following two seasons before retiring).

On May 31, the same day they traded Lafleur back to the Nordiques, the North Stars traded Rob Murray to the Jets along with future considerations for the Jets' 7th round pick in the 1991 Entry Draft (Geoff Finch) and future considerations in return. Days later (June 3) they made their first trade with the Sharks, sending Kelly Kisio to San Jose in return for Shane Churla, one of their players taken in the player dispersal.

On June 22 the North Stars made two trades at the Entry Draft. In a three-way deal Dave Babych was traded to the Canucks, the North Stars received Craig Ludwig from the Islanders and the Islanders received Tom Kurvers from the Canucks. Randy Gilhen, Charlie Huddy and Jim Thomson were traded to the Kings along with the Rangers' 4th round pick (previously acquired) for Todd Elik. The Kings used the pick to select Alexei Zhitnik.

Less than a month after the expansion draft the North Stars had already traded seven of their ten selections away. The remaining three were gone within a year: Tyler Larter was traded to the Jets for Tony Joseph on October 15, 1991, Allen Pedersen was traded to the Whalers for a 6th round pick in the 1993 Entry Draft (Rick Mrozik) on June 15, 1992 and Rob Ramage was lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1992 Expansion Draft on June 18.

The Sharks didn't fare much better as far as their selections went. Neither the aforementioned Gustafsson nor former New Jersey Devil Jeff Madill ever played in the NHL again. Greg Paslawski was traded to the Nordiques on May 31, 1991 (the day after the expansion draft, remember) for Tony Hrkac. Craig Coxe played two games for the Sharks in 1991-92 and never played another game in the NHL afterward. Bob McGill played 62 games for the Sharks in their inaugural season and was traded to the Red Wings with the Canucks' 8th round pick in the 1992 Entry Draft (C.J. Denomme) for Johan Garpenlov on trade deadline day, March 10, 1992. Rick Lessard played eight games for the Sharks, and was traded to the Canucks for Robin Bawa on December 15, 1992.

Jeff Hackett was traded to the Blackhawks on July 13, 1993 for a third round pick in the 1994 Entry Draft (Alexei Yegorov) and future considerations. In two seasons with the Sharks he played in 78 games, had a miserable 13-57-2 record, with a 4.51 GAA and .875 save percentage. As bad as his stats were they weren't bad compared to his teammates. Jarmo Myllys played in 27 games in the Sharks' first season, had a 3-18-1 record, 5.02 GAA and .867 save percentage, while Brian Hayward played in 25 games, had the same 3-18-1 record as Myllys, a 5.39 GAA and .849 save percentage. Arturs Irbe had a 9-32-3 record in 49 games over the two seasons, a 4.19 GAA and .882 save percentage (and a shutout). Wade Flaherty saw limited action over the first two seasons: four games played, all of them losses, a 4.54 GAA and .892 save percentage.

After the Sharks' first two seasons the only players chosen in the expansion draft left were David Bruce and Jayson More. Bruce played in 79 games over the Sharks' first three seasons, scoring 24 goals and 19 assists (22 goals in the inaugural season, second most on the team behind Pat Falloon's 25). After the 1993-94 season he spent the rest of his career playing for the IHL's Kansas City Blades, the Sharks' top farm team.

Jayson More was the last of the players taken in the draft to stay with the team that chose him. He played for the Sharks for their first five seasons, 287 games in all. He was traded to the Rangers with Brian Swanson and a conditional draft pick for Marty McSorley on August 20, 1996.

In retrospect the North Stars apparently had nothing to fear from the player dispersal to the Sharks. Their roster and prospect pool weren't decimated as Norm Green, Bobby Clarke and reporters thought they might be. The most notable player taken from the North Stars was goalie Arturs Irbe, who had a long career in the NHL and led the Sharks to their first playoff victories in 1994 and 1995, but Irbe might never have played for the North Stars anyway. One can only wonder what could have happened if the terms of the deal with the Gunds weren't renegotiated. The North Stars weren't any worse than they were before, but they weren't any better. They finished the 1991-92 regular season with two more points than they had had in 1990-91. They made the playoffs once again but didn't go on another Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Sharks were pitiful on the ice, finishing their first season with a meagre 17-58-5 record and their second with an even more pitiful 11-71-2, one of the NHL's all-time greatest marks of regular season futility. Despite the lack of on-ice success the Gunds couldn't have been happier with the team's off-ice fortunes. Sharks merchandise was the most popular in the league and the Sharks were one of the top pro sports brands in North America at the time.

Financially speaking the North Stars carried on under Norm Green as they had under Gordon and George Gund. Attendance improved to over 13,000 per game but that was still one of the lowest figures in the league. On March 10, 1993 Green announced that the North Stars were moving to Dallas, effective the end of the 1992-93 season. The NHL wouldn't return to the Twin Cities and the state of Minnesota until 2000 when the expansion Minnesota Wild began play.