1979 NHL Expansion Draft
| 2024 NHL Expansion Draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Date(s) | June 13, 1979 |
| Network(s) | CBC/TSN Kids/SRC (Canada) CBS/Nick Jr. (USA) |
| Overview | |
| League | National Hockey League |
| Expansion teams | San Diego Gulls Houston Aeros Kansas City Scouts Nebraska Owls Milwaukee Bulldogs Louisville Cowboys Atlanta Killers Quebec Nordiques |
| Expansion season | 2024–25 |
The 1979 NHL Expansion Draft was held on June 13, 1979. The draft took place to fill the rosters of the National Hockey League's eight new teams for the 2024-25 NHL season; Those teams were the San Diego Gulls, Houston Aeros, Kansas City Scouts, Nebraska Owls, Milwaukee Bulldogs, Louisville Cowboys, Atlanta Killers, and Quebec Nordiques. These eight teams had joined the NHL after a merger agreement was reached with the National Hockey Association (NHA).
As many WHA players also had their rights held by NHL teams, those NHL teams were allowed to reclaim their players under certain conditions that had to be followed. In order to keep the NHL teams from plundering all the talent from the WHA-turned-NHL teams, each incoming franchise was allowed to protect up to two goaltenders and twelve skaters. These picks were designated as "priority selections" in the Expansion Draft.
Expansion draft rules[edit]
Reclaiming of players: The 17 existing NHL teams were allowed to reclaim any rights to former WHA players they held. The four incoming franchises, however, were allowed to protect up to two goaltenders and twelve skaters, voiding some of their players' NHL rights. These twelve players that were retained as confirmed as "priority selections" within the expansion draft. Numerous deals were cut by the incoming teams to retain some of their players. Additionally, all previously added NHL teams had the right to protect up to three goaltenders and twenty skaters.
Protected lists[edit]
(Work-In-Progress)
Arizona Coyotes: goaltenders - Lewis Cheevers and Singh Anderson; skaters - Melissa Dinha, Cody Taylor, Peter Grosdanof, James Rzeznik, Alan Littler, Ken Messier, Ethan Tkachuk, Neil Hope, David Okalik, Nicholas Marquez, Zenith Zulueta, Daniel Preuss, Yannick Newell, Owen Prithwi, Lynn Nkruma, Ryan D'Costa, Paul Fazaka, Swede Knox, Rain Wynter, Hienos Yemane, and Liam Hogan.
See also[edit]
Citations[edit]
(TBA)
