1979 NHL Expansion Draft facts for kids

The 1979 NHL Expansion Draft was a special event in hockey history. It happened on June 13, 1979. This draft helped create the teams for the National Hockey League's (NHL) new season, 1979–80. Four new teams joined the NHL: the Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets. These teams came from another league called the World Hockey Association (WHA), which was merging with the NHL.

What Was the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft?

Imagine two big sports leagues, like two different clubs, deciding to become one. That's what happened with the NHL and the WHA in 1979. When the WHA teams joined the NHL, they needed a fair way to get players. This is where the Expansion Draft came in. It was a way to make sure the new teams had players to start their first NHL season.

Joining the NHL: The WHA Merger

Before the merger, many players in the WHA also had their rights owned by existing NHL teams. This meant an NHL team could say, "Hey, that player belongs to us!" To make things fair, the four new teams (Oilers, Whalers, Nordiques, Jets) were allowed to protect some of their best players. They could choose up to two goalies and two skaters (players who aren't goalies) to keep. These protected players were called "priority selections." This rule stopped the older NHL teams from taking all the best players from the new teams.

Before the NHL merger, there was also a "WHA Dispersal Draft." This draft helped players from WHA teams that didn't join the NHL find new teams. For example, players from the Birmingham Bulls and Cincinnati Stingers were available. Some young players, like Mike Gartner and Mark Messier, were drafted into the NHL through this process.

How Players Were Chosen: Draft Rules

The rules for the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft were important to make it fair for everyone.

• Reclaiming Players: The 17 teams already in the NHL could "reclaim" players they had rights to from the WHA. But the four new teams could protect up to two goalies and two skaters. This meant these "priority selections" couldn't be taken by other NHL teams. Sometimes, new teams even made deals with older NHL teams to keep their star players. For example, the Quebec Nordiques traded a draft pick to the Chicago Black Hawks to keep their star player, Real Cloutier. That pick was later used to choose a famous player named Denis Savard.

Special Cases: Gretzky and Howe

Two very famous players had unique situations during this draft:

• Wayne Gretzky: Even though no NHL team officially owned Gretzky's rights, he would normally have been put into the NHL Entry Draft. But Gretzky had a special contract with the Oilers' owner, Peter Pocklington. Gretzky didn't want to break his contract and be drafted by another team, especially the last-place Colorado Rockies. After a lot of discussion, the Oilers were allowed to keep Gretzky as one of their protected players. In return, the Oilers agreed to pick last in every round of the 1979 NHL Entry Draft.

• Gordie Howe: Gordie Howe was a hockey legend and 51 years old at the time! The Detroit Red Wings held his NHL rights. However, as a friendly agreement, the Red Wings chose not to reclaim him. This allowed Howe to stay with the Hartford Whalers.

• Expansion Draft Picks: Each of the 17 existing NHL teams could protect 15 skaters and two experienced goalies. Any players not protected could be chosen by the new teams.

• Money Matters: The existing NHL teams received $125,000 for each player drafted from them. This money came from the $6 million fee that each of the four former WHA teams paid to join the NHL.

Who Was Protected? Priority Selections

These players were chosen as "priority selections" by the new teams, meaning their old NHL rights were denied, and they stayed with their WHA teams as they joined the NHL.

¹ The NHL did not allow the Oilers to keep Bengt-Ake Gustafsson. The league president, John Ziegler, said the Oilers broke WHA rules when they tried to add Gustafsson to their team during the 1979 playoffs. So, they couldn't keep him.