1979 NHL Expansion Draft

Following the WHA season, and prior to the NHL reclaiming players, the WHA dispersed players whose rights were held by teams not accepted into the NHL: the Birmingham Bulls and Cincinnati Stingers, and the Indianapolis Racers, who had folded during the previous season. Players that were twenty years old or younger were available to all 21 NHL teams in the entry draft, and the remaining players were made available to the four merging teams from the WHA.[1][2] Before their final season the WHA opted not to have an amateur draft and instead encouraged their teams to sign underage players.[3] Seven Birmingham Bulls were drafted in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft: Rob Ramage (1st), Rick Vaive (5th), Craig Hartsburg (6th), Michel Goulet (20th), Gaston Gingras (27th), Pat Riggin (33rd), and Keith Crowder (57th). Crowder began the season as a Bull but returned to the Peterborough Petes after just five games. The Cincinnati Stingers used two who were drafted: Mike Gartner (4th) and Mark Messier (48th). Messier was underage but was eligible for the 1979 draft due to his WHA service time.[4] The Winnipeg Jets used John Gibson (71st), but only on a ten game tryout contract in March 1979 but was returned to the Niagara Falls Flyers before the end of the season.[5]

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 two skaters, voiding their NHL rights. These players were considered "priority selections" in the expansion draft. Numerous deals were cut by the incoming teams to retain some of their players. For instance, Quebec retained star forward Real Cloutier by trading a first-round draft choice to the Chicago Black Hawks, which held Cloutier's rights; that pick was used to select perennial superstar Denis Savard.

Wayne Gretzky was a special case - although no team held his NHL rights, under existing rules he would have been removed from the Oilers and placed into the NHL Entry Draft. However, Gretzky had been signed by Oilers owner Peter Pocklington to a personal services contract instead of a standard player contract. Confronted with the probability of being drafted first overall by the last place Colorado Rockies, Gretzky refused to void his contract with Pocklington. After deliberation, the Oilers were allowed to keep Gretzky as one of their priority selections, and agreed to choose last in each round of the 1979 NHL Entry Draft as further compensation.

Gordie Howe was a second special case - as a gentlemen's agreement between the Hartford Whalers and the Detroit Red Wings, which held his NHL rights, the Red Wings declined to reclaim the 51-year-old Howe.

Expansion draft: Each of the 17 existing NHL teams were allowed to protect 15 skaters and two veteran goalies.

Compensation: The 17 existing NHL teams received $125,000 for each player drafted, these payments being funded by the $6 million in franchise fees each of the former WHA teams paid to join the NHL.

These are players whose NHL rights were reclaimed when the WHA merged with the NHL.[6]

• Twelve additional players were reclaimed, but were chosen as 'Priority Selections' by the four merging franchises

• 1978–79 WHA season
• 1979 NHL Entry Draft
• 1979–80 NHL season

• Hartford/New England Whalers All-Time Roster
• WHA Oilers Page - 1979 Expansion Draft (webarchive.org 29 November 2003)
• Washington Capitals History 1979-1980
• St. Louis Blues Team Records
• Foundation Begins with Goaltending by Al Morganti @ ESPN.com
• Greig, Murray (1997). Big Bucks and Blue Pucks. Macmillan Canada. pp. 213–7. ISBN 978-0771574238.
• Duplacey, James (1998). Total Hockey: The official encyclopedia of the National Hockey League. Total Sports. pp. 498–528. ISBN 0-8362-7114-9.