- 1998 NHL Expansion Draft
The 1998 NHL Expansion Draft was held in on June 26, 1998. The draft took place to fill the roster of the league's expansion team for the 1998–99 season, the
Nashville Predators .Rules
The Predators were to select 26 players, one from each of the 26 existing franchises at the time of the draft.
First- and second-year pros were exempt from being selected in the draft. Each of the 26 franchises in the league were allowed to protect either one goaltender, five defensemen and nine forwards or two goaltenders, three defensemen and seven forwards.
Of the unprotected players, each franchise had to include at least one forward and one defenseman who appeared in 40 games in the 1997–98 season. Each franchise also had to include at least one goaltender who appeared in 10 games in the 1997–98 season, and a minimum of 25 games since the 1995–96 season. These minimums for goaltenders were put into place in order to avoid manipulation of rosters, such as what occurred before the 1992 NHL Expansion Draft, which weakened the talent pool available in the draft.
This draft was interesting in that some of the players the Predators chose (e.g.
Mike Richter andUwe Krupp ) were set to become unrestricted free agents onJuly 1 , just days after the draft. The Predators knew they would have little chance to sign these players; however, they received a compensatory pick in the1999 NHL Entry Draft for each player they "lost".Draft results
"These results are numbered 1–26 for aesthetic purposes, but the players were not necessarily chosen in this order. As the Predators were the only team participating in the draft, the order is inconsequential."
Deals
In return for agreeing not to select certain unprotected players, the Predators were granted concessions by other franchises. The trades not involving Nashville draft picks all officially were booked as being for "future considerations":
*Calgary traded Jim Dowd to Nashville after the Predators agreed not to select a goaltender from the Flames.
*Chicago tradedSergei Krivokrasov to Nashville after the Predators agreed not to selectChris Terreri .
*Los Angeles tradedKimmo Timonen andJan Vopat to Nashville after the Predators agreed not to selectGarry Galley .
*Montreal traded Sebastien Bordeleau to Nashville after the Predators agreed not to selectPeter Popovic .
*Philadelphia tradedDominic Roussel andJeff Staples to Nashville after the Predators agreed not to selectPaul Coffey (Nashville also sent the Flyers a seventh-round pick in the1998 NHL Entry Draft ).
*San Jose tradedVille Peltonen to Nashville after the Predators agreed not to selectTony Granato (Nashville also sent the Sharks a fifth-round pick in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft).
*St. Louis tradedDarren Turcotte to Nashville after the Predators agreed not to selectJamie McLennan .Post-draft
Several of the players selected by the Predators in the Expansion Draft did not stay with the team long after the draft. Among those moved before the start of the 1998–99 season were the following:
*Mike Sullivan (traded to Phoenix for a pick in the
1999 NHL Entry Draft on June 30, 1998)
*Uwe Krupp (signed by Detroit on July 7, 1998)
*Tony Hrkac (traded to Dallas for future considerations on July 9, 1998)
*Doug Brown (traded to Detroit for Petr Sykora, a pick in the 1999 draft, and future considerations on July 14, 1998)
*Mike Richter (signed by the New York Rangers on July 15, 1998)
*Frederic Chabot (claimed off waivers by Los Angeles on July 20, 1998)
*Mikhail Shtalenkov (traded along with Jim Dowd to Edmonton for Eric Fichaud,Drake Berehowsky andGreg de Vries on October 1, 1998)
*Al Iafrate (retired before the season began)ee also
*
1998 NHL Entry Draft
*1998–99 NHL season References
* [http://www.hockeynut.com/9899/predapick0698.html Here are your Nashville Predators (hockeynut.com)]
* [http://groups.google.com/group/rec.sport.hockey/browse_frm/thread/2f0d57df78292a2c Usenet post explaining draft rules]
* [http://groups.google.com/group/rec.sport.hockey/browse_frm/thread/f3d46758efa694fe Usenet post discussing deals] (see post 42 in thread)
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