Wednesday, June 18, 2014

1998 NHL Expansion Draft

As I explained in my post about the 1992 NHL Expansion, at a Board of Governors meeting in December, 1989 the National Hockey League decided to expand from 21 member clubs to 28 by the turn of the century. They added a team in 1991, another two in 1992, two more in 1993: five down, two to go.

The next round of expansion began in the fall of 1996. Eleven prospective ownership groups from nine different cities made formal applications for an NHL expansion franchise. Groups from Hamilton, Norfolk (Virginia), Oklahoma City and three from Houston were unsuccessful in convincing the NHL's expansion committee that they merited franchises, while four bids were accepted and conditional franchises were awarded to groups in Atlanta, Columbus (Ohio), St. Paul and Nashville on June 25, 1997. (The eleventh bid from a group in Raleigh, North Carolina was withdrawn early due to stalled negotiations over the building of a new arena there. In May of 1997 Peter Karmanos, owner of the Hartford Whalers, announced that his team was relocating to North Carolina to begin play in the fall of '97; the Carolina Hurricanes played at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro for two seasons until the new arena in Raleigh was completed.) The NHL met its goal of having 28 member clubs by 2000.

The four new franchises wouldn't all begin playing at the same time. Columbus and St. Paul would begin play in 2000, Atlanta in 1999 and Nashville in 1998. Nashville would go first, only a year after the announcement, because their new arena was already built and open. (Philips Arena in Atlanta broke ground 20 days before the expansion announcement. The new arenas in Columbus and St. Paul wouldn't break ground until 1998.)

It didn't take Nashville owner Craig Leipold long to begin assembling his hockey operations staff. David Poile, long-time general manager of the Washington Capitals, was hired to the same position in Nashville on July 9, 1997. Head coach Barry Trotz and assistant coach Paul Gardner were hired less than a month later; they had filled the same positions with the Portland Pirates of the AHL, top affiliate of the Capitals. After the team's logo was revealed in September they held a "name the team" contest: they would be known as the Nashville Predators.

The Rules of the Draft


The rules of the 1998 Expansion Draft were similar to the rules of the draft in 1993 with a few changes.

In 1993 the existing clubs were allowed to protect one goaltender, five defencemen and nine forwards, which had significant ramifications on their rosters. In the weeks leading up to the 1993 Expansion Draft several trades involving goaltenders were made in order for the existing teams to better position themselves to stem their losses due to the draft. John Vanbiesbrouck, Ron Hextall, Mark Fitzpatrick, Stephane Beauregard, Jimmy Waite, Peter Sidorkiewicz and Craig Billington were among the goalies moved (Vanbiesbrouck and Fitzpatrick were chosen in the draft).

It was decided that in the 1998, 1999 and 2000 drafts the existing clubs would be allowed protect the same number of players as they had in 1993 or they could choose to protect two goaltenders, three defencemen and seven forwards instead. They could enjoy the privilege of protecting two goaltenders at the expense of leaving more defencemen and forwards exposed.

It was known that there would be an expansion draft in 1999 for the Atlanta Thrashers so the existing clubs were afforded a couple more small concessions in 1998: if they lost a goaltender in 1998 they would be exempt from losing one in the 1999 draft, and they would be allowed to each protect an additional forward or defenceman in 1998. (In effect the teams had the option of protecting one goaltender, five defencemen and ten forwards; one goalie, six defencemen and nine forwards; two goalies, three defencemen and eight forwards; or two goalies, four defencemen and seven forwards.) First and second year players were exempt, as were unsigned North American entry draft choices. Unsigned European draft choices from the 1994 Entry Draft and earlier drafts were eligible for claim.

The existing clubs were compelled to expose players with minimum levels of NHL experience as well, as they had been in the 1993 draft. Each would have to expose at least one defenceman and two forwards with a minimum of 40 games played in the NHL in 1997-98 or 75 games over the course of the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons. The goaltender requirements would depend on whether the existing club was protecting one or two goalies. If the team protected a pair of goalies it had to expose one that had played in 10 games in 1997-98 or 25 over the course of 1996-97 and 1997-98. (A "game" in this case was considered to mean any game in which a goalie played for at least 31 minutes.) If the existing club protected only one goalie they did not have to expose a goalie with NHL experience.

The Predators would choose only one player from each of the existing clubs, a total of 26: three goaltenders, eight defencemen, thirteen forwards and two more players from any other position. In the days leading up to the draft David Poile told the media he would use those two 'extra' picks on goaltenders.

The draft was nominally held Friday, June 26, 1998 but there was no real set time. It wasn't really a draft per se because the Predators were the only ones participating. From midnight on the morning of Friday the 19th (the time a trade freeze went into effect) to the time of the news conference at Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo on Friday the 26th David Poile had free reign to negotiate who he would take from each of the existing clubs. Poile didn't have to worry about competing with another club for expansion draft selections so he could concentrate on finding precisely who he wanted from each of the existing clubs, or he could negotiate considerations from the other clubs in exchange for not picking certain players. Friday the 26th was really just the date of the press conference to announce the selections and was the day the 'official' transactions were filed with the NHL Central Registry.

Protected Lists

A league-wide trade freeze occurred between midnight Friday, June 19 and immediately following the draft on Friday June 26th. The protected lists were filed by the end of the day on Sunday the 21st.

Mighty Ducks of AnaheimBoston BruinsBuffalo SabresCalgary Flames
Goaltenders
Guy HebertByron DafoeDominik HasekKen Wregget
Patrick LalimeRobbie Tallas  
Defencemen
Dave KarpaRay BourqueDarryl ShannonTommy Albelin
Jason MarshallKyle McLarenRichard SmehlikJamie Allison
Jamie PushorDon SweeneyMike WilsonSami Helenius
Pavel TrnkaDarren Van ImpeJason WoolleyCale Hulse
  Alexei ZhitnikTodd Simpson
Forwards
Travis GreenJason AllisonDonald AudetteValeri Bure
Paul KariyaRob DiMaioMatthew BarnabyAndrew Cassels
Josef MarhaTed DonatoCurtis BrownNils Ekman
Jim McKenzieSteve HeinzeMichal GrosekTheoren Fleury
Jeff NielsenDmitri KhristichBrian HolzingerLadislav Kohn
Steve RucchinTim TaylorMike PecaMarty McInnis
Teemu SelanneLandon WilsonDerek PlanteMichael Nylander
  Wayne PrimeauDave Roche
  Geoff SandersonCory Stillman
  Miroslav SatanJason Wiemer
Carolina HurricanesChicago BlackhawksColorado AvalancheDallas Stars
Goaltenders
Trevor KiddJeff HackettPatrick RoyEd Belfour
Defencemen
Adam BurtChris CheliosAdam FooteShawn Chambers
Steve ChiassonCam RussellJon KlemmSergey Gusev
Kevin HallerGary SuterSylvain LefebvreDerian Hatcher
Curtis LeschyshynMichal SykoraAaron MillerRichard Matvichuk
Nolan PrattEric WeinrichSandis OzolinshDarryl Sydor
Glen Wesley  Sergei Zubov
Forwards
Nelson EmersonTony AmonteRene CorbetBob Bassen
Martin GelinasEric DazéAdam DeadmarshMike Keane
Stu GrimsonSteve DubinskyShean DonovanJamie Langenbrunner
Sami KapanenChad KilgerPeter ForsbergJere Lehtinen
Robert KronSergei KrivokrasovKeith JonesGrant Marshall
Jeff O'NeillEthan MoreauValeri KamenskyMike Modano
Keith PrimeauBob ProbertEric LacroixJoe Nieuwendyk
Gary RobertsJeff ShantzClaude LemieuxBrian Skrudland
Ray SheppardAlexei ZhamnovJoe SakicPat Verbeek
  Stephane Yelle
Detroit Red WingsEdmonton OilersFlorida PanthersLos Angeles Kings
Goaltenders
Chris OsgoodEric FichaudKevin WeekesStephane Fiset
   Jamie Storr
Defencemen
Anders ErikssonDrake BerehowskyEd JovanovskiAki Berg
Yan GolubovskyGreg de VriesPaul LausRob Blake
Nicklas LidstromRoman HamrlikGord MurphyMattias Norstrom
Larry MurphyBoris MironovRobert SvehlaSean O'Donnell
Aaron WardReijo RuotsalainenRhett Warrener
Forwards
Mathieu DandenaultJosef BeranekDino CiccarelliMatt Johnson
Kris DraperKelly BuchbergerRadek DvorakIan Laperriere
Sergei FederovBill GuerinViktor KozlovGlen Murray
Vyacheslav KozlovMats LindgrenBill LindsayYanic Perreault
Martin LapointeTodd MarchantScott MellanbyLuc Robitaille
Igor LarionovDean McAmmondDavid NemirovskyJozef Stumpel
Kirk MaltbyRem MurrayRob NiedermayerVladimir Tsyplakov
Darren McCartyRyan SmythSteve Washburn 
Brendan ShanahanDoug WeightChris Wells 
Steve YzermanValeri ZelepukinRay Whitney
Montreal CanadiensNew Jersey DevilsNew York IslandersNew York Rangers
Goaltenders
Jocelyn ThibaultMartin BrodeurTommy SaloRobb Stauber
Defencemen
Patrice BriseboisBrad BombardirBryan BerardJeff Beukeboom
Vladimir MalakhovKen DaneykoZdeno CharaEric Cairns
Dave MansonScott NiedermayerKenny JonssonMaxim Galanov
Stephane QuintalLyle OdeleinScott LachanceAlexander Karpovtsev
Craig RivetScott StevensRich PilonBrian Leetch
Igor Ulanov  Ulf Samuelsson
Forwards
Shayne CorsonSergei BrylinMariusz CzerkawskiAdam Graves
Vincent DamphoussePatrik EliasJason DaweWayne Gretzky
Saku KoivuBobby HolikTrevor LindenTodd Harvey
Mark RecchiRandy McKaySergei NemchinovAlexei Kovalev
Martin RucinskyKrzysztof OliwaGino OdjickPat LaFontaine
Brian SavageDenis PedersonZigmund PalffyDarren Langdon
Turner StevensonBrian RolstonRobert ReichelKevin Stevens
Scott ThorntonVadim SharifijanovJoe SaccoNiklas Sundstrom
 Petr SykoraBryan Smolinski 
Ottawa SenatorsPhiladelphia FlyersPhoenix CoyotesPittsburgh Penguins
Goaltenders
Damian RhodesRon HextallNikolai KhabibulinTom Barrasso
Defencemen
Radim BicanekDave BabychKeith CarneyKevin Hatcher
Igor KravchukEric DesjardinsGerald DiduckDarius Kasparaitis
Janne LaukkanenJeff LankJason DoigJiri Slegr
Stanislav NeckarLuke RichardsonTeppo NumminenChris Tamer
Lance PitlickPetr SvobodaDeron QuintBrad Werenka
Jason YorkChris TherienOleg Tverdovsky 
Forwards
Daniel AlfredssonRod Brind'amourBob CorkumStu Barnes
Radek BonkAlexandre DaigleJim CumminsRon Francis
Phil CroweChris GrattonShane DoanJaromir Jagr
Bruce GardinerTrent KlattDallas DrakeRobert Lang
Shawn McEachernJohn LeclairJ.F. JompheMario Lemieux
Chris MurrayEric LindrosJeremy RoenickIan Moran
Vaclav ProspalMike ManelukCliff RonningPetr Nedved
Shaun Van AllenShjon PodeinKeith TkachukMartin Straka
Alexei YashinMike SillingerRick TocchetGerman Titov
   Tyler Wright
St. Louis BluesSan Jose SharksTampa Bay LightningToronto Maple Leafs
Goaltenders
Grant FuhrSteve ShieldsBill RanfordFelix Potvin
 Mike Vernon  
Defencemen
Marc BergevinBill HoulderEnrico CicconeDavid Cooper
Al MacInnisBryan MarchmentCory CrossSylvain Côté
Chris McAlpineMarcus RagnarssonJassen CullimoreMathieu Schneider
Rudy PoeschekMike RathjeKarl DykhuisJason Smith
Chris Pronger David WilkieYannick Tremblay
Jamie Rivers  Dimitri Yushkevich
Forwards
Jim CampbellShawn BurrMikael AnderssonLonny Bohonos
Kelly ChaseJeff FriesenCraig JanneyNathan Dempsey
Craig ConroyJohn MacLeanSandy McCarthyTie Domi
Pavol DemitraStephane MatteauAndrei NazarovDarby Hendrickson
Scott PellerinJoe MurphyBrent PetersonKris King
Pascal RhéaumeOwen NolanMikael RenbergIgor Korolev
Pierre TurgeonMike RicciStephane RicherSteve Sullivan
Tony Twist Alexander SelivanovMats Sundin
  Darcy TuckerTodd Warriner
  Rob Zamuner 
Vancouver CanucksWashington Capitals
Goaltenders
Corey HirschOlaf Kolzig
Defencemen
Bret HedicanSergei Gonchar
Jamie HuscroftCalle Johansson
Jyrki LummeKen Klee
Chris McAllisterJoe Reekie
Bryan McCabeMark Tinordi
Jason StrudwickBrendan Witt
Forwards
Todd BertuzziCraig Berube
Donald BrashearPeter Bondra
Pavel BureJoe Juneau
Brad MaySteve Konowalchuk
Mark MessierAndrei Nikolishin
Alexander MogilnyAdam Oates
Markus NaslundMichal Pivonka
Dave ScatchardChris Simon
Peter ZezelRichard Zednik

Available Players


In the days leading up to the expansion draft the existing clubs made a few trades. Some noteworthy trades:

  • Marian Cisar traded from the Kings to the Predators for future considerations on June 1 (making Marian Cisar the very first Nashville Predator)
  • Craig Janney from the Coyotes to the Lightning for Louie Debrusk and a 5th round pick in the 1998 Entry Draft (Jay Leach) on June 11
  • The rights to Josef Beranek from the Penguins to the Oilers for Bobby Dollas and Tony Hrkac on June 16
  • Dave Roche and Ken Wregget from the Penguins to the Flames for Todd Hlushko and German Titov on June 17
And on the 18th, the last day of trading before the draft:
  • Doug Bodger from the Devils to the Kings for a 4th round pick in '98 (Pierre Dagenais)
  • Eric Fichaud from the Islanders to the Oilers for Mike Watt
  • Jean-François Jomphe from the Mighty Ducks to the Coyotes for Jim McKenzie
  • Bill Ranford from the Capitals to the Lightning for a 3rd round pick in '98 (Todd Hornung) and a 2nd round pick in '99 (Michal Sivek)
  • Steve Shields and a 4th round pick in '98 (Miroslav Zalesak) from the Sabres to the Sharks for Kay Whitmore, a 2nd round pick in '98 (Jaroslav Kristek) and a 5th round pick in 2000 (Tyler Kolarik)

As always seemed to be the case at expansion drafts in the 1990s many of the trades before the draft involved goaltenders.

The Oilers acquired goaltender Fichaud because they weren't going to protect Curtis Joseph. Joseph's contract was expiring and although they wanted to keep him it was expected that his salary demands would not be met. (Ultimately Joseph signed a four-year contract worth over $6 million per season with the Maple Leafs in the off-season; he had been making $2.3 million with the Oilers.) Fichaud was young and promising insurance. (Backup Bob Essensa was 33 years old and also a pending unrestricted free agent.)

Similarly the Lightning felt they needed to bolster their goaltending and the Capitals didn't want to lose Ranford in the expansion draft for nothing. The Capitals protected Olaf Kolzig (fresh off a trip to the Stanley Cup finals) and the Lightning protected Ranford, hoping the former starting goalie could improve his play in Tampa and help the team recover from the worst season it had ever had. (Ranford played one year in Tampa and didn't help much.)

The Sabres suspected that backup goalie Steve Shields (who was admirable in relief of Dominik Hasek in the 1997 playoffs) would be chosen by the Predators if he was left exposed so he was dealt to the Sharks instead. At the time the Sharks' goalies, Kelly Hrudey and Mike Vernon, were 36 and 34 years old respectively and Hrudey was a pending free agent (he retired over the summer and became an analyst for Hockey Night in Canada). Shields split time with Vernon in 1998-99 and was named the Sharks' starting goalie in 1999-2000, a position he held briefly until it was usurped by Evgeni Nabokov in 2001.

The Flames acquired Ken Wregget from the Penguins hoping to improve their goaltending in 1998-99; in 1997-98 Rick Tabaracci, Dwayne Roloson and Tyler Moss combined for a league-worst 0.892 save percentage. Wregget was 34 years old and spent most of the 1997-98 season injured, and he did the same in 1998-99. Ultimately Wregget only played 27 games for the Flames in that one season, leaving for Detroit as a free agent in the summer of 1999. The Flames' goaltending in 1998-99 was disastrous until they signed Fred Brathwaite from the Canadian national team mid-season.

Available Players


Mighty Ducks of AnaheimBoston BruinsBuffalo SabresCalgary Flames
Goaltenders
Mikhail ShtalenkovJim CareyKay WhitmoreIIITyler Moss
 Joakim Persson Dwayne RolosonII
   Rick Tabaracci
Defencemen
Drew BannisterIIDean ChynowethBob BoughnerJoel Bouchard
Doug HoudaDave EllettMike HurlbutEric CharronII
Nikolai TsulyginIIGrant LedyardSergei KlimentievIIKevin Dahl
 Dean MalkocIIRumun NdurIIJohan Finnstrom#
 Milt MastadIIShayne WrightKeith McCambridgeII
 Anders MyrvoldII James PatrickIII
 Charles PaquetteII Pavel Rajnoha#
 Barry Richter Dimitri Riabykin#
 Jon Rohloff  
 Andrei Sapozhnikov  
 Yevgeny Shaldybin  
 Andrei YakhanovII  
Forwards
Shawn AntoskiIIKen BaumgartnerRandy BurridgeBobby Brown
Ted DruryP-C DrouinIIPaul KruseIIJim Dowd
Peter LeboutillierIIBill McCauleyIIScott NicholIIAaron Gavey
Eric LecompteIITrent McClearyRob RayVMathias Johansson#
Tommi Miettinen#Kirk NielsenIIDixon WardJorgen Jonsson#
Richard ParkIIAndre RoyII Andreas Karlsson#
Craig ReichertMike Sullivan Valeri Karpov
Tomas Sandstrom  Esa Keskinen#
Brent SeverynIII  Jesper MattssonII
Jeremy Stevenson  Marty MurrayII
Kevin ToddV  Mike PelusoIII
Bob Wren  Ron SternIII
Scott YoungV  Ed Ward
   Sergei Zolotov#
Carolina HurricanesChicago BlackhawksColorado AvalancheDallas Stars
Goaltenders
Mike FountainMarc LamotheIICraig BillingtonIIIManny Fernandez
Pat JablonskiChris TerreriPetr FranekJordan WillisII
Manny LegaceAndrei TrefilovII  
Defencemen
Joacim Esbjörs#Roger JohanssonAlexei GusarovDan Keczmer
Sean HillAlain NasreddineIIUwe KruppIIICraig LudwigIII
Marek MalikJeff RicciardiPascal TrepanierIICraig MuniIII
Jason McBainIITrent Yawney Evgeny Petrochinin#
Forwards
Kevin BrownIIGreg JohnsonTom FitzgeraldVGreg AdamsIII
Jeff DanielsDavid LingIIMilan Hejduk#Guy CarbonneauIII
Kevin DineenReid SimpsonMikael Johansson#Patrick CoteII
Dimitri Gorenko# Jari KurriIIIPeter DourisIII
Steve Leach Martin LamarcheBenoit HogueIII
Kent Manderville François LerouxIIMike KennedyII
Paul Ranheim Christian MatteIIJeffrey MitchellII
Steven Rice Jeff OdgersDave Reid
Brian SecordII Warren RychelKevin SawyerII
Kevin Smyth  Chris TancillII
Detroit Red WingsEdmonton OilersFlorida PanthersLos Angeles Kings
Goaltenders
Kevin HodsonBob EssensaIIITodd MacDonaldIIFrederic Chabot
Norm MaracleCurtis JosephIIIKirk McLean 
 Jean-François LabbéJohn VanbiesbrouckIII 
 Steve Passmore  
Defencemen
Vyacheslav FetisovIIIAdam BennettChris ArmstrongRuslan BatyrshinII
Jamie MacounLadislav BenysekIITerry CarknerDoug Bodger
Dmitri MironovIIIJason BowenTrevor DoyleIIPhilippe BoucherII
Bob RouseIIIKevin LoweIIIDallas EakinsIIGarry Galley
 Frank MusilIIIJeff NortonJere Karalahti#
 Sami Nuutinen#Wes SwinsonIIJaroslav ModryII
 Alexander ZhurikII Martin Strbak#
   Kimmo Timonen#
   Mark Visheau
   Jan Vopat
   Doug Zmolek
Forwards
Pavel Agarkov#Dennis BonvieIIAshley BuckbergerIIDan Bylsma
Doug BrownJozef CiernyChad CabanaIIRuss Courtnall
Sylvain CloutierIIZdeno CigerDave GagnerRay Ferraro
Brent GilchristDoug FriedmanJohan GarpenlovCraig JohnsonII
Mike KnubleBill HuardKirk MullerNathan LafayetteII
Joey KocurRalph Intranuovo Sandy Moger
Toivo Suursoo#Andrei Kovalenko Jeff ShevalierII
 Barrie MooreII Jukka Tiilikainen#
 Kevin PadenII Tomas Vlasak#
 Martin Reichel# Roman Vopat
 Keijo Sailynoja# Magnus Wernblom#
 Jussi Tarvainen# Vitali YachmenevII
Montreal CanadiensNew Jersey DevilsNew York IslandersNew York Rangers
Goaltenders
Andy MoogMike DunhamWade FlahertyJeff Heil
Tomas VokounRich ShulmistraMark McArthurMike RichterIII
 Peter SidorkiewiczIII Vitali Yeremeyev#
Defencemen
Brad BrownIIKevin DeanJ.J. DaigneaultSylvain Blouin
Steve CheredarykGeordie KinnearDaniel Johansson#Rich Brennan
Brett ClarkVlastimil KroupaChris LuongoBruce DriverIII
Dion DarlingII Dick Tarnstrom#Jeff Finley
Peter PopovicII Dennis VaskeIIKim Johnsson#
Zarley ZalapskiII  Alexander Korobolin#
   Doug LidsterIII
   Geoff Smith
   Lee SorochanII
   Brent Thompson
Forwards
Sebastien BordeleauIIDave AndreychukTom ChorskeBill Berg
Marc BureauIIIEric BertrandIIVladimir Grachev#Shane ChurlaIII
Martin GendronIISteve BruleIIPavel Gross#Bob Errey
Jonas HoglundBob CarpenterPeter Hogardh#Sergei Kondrashkin#
Arto Kuki#Scott DanielsMike HoughRadoslav Kropac#
Oleg PetrovDoug GilmourIIIDane JacksonAlexander Lazarenko#
Patrick PoulinBobby HouseTomas Klimt#Yuri Litvinov#
Peter Strom#Fredrik Lindquist#†Claude LapointePierre SevignyII
Mick VukotaIIISteve ThomasIIIMark LawrenceTim SweeneyIII
 Dody WoodIIKip MillerIIRudolf Vercik#
 Nikolai Zavarukhin#Dan PlanteII 
Ottawa SenatorsPhiladelphia FlyersPhoenix CoyotesPittsburgh Penguins
Goaltenders
Frederic CassiviIISean BurkeIIIScott LangkowIIJean-Sebastien Aubin
Jaroslav Miklenda#Neil LittleHenrik Smangs# 
Ron TugnuttDominic RousselIIJimmy WaiteII 
  Darcy WakalukIII 
Defencemen
Per GustafssonIIArtem Anisimov#‡Murray BaronIIIJonas Andersson-Junkka#
Justin HockingIIFrank BialowasJim JohnsonIIIStefan BergqvistII
Patrick TraversePaul CoffeyNorm MaciverIIIBobby Dollas
 Chris JosephRoger OhmanHans Jonsson#
 Kjell SamuelssonIIIMichel PetitIIIAlexei KrivchenkoII
 Jeff StaplesIIJohn SlaneyFredrik OlaussonIII
 John StevensIlja StashenkovNeil Wilkinson
 Roman Zolotov#  
Forwards
Derek ArmstrongIIIBruce ColesMika Alatalo#Jan Alinc#
Clayton BeddoesCraig DarbyAlexei BudayevIISerge AubinII
Randy CunneyworthIIIJohn DruceLouie DebruskIIRob BrownV
Pat FalloonIIPaul HealeyIIYevgeny Garanin#Joe Dziedzic
Marc LabellePatrik JuhlinMike GartnerIIIAlex Hicks
Denny LambertDan KordicRhett GordonTodd Hlushko
Mike ProkopecIIDaniel LacroixIITavis HansenTony Hrkac
Andry SchneiderJan LipianskyMark JanssensVAndreas JohanssonII
Dennis VialIIShawn McCoshDarin KimbleVMikhail Kazakevich#
Jason ZentJim MontgomeryJocelyn LemieuxJiri Kucera#
Sergei ZholtokIIBrantt MyhresIIScott LevinsIIValentin Morozov#
 Joel OttoIIIRob MurrayEd OlczykIII
  Vladimir Potapov#Domenic PittisII
  Rauli Raitanen#Sean ProngerII
  Darrin ShannonIIRyan Savoia
  Mike StapletonAlek StojanovII
   Mika Valila#
   Garry ValkII
   Boris Zelenko#
St. Louis BluesSan Jose SharksTampa Bay LightningToronto Maple Leafs
Goaltenders
Jamie McLennanJonas Forsberg#Mark FitzpatrickIIGlenn Healy
 Kelly HrudeyIIIDaren Puppa 
 Jason MuzzattiCorey SchwabII 
  Derek Wilkinson 
Defencemen
Steve DuchesneIIIPeter AllenRyan BrownIIMatt MartinII
Rory FitzpatrickIIAl IafrateIIIViktor IgnatjevTommi Rajamaki#
Edwin Frylen#Marty McSorleyIIIMathieu RobyIIGreg Smyth
Todd GillAngel Nikolov#Yves RacineIICraig Wolanin
Alexander GodynyukIIFredrik OduyaII Rob Zettler
Yuri Gunko#David Shaw  
Terry HollingerKen Sutton  
Libor Prochazka#Jason WidmerII  
Terry Virtue   
Forwards
Blair AtcheynumNiklas AnderssonIIJason BonsignoreJamie Baker
Geoff CourtnallIIIJan ColounBrian BradleyWendel ClarkIII
Mike EastwoodMurray CravenIIIPaul BrousseauMikael Hakansson#
Brett HullIIITodd EwenJody HullVDerek King
Chris KenadyAnatoli Firsov#Dimitri Klevakin#Nick KypreosIII
Robert PetrovickyIITony GranatoTroy MalletteIIZdenek NedvedII
Michel PicardDave LowryIIIVladimir VujtekIIIScott Pearson
Shayne ToporowskiIIBernie NichollsIIIPaul Ysebaert 
Darren TurcotteJarrod Skalde  
 Ron Sutter  
 Markus Thuresson#  
 Alexei YegorovII  
Vancouver CanucksWashington Capitals
Goaltenders
Arturs IrbeIIIStephane BeauregardV
Tim KeyesMartin Brochu
Garth SnowII 
Defencemen
Roger Akerstrom#Patrick BoileauII
Adrian AucoinIIJeff BrownIII
Karri Kivi#Phil Housley
Dana MurzynStewart MalgunasII
Bert Robertsson 
Mark WottonII 
ForwardsNotes
Hakan Ahlund#Brian BellowsIIIII—pending Group II restricted free agent
Jevgeni Babariko#Andrew BrunetteIIIII—pending Group III unrestricted free agent
Brandon ConveryMike EaglesV—pending Group V free agent
Larry CourvilleIIDale HunterIII#—unsigned European draft choice
Roger Hansson#Kevin KaminskiII—Fredrik Lindquist changed his name to Fredrik Bremberg in 2003
Tyson NashIITodd KrygierIII—Artem Vyacheslavovich Anisimov, born 1976 in Kazan, USSR
Stefan Nilsson#Mark Major
Brian NoonanIIIKelly Miller
David RobertsJeff Nelson
Steve StaoisIIPat PeakeII
Scott WalkerEsa TikkanenIII
 Jeff TomsII
 Stefan Ustorf

The Draft


PlayerPositionFrom
Mikhail ShtalenkovGoaltenderMighty Ducks of Anaheim
Mike SullivanCentreBoston Bruins
Bob BoughnerDefencemanBuffalo Sabres
Joel BouchardDefencemanCalgary Flames
Jeff DanielsLeft WingCarolina Hurricanes
Greg JohnsonCentreChicago Blackhawks
Uwe KruppDefencemanColorado Avalanche
Patrick CoteLeft WingDallas Stars
Doug BrownRight WingDetroit Red Wings
Doug FriedmanLeft WingEdmonton Oilers
Chris ArmstrongDefencemanFlorida Panthers
Frederic ChabotGoaltenderLos Angeles Kings
Tomas VokounGoaltenderMontreal Canadiens
Mike DunhamGoaltenderNew Jersey Devils
J.J. DaigneaultDefencemanNew York Islanders
Mike RichterGoaltenderNew York Rangers
Denny LambertLeft WingOttawa Senators
Craig DarbyCentrePhiladelphia Flyers
John SlaneyDefencemanPhoenix Coyotes
Tony HrkacCentrePittsburgh Penguins
Blair AtcheynumRight WingSt. Louis Blues
Al IafrateDefencemanSan Jose Sharks
Paul BrousseauForwardTampa Bay Lightning
Rob ZettlerDefencemanToronto Maple Leafs
Scott WalkerRight WingVancouver Canucks
Andrew BrunetteLeft WingWashington Capitals


You'll notice that the Predators' list of selections includes several Group III unrestricted free agents: Al Iafrate, Uwe Krupp and Mike Richter. There's a piece of a trivia that a lot of people probably won't believe: Mike Richter was an original Nashville Predator. The reason why David Poile selected these unrestricted free agents was that under the collective bargaining agreement of the time a team that lost Group III free agents would receive compensatory draft picks for the (net) loss. Poile didn't really want to keep these players, he hoped that they would sign somewhere else for a lot of money. The more a player was paid the higher compensatory draft pick that their former team would receive.

Mike Richter re-signed with the Rangers on July 15, 1998 and the Predators received the 52nd overall pick in the 1999 draft, which they used to select Adam Hall. Uwe Krupp signed with the Red Wings on July 7, 1998 and the Predators received the 67th overall pick in the 1999 draft, which they used to select Jan Lasak. Al Iafrate was signed by the Hurricanes on July 14, 1998. He never played a game for the Hurricanes and announced his retirement September 1. The Predators received nothing for him.

In the hours that followed the expansion draft picks announcement the Predators made a series of trades with a smattering of teams. Most of these trades were pre-arranged: the Predators were being compensated for picking certain players from certain teams, or from not picking certain players from other teams. Most of the compensation going the other way from the Predators was "future considerations".

On the 26th of June, after the draft announcement, the following trades were announced:

  • Flames traded Jim Dowd to the Predators for future considerations
  • Blackhawks traded Sergei Krivokrasov to the Predators for future considerations
  • Kings traded Kimmo Timonen and Jan Vopat to the Predators for future considerations
  • Canadiens traded Sebastien Bordeleau to the Predators for future considerations
  • Flyers traded Dominic Roussel and Jeff Staples to the Predators for a 7th round draft pick in 1998 (Cam Ondrik)
  • Blues traded Darren Turcotte and either the highest compensatory pick they received in the 1999 draft or a 2nd round pick in 2000 (the Blues received the 40th overall pick in 1999 for losing Brett Hull to free agency; this pick was traded to the Predators, who traded it to the Panthers; the Panthers selected Alex Auld)
  • Sharks traded Ville Peltonen to the Predators for a 5th round pick in 1998 (traded to the Coyotes, who selected Josh Blackburn)

Reportedly the Flames gave Dowd to the Predators for not selecting one of their goaltenders. The Flames only protected Ken Wregget, allowing them to protect more of their defencemen and forwards. The Blackhawks reportedly did the same for not selecting Chris Terreri. The Kings traded Timonen and Vopat to the Predators for having chosen Frederic Chabot and (reportedly) not choosing defenceman Garry Galley. Being that Chabot was a goalie it meant that the Kings would be exempt from losing a goalie to the Atlanta Thrashers in the 1999 Expansion Draft.

The Canadiens sent Sebastien Bordeleau to the Predators for similar reasons: in 1998 they didn't have to protect goalie José Théodore but they would have to in 1999. Rather than forcing themselves to protect Théodore and Jocelyn Thibault in 1999—thus having to expose more defencemen and forwards to the Atlanta Thrashers—they made a deal with the Predators to select goalie prospect Tomas Vokoun. Vokoun only played a single game for Montreal, giving up four goals in the first period of a game against the Flyers on February 6, 1997. When the Predators chose him from the Habs he was out of shape and his career was going nowhere fast as back up to Théodore on the AHL's Fredericton Canadiens. Théodore would become the Canadiens' starter and played over 600 games in his career until he retired in 2013. Vokoun would go on to become the Predators' starter and has played in 700 regular season games to date, winning 300 of them. (14 more career victories than Théodore.)

Other trades in the weeks that followed included the Predators trading Mike Sullivan to the Coyotes for a draft pick, the Kings sending Vitali Yachmenev to the Predators for future considerations, the Stars getting Tony Hrkac from the Predators for future considerations, and Doug Brown being traded back to the Red Wings by the Predators for Petr Sykora ("the other Petr Sykora", the defenceman born in 1978 not the winger born in 1976), a third round pick in 1999 (traded to the Oilers who selected Mike Comrie) and a conditional draft pick in 1999 (the 124th overall selection which the Wings got for losing Bob Rouse in free agency—the Predators chose Alexandr Krevsun).

The Predators also traded Jim Dowd and goalie Mikhail Shtalenkov to the Oilers just before the season started (October 1) for defencemen Drake Berehowsky and Greg de Vries and goalie Eric Fichaud. The Oilers re-signed Bob Essensa and felt Fichaud was expendable, I guess.

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© 2012-2017 Mark Parsons