1999 NHL Expansion Draft

The 1999 NHL Expansion Draft was held on June 25, 1999, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The draft took place to fill the roster of the league's expansion team for the 1999–2000 season, the Atlanta Thrashers.

Rules

The Thrashers were to select 26 players, one from each existing franchise (except for the Nashville Predators) at the time of the draft. Each franchise was allowed to protect either one goaltender, five defensemen, and nine forwards or two goaltenders, three defensemen, and seven forwards. Teams which lost goaltenders in the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft (Anaheim, Los Angeles, Montreal, New Jersey and the New York Rangers) could not lose a goaltender in the 1999 Draft. [http://www.bluejackets.com/news/press/arts/109.0.html]

The Thrashers were to choose at least three goaltenders, eight defensemen, and thirteen forwards. Their final two choices could be from any position.

Draft Results

"These results are numbered 1–26 for aesthetic purposes, but the players were not necessarily chosen in this order. As the Thrashers were the only team participating in the draft, the order is inconsequential."

Deals

In return for agreeing not to select certain unprotected players, the Thrashers were granted concessions by other franchises. The trades were officially booked as being for "future considerations":

*Ottawa traded Damian Rhodes to Atlanta on June 18, 1999
*Buffalo traded Dean Sylvester to Atlanta on June 25, 1999
*Calgary traded Andreas Karlsson to Atlanta on June 25, 1999
*Detroit traded Ulf Samuelsson to Atlanta on June 25, 1999
*New Jersey traded Sergei Vyshedkevich to Atlanta on June 25, 1999
*Phoenix traded Scott Langkow to Atlanta on June 25, 1999

Post-draft

Several of the players selected by the Thrashers in the Expansion Draft did not stay with the team long after the draft. In fact, the Thrashers traded two players later in the same day:

*Trevor Kidd (traded to Florida for Gord Murphy, Daniel Tjarnqvist, Herberts Vasiljevs, and a sixth-round pick in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft)
*Peter Ferraro (traded to Boston for Randy Robitaille)

Other players who were no longer on the Thrashers' roster at the start of the 1999–2000 season include the following:

*Phil Crowe (traded to Nashville for future considerations on June 26, 1999)
*Jamie Pushor (traded to Dallas for Jason Botterill and cash on July 15, 1999)
*Terry Yake (claimed off waivers by St. Louis on September 30, 1999)
*Alexei Yegorov (released before the season began)
*Mark Tinordi (retired before the season began)

ee also

*1999 NHL Entry Draft
*1999–2000 NHL season

References

* [http://www.hockeynut.com/9900/thrashpick0699.html Here are your Atlanta Thrashers (hockeynut.com)]
* [http://groups.google.com/group/alt.sports.hockey.nhl.atl-thrashers/browse_frm/thread/265c5bfa68377cb6/cc7a21cf6c99606d?lnk=st&q=&rnum=47#cc7a21cf6c99606d Usenet post entitled "All-Time Thrashers - How They Came And Left"]