The 1999 NHL Expansion Draft was an

expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or franchises. This occurs mainly in North American sports. One of the ways of stocking the new team or teams is an expansion ...

held by the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) to fill the roster of the league's expansion team for the 1999–2000 season, the

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 seaso ...

. The draft took place on June 25, 1999 in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

Rules

The Thrashers were to select 26 players, one from each existing franchise (except for the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

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

Protected players

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

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 Damian Rhodes (born May 28, 1969) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender. Rhodes played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, and Atlanta Thrashers over eleven National Hockey League (NHL) seasons. He became the first p ...

to Atlanta on June 18, 1999 *Buffalo traded Dean Sylvester to Atlanta on June 25, 1999 *Calgary traded

Andreas Karlsson Andreas John Karlsson (born August 19, 1975) is a retired Swedish professional ice hockey player. Playing career Karlsson is a good skater and playmaker with good technical skills. During the season 2005–06 he has also shown that he is ...

to Atlanta on June 25, 1999 *Detroit traded

Ulf Samuelsson Ulf Bo Samuelsson (born March 26, 1964) is a Swedish-American former professional ice hockey defenceman who formerly served as assistant coach of the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League. He played several seasons in the NHL with the Har ...

to Atlanta on June 25, 1999 *New Jersey traded

Sergei Vyshedkevich Sergei Iosifovich Vyshedkevich (born January 3, 1975) is a Russian former professional ice hockey defenseman who last played for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the Kontinental Hockey League. He was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the third roun ...

to Atlanta on June 25, 1999 *Phoenix traded

Scott Langkow Scott Langkow (born April 21, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 20 National Hockey League games and for numerous teams in the minor and European leagues, most notably for the Springfield Falcons of the Ameri ...

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 Gordon J. Murphy (born February 23, 1967) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers and Atlanta Thrashers. He i ...

, Daniel Tjarnqvist, Herberts Vasiljevs, and a sixth-round pick (

Justin Cox Justin Cox (born December 9, 1992) is a former Canadian football safety. He was most recently a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He attended West Point High School in Mississippi. He played collegiat ...

) in the

1999 NHL Entry Draft The 1999 NHL Entry Draft was the 37th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 26 at the FleetCenter in Boston. According to ''Sports Illustrated'' and other sports news agencies, at the time the 1999 draft was considered one of the deepest in tale ...

) *Peter Ferraro (traded to Boston for

Randy Robitaille Randy M. Robitaille (born October 12, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He last played for HC Donbass of the Kontinental Hockey League. Robitaille has previously played for nine teams in the National Hockey League (NHL). ...

) 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 Jason Drandon Botterill (born May 19, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger and executive who is currently serving as an assistant general manager of the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). Botterill was th ...

and cash and 7th round draft pick 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)

References

External links

1999 NHL Expansion Draft player stats
a
The Internet Hockey Database

Usenet post entitled "All-Time Thrashers - How They Came And Left"
{{1999–2000 NHL season by team

Expansion Draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or franchises. This occurs mainly in North American sports. One of the ways of stocking the new team or teams is an expansion ...

Atlanta Thrashers National Hockey League expansion drafts