1991 NHL Expansion Draft The 1991 NHL Dispersal and Expansion Drafts were held via telephone conference call on May 30 , 1991 . The dispersal draft took place to fill the roster of the league ' s expansion team for the 1991 – 92 season , the San Jose Sharks , first from the Minnesota North Stars pool of players . An expansion draft was then held from the NHL pool of players . Both San Jose and Minnesota would participate . In 1990 , as a result of slipping attendance , George and Gordon Gund , the owners of the Minnesota North Stars , petitioned the NHL for permission to relocate their team to the San Francisco Bay Area . The NHL , however , wishing to maintain a presence in Minnesota , denied their request . As a compromise , the league agreed to award the Gund brothers a new NHL expansion franchise to be located in the Bay Area , which would become the San Jose Sharks . The Gunds would sell the North Stars to an NHL - approved purchaser . One of the conditions of sale and expansion deal was that the Sharks would have the right to draft players from the North Stars organization . After that draft , the North Stars ' roster would be replenished by the expansion draft as well . The Gunds paid $ 50 million for the Sharks franchise . They sold the North Stars to a consortium consisting of Howard Baldwin , Morris Belzberg and Norman Green for $ 31 . 5 million . A series of disputes led to the team being completely controlled by Green , who would eventually move the team to Dallas after the 1992 – 93 season . Rules . Dispersal Draft : Before the draft , the North Stars selected 14 skaters and two goaltenders who had played at least 50 NHL games by the end of the 1989 – 90 season . These players were protected . From the unprotected North Stars players ( but excluding 1990 draft picks ) , the Sharks selected 14 skaters and two goaltenders . Up to three Shark selections could have been unsigned North Stars draft choices , while another three could have been players signed between May 2 and June 15 , 1990 . After San Jose had chosen 14 skaters and two goaltenders from Minnesota , the teams would take turns choosing from the pool of unclaimed players until the Sharks roster reached thirty players . Expansion Draft : The other 20 teams in the league were allowed to protect two goaltenders and 16 skaters . The Sharks and North Stars would take turns selecting from the pool of unprotected players until each had chosen ten players . 20 total players would be selected , one from each franchise . Dispersal Draft results . " The Sharks selected 24 players from the North Stars . " Post - draft . Not all of the players selected by the Sharks and North Stars in these drafts stayed with their new teams for long . Among players moved before the start of the 1991 – 92 season were the following : As with most other Expansion Drafts , the majority of the players selected did not have lengthy NHL careers ; many of them ended up in the minor leagues . San Jose ' s original minor league affiliate was the Kansas City Blades of the International Hockey League . The Blades won the IHL Championship , the Turner Cup , in 1992 , and a majority of their players were under contract to San Jose . In fact , many of those players were under contract with the North Stars the previous year and played for a rival IHL team , the Kalamazoo Wings .