1979 NHL Entry Draft

The 1979 NHL Entry Draft was the 17th NHL Entry Draft. It took place on August 9, 1979, at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. The National Hockey League (NHL) teams selected 126 players eligible for entry into professional ranks, in the reverse order of the 1978–79 NHL season and playoff standings. The draft was the first to be conducted after the NHL-WHA merger. As part of the terms of the merger, the four former WHA teams had joined the NHL on the condition that they be placed at the bottom of the draft order, as opposed to the top of the order as is usually the case for expansion teams.
In addition, the minimum draft age was lowered from 20 to 19 with the addition of any underage players who had already played in the WHA.1979 NHL Entry Draft quick facts. The NHL had been considering lowering the draft age for some time, and timed the decision to lower the draft age at least in part to coincide with the merger. The lowering of the draft age caused two years' worth of draft picks to go in the same draft, resulting in what is generally considered one of the best draft classes in NHL Entry Draft history, which included future Hall of Famers Ray Bourque, Mike Gartner, Michel Goulet and Kevin Lowe in the first round alone. Hall of Famers Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, and Guy Carbonneau would be drafted in later rounds. 12 of the 21 players selected in the first round would play in at least one All-Star game, 19 of the 21 would play at least 450 career NHL games, and all 21 had NHL careers of at least 235 games. Under the old rules, Wayne Gretzky and Messier would not have been eligible to enter the NHL until the 1981 draft.
On the other hand, the NHL shortened the draft to only six rounds, whereas some previous drafts ran for more than twenty rounds. As a result, in spite of the larger number of teams participating the 1979 Draft had 108 fewer selections than the previous draft and was the shortest draft since 1971. It is the last Entry Draft to have fewer than 200 selections. Due to the strength of the class and fewer selections, there are many undrafted players who were eligible to be drafted who went on to have notable NHL careers, including Hall of Famer Dino Ciccarelli, five-time Stanley Cup champion Charlie Huddy and four-time 50-goal scorer Tim Kerr.
As consolidation for lowering the minimum age for the draft, the NHL provided junior teams with $40,000 in compensation for each under-age player selected and signed. Under-aged players were also offered back to junior clubs before being able to play in the minor leagues.
Mark Messier was the last active player in the NHL from the 1979 draft class, playing his final NHL game in the 2003–04 season.
==Absence of Wayne Gretzky==
Rising superstar Wayne Gretzky had played for the Edmonton Oilers in the WHA's final season. As per the terms of the NHL-WHA merger, Gretzky was to have become eligible for the 1979 draft due to having already played professionally in the WHA. However, Gretzky had a personal services contract with Oilers owner Peter Pocklington.
The NHL had originally expected the contract would be voided. But Gretzky, faced with the likelihood of having to play for the struggling Colorado Rockies if he were to enter the draft, refused to void his contract with Pocklington. As a result, a compromise was reached in which the Oilers were allowed to keep Gretzky in exchange for being placed at the bottom of the draft order in the Entry Draft.
==Selections by round==
Below are listed the selections in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. Club teams are located in North America unless otherwise noted.
===Round one===
Pick # 	Player 	Position 	Nationality	NHL team 	College/junior/club team
1 	Rob Ramage 	Defence 	 	Colorado Rockies 	Birmingham Bulls (WHA)
2 	Perry Turnbull 	Left Wing 	 	St. Louis Blues 	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
3 	Mike Foligno 	Right Wing	 	Detroit Red Wings 	Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
4 	Mike Gartner 	Right Wing	 	Washington Capitals 	Cincinnati Stingers (WHA)
5 	Rick Vaive 	Right Wing	 	Vancouver Canucks 	Birmingham Bulls (WHA)
6 	Craig Hartsburg	Defence 	 	Minnesota North Stars 	Birmingham Bulls (WHA)
7 	Keith Brown 	Defence 	 	Chicago Black Hawks 	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
8 	Ray Bourque 	Defence 	 	Boston Bruins (from Los Angeles) 	Verdun Eperviers (QMJHL)
9 	Laurie Boschman	Centre 	 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
10 	Tom McCarthy 	Left Wing 	 	Minnesota North Stars (from Pittsburgh via Washington)	Oshawa Generals (OHL)
11 	Mike Ramsey 	Defence 	 	Buffalo Sabres 	University of Minnesota (WCHA)
12 	Paul Reinhart 	Defence 	 	Atlanta Flames 	Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
13 	Doug Sulliman 	Left wing 	 	New York Rangers 	Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
14 	Brian Propp 	Left Wing 	 	Philadelphia Flyers 	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
15 	Brad McCrimmon 	Defence 	 	Boston Bruins 	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
16 	Jay Wells 	Defence 	 	Los Angeles Kings (from Montreal) 	Kingston Canadians (OHL)
17 	Duane Sutter 	Right Wing	 	New York Islanders 	Lethbridge Broncos (WHL)
18 	Ray Allison 	Right Wing	 	Hartford Whalers 	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
19 	Jimmy Mann 	Right Wing	 	Winnipeg Jets 	Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)
20 	Michel Goulet 	Left Wing 	 	Quebec Nordiques 	Birmingham Bulls (WHA)
21 	Kevin Lowe 	Defence 	 	Edmonton Oilers 	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
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;Notes
# The Los Angeles Kings' first round pick went to the Boston Bruins as the result of a trade on October 9, 1978 that sent Ron Grahame to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for this pick.
# The Pittsburgh Penguins' first round pick went to the Minnesota North Stars as the result of a trade on October 18, 1978, that sent Dennis Maruk to Washington in exchange for this pick.
#:Washington previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on October 17, 1977 that sent Hartland Monahan to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for this pick.
# The Montreal Canadiens' first round pick went to the Los Angeles Kings as the result of a trade on October 5, 1978, that sent the first round pick in 1981 to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Murray Wilson and this pick.
===Round two===
Pick # 	Player 	Position 	Nationality	NHL team 	College/junior/club team
22 	Blake Wesley 	Defence 	 	Philadelphia Flyers (from Colorado) 	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
23 	Mike Perovich 	Defence 	 	Atlanta Flames (from St. Louis) 	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
24 	Errol Rausse 	Left Wing 	 	Washington Capitals (from Detroit) 	Seattle Breakers (WHL)
25 	Tomas Jonsson 	Defence 	 	New York Islanders (from Washington) 	Modo Hockey (Sweden)
26 	Brent Ashton 	Left Wing 	 	Vancouver Canucks 	Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
27 	Gaston Gingras 	Defence 	 	Montreal Canadiens (from Minnesota) 	Birmingham Bulls (WHA)
28 	Tim Trimper 	Left Wing 	 	Chicago Blackhawks 	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
29 	Dean Hopkins 	Right Wing	 	Los Angeles Kings 	London Knights (OMJHL)
30 	Mark Hardy 	Defence 	 	Los Angeles Kings (from Toronto) 	Montreal Juniors (QMJHL)
31 	Paul Marshall 	Left Wing 	 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	Brantford Alexanders (OMJHL)
32 	Lindy Ruff 	Defence 	 	Buffalo Sabres 	Lethbridge Broncos (WHL)
33 	Pat Riggin 	Goaltender	 	Atlanta Flames 	Birmingham Bulls (WHA)
34 	Ed Hospodar 	Defence 	/<BR/> 	New York Rangers 	Ottawa 67's (OMJHL)
35 	Pelle Lindbergh	Goaltender	 	Philadelphia Flyers 	AIK IF (Sweden)
36 	Doug Morrison 	Right Wing	 	Boston Bruins 	Lethbridge Broncos (WHL)
37 	Mats Naslund 	Left Wing 	 	Montreal Canadiens 	Brynas IF (Sweden)
38 	Billy Carroll 	Centre 	 	New York Islanders 	London Knights (OMJHL)
39 	Stuart Smith 	Defence 	 	Hartford Whalers 	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
40 	Dave Christian 	Centre 	 	Winnipeg Jets 	University of North Dakota (WCHA)
41 	Dale Hunter 	Centre 	 	Quebec Nordiques 	Sudbury Wolves (OMJHL)
42 	Neal Broten 	Centre 	 	Minnesota North Stars (from Edmonton)	University of Minnesota (WCHA)
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;Notes
# The Colorado Rockies' second round pick went to the Philadelphia Flyers as the result of a trade on June 15, 1978, that sent the second round pick in 1978 to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for this pick.
# The St. Louis Blues' second round pick went to the Atlanta Flames as the result of a trade on December 12, 1977, that sent Curt Bennett, Phil Myre, and Barry Gibbs to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Yves Bélanger, Dick Redmond, Bob MacMillan and this pick.
# The Detroit Red Wings' second round pick went to the Washington Capitals as the result of a trade on August 17, 1977, that sent the rights to Ron Low, the 46th overall pick to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Walt McKechnie, the third round pick in 1978 and this pick.
# The Washington Capitals' second round pick went to the New York Islanders as the result of a trade on October 19, 1978, that sent Michel Bergeron to the Washington Capitals in exchange for this pick.
# The Minnesota North Stars' second round pick went to the Montreal Canadiens as the result of a trade on August 9, 1979 that sent Bill Nyrop to the Minnesota North Stars in exchange for the second round pick in 1980 (changed to the second round pick in 1982 on June 11, 1980) and this pick.
# The Toronto Maple Leafs' second round pick went to the Los Angeles Kings as the result of a trade on June 14, 1978, that sent Dave Hutchison and Lorne Stamler to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Brian Glennie, Kurt Walker, Scott Garland and this pick.
# The Edmonton Oilers' second round pick went to the Minnesota North Stars as the result of a trade on August 9, 1979, that sent Dave Semenko and the 48th overall pick to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for the 63rd overall pick and this pick.
===Round three===
Pick # 	Player 	Position 	Nationality	NHL team 	College/junior/club team
43 	Craig Levie 	Defence 	 	Montreal Canadiens (from Colorado) 	Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)
44 	Guy Carbonneau 	Centre 	 	Montreal Canadiens (from St. Louis) 	Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL)
45 	Jody Gage 	Right Wing	 	Detroit Red Wings 	Kitchener Rangers (OMJHL)
46 	Boris Fistric 	Defence 	 	Detroit Red Wings (from Washington) 	New Westminster Bruins (WHL)
47 	Ken Ellacott 	Goaltender	 	Vancouver Canucks 	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
48 	Mark Messier 	Left Wing 	 	Edmonton Oilers (from Minnesota) 	Cincinnati Stingers (WHA)
49 	Bill Gardner 	Centre 	 	Chicago Blackhawks 	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
50 	John-Paul Kelly 	Left Wing 	 	Los Angeles Kings 	New Westminster Bruins (WHL)
51 	Normand Aubin 	Centre 	 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	Verdun Eperviers (QMJHL)
52 	Bennett Wolf 	Defence 	 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	Kitchener Rangers (OMJHL)
53 	Mark Robinson 	Defence 	 	Buffalo Sabres 	Victoria Cougars (WHL)
54 	Tim Hunter 	Defence 	 	Atlanta Flames 	Seattle Breakers (WHL)
55 	Jacques Cloutier	Goaltender	 	Buffalo Sabres (from New York Rangers)	Trois-Rivieres Draveurs (QMJHL)
56 	Lindsay Carson 	Left Wing 	 	Philadelphia Flyers 	Billings Bighorns (WHL)
57 	Keith Crowder 	Right Wing	 	Boston Bruins 	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
58 	Rick Wamsley 	Goaltender	 	Montreal Canadiens 	Brantford Alexanders (OMJHL)
59 	Roland Melanson 	Goaltender	 	New York Islanders 	Windsor Spitfires (OMJHL)
60 	Don Nachbaur 	Centre 	 	Hartford Whalers 	Billings Bighorns (WHL)
61 	Bill Whelton 	Defence 	 	Winnipeg Jets 	Boston University (ECAC)
62 	Lee Norwood 	Defence 	 	Quebec Nordiques 	Oshawa Generals (OMJHL)
63 	Kevin Maxwell 	Centre 	 	Minnesota North Stars (from Edmonton) 	University of North Dakota (WCHA)
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;Notes
# The Colorado Rockies' third round pick went to the Montreal Canadiens as the result of a trade on November 24, 1976, that sent John Van Boxmeer to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for this pick.
# The St. Louis Blues' third round pick went to the Montreal Canadiens as the result of a trade on August 18, 1977, that sent Jim Roberts to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for this pick.
# The Washington Capitals' third round pick went to the Detroit Red Wings as the result of a trade on August 17, 1977, that sent Walt McKechnie, the third round pick in 1978 and the 24th overall pick to the Washington Capitals in exchange for the rights to Ron Low and this pick.
# The Minnesota North Stars' third round pick went to the Edmonton Oilers as the result of a trade on August 9, 1979, that sent the 42nd overall pick and the 63rd overall pick to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Dave Semenko and this pick.
# The New York Rangers' third round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as the result of a trade on March 12, 1979, that sent Jocelyn Guevremont to the New York Rangers in exchange for the third round pick in 1980 and this pick.
# The Edmonton Oilers' third round pick went to the Minnesota North Stars as the result of a trade on August 9, 1979, that sent Dave Semenko and the 48th overall pick to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for the 42nd overall pick and this pick.
===Round four===
Pick # 	Player 	Position 	Nationality	NHL team 	College/junior/club team
64 	Steve Peters 	Centre 	 	Colorado Rockies 	Oshawa Generals (OMJHL)
65 	Bob Crawford 	Right Wing	 	St. Louis Blues 	Cornwall Royals (QMJHL)
66 	John Ogrodnick 	Right Wing	 	Detroit Red Wings 	New Westminster Bruins (WHL)
67 	Harvie Pocza 	Left Wing 	 	Washington Capitals 	Billings Bighorns (WHL)
68 	Arthur Rutland 	Centre 	 	Vancouver Canucks 	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OMJHL)
69 	Glenn Anderson 	Right Wing	 	Edmonton Oilers (from Minnesota)	University of Denver (WCHA)
70 	Louis Begin 	Left Wing 	 	Chicago Blackhawks 	Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)
71 	John Gibson 	Defence 	 	Los Angeles Kings 	Niagara Falls Flyers (OMJHL)
72 	Vincent Tremblay 	Goaltender	 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
73 	Brian Cross 	Defence 	 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	Brantford Alexanders (OMJHL)
74 	Gilles Hamel 	Left Wing 	 	Buffalo Sabres 	Laval National (QMJHL)
75 	Jim Peplinski 	Right Wing	 	Atlanta Flames 	Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL)
76 	Pat Conacher 	Centre 	 	New York Rangers 	Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
77 	Don Gillen 	Right Wing	 	Philadelphia Flyers 	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
78 	Larry Melnyk 	Defence 	 	Boston Bruins 	New Westminster Bruins (WHL)
79 	Dave Orleski 	Left Wing 	 	Montreal Canadiens 	New Westminster Bruins (WHL)
80 	Tim Lockridge 	Defence 	 	New York Islanders 	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
81 	Ray Neufeld 	Right Wing	 	Hartford Whalers 	Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)
82 	Pat Daley 	Left Wing 	 	Winnipeg Jets 	Montreal Juniors (QMJHL)
83 	Anton Stastny 	Left Wing 	 	Quebec Nordiques 	Slovan Bratislava (Czechoslovakia)
84 	Maxwell Kostovich	Left Wing 	 	Edmonton Oilers 	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
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;Notes
# The Minnesota North Stars' fourth round pick went to the Edmonton Oilers as the result of a trade on June 9, 1979, that the Edmonton Oilers promised to not make Paul Shmyr one of its priority selections in the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft in exchange for this pick.
===Round five===
Pick # 	Player 	Position 	Nationality	NHL team 	College/junior/club team
85 	Gary Dillon 	Centre 	 	Colorado Rockies 	Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL)
86 	Mark Reeds 	Right Wing	 	St. Louis Blues 	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
87 	Joe Paterson 	Left Wing 	 	Detroit Red Wings 	London Knights (OMJHL)
88 	Tim Tookey 	Centre 	 	Washington Capitals 	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
89 	Dirk Graham 	Right Wing	 	Vancouver Canucks 	Regina Pats (WHL)
90 	Jim Dobson 	Right Wing	 	Minnesota North Stars	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
91 	Lowell Loveday 	Defence 	 	Chicago Blackhawks 	Kingston Canadians (OMJHL)
92 	Jim Brown 	Defence 	 	Los Angeles Kings 	University of Notre Dame (WCHA)
93 	Frank Nigro 	Centre 	 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	London Knights (OMJHL)
94 	Nick Ricci 	Goaltender	 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	Niagara Falls Flyers (OMJHL)
95 	Alan Haworth 	Centre 	 	Buffalo Sabres 	Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)
96 	Brad Kempthorne	Centre 	 	Atlanta Flames 	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
97 	Dan Makuch 	Right Wing	 	New York Rangers 	Clarkson University (ECAC)
98 	Thomas Eriksson	Defence 	 	Philadelphia Flyers 	Djurgardens IF (Sweden)
99 	Marco Baron 	Goaltender	 	Boston Bruins 	Montreal Juniors (QMJHL)
100 	Yvan Joly 	Right Wing	 	Montreal Canadiens 	Ottawa 67's (OMJHL)
101 	Glen Duncan 	Left Wing 	 	New York Islanders 	Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL)
102 	Mark Renaud 	Defence 	 	Hartford Whalers 	Niagara Falls Flyers (OMJHL)
103 	Thomas Steen 	Centre 	 	Winnipeg Jets 	Leksands IF (Sweden)
104 	Pierre Lacroix 	Defence 	 	Quebec Nordiques 	Trois-Rivieres Draveurs (QMJHL)
105 	Mike Toal 	Centre 	 	Edmonton Oilers 	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
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===Round six===
Pick # 	Player 	Position 	Nationality	NHL team 	College/junior/club team
106 	Bob Attwell 	Right Wing	 	Colorado Rockies 	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
107 	Gilles Leduc 	Left Wing 	 	St. Louis Blues 	Verdun Eperviers (QMJHL)
108 	Carmine Cirella 	Left Wing 	 	Detroit Red Wings 	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
109 	Greg Theberge 	Defence 	 	Washington Capitals 	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
110 	Shane Swan 	Defence 	 	Vancouver Canucks 	Sudbury Wolves (OMJHL)
111 	Brian Gualazzi 	Right Wing	 	Minnesota North Stars	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OMJHL)
112 	Doug Crossman 	Defence 	 	Chicago Blackhawks 	Ottawa 67's (OMJHL)
113 	Jay McFarlane 	Defence 	 	Los Angeles Kings 	University of Wisconsin (WCHA)
114 	Bill McCreary 	Right Wing	 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	Colgate University (ECAC)
115 	Marc Chorney 	Defence 	 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	University of North Dakota (WCHA)
116 	Rick Knickle 	Goaltender	 	Buffalo Sabres 	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
117 	Glenn Johnson 	Centre 	 	Atlanta Flames 	University of Denver (WCHA)
118 	Stan Adams 	Centre 	 	New York Rangers 	Niagara Falls Flyers (OMJHL)
119 	Gord Williams 	Right Wing	 	Philadelphia Flyers 	Lethbridge Broncos (WHL)
120 	Mike Krushelnyski	Centre 	 	Boston Bruins 	Montreal Juniors (QMJHL)
121 	Greg Moffett 	Goaltender	 	Montreal Canadiens 	University of New Hampshire (ECAC)
122 	John Gibb 	Defence 	 	New York Islanders 	Bowling Green University (CCHA)
123 	Dave McDonald 	Left Wing 	 	Hartford Whalers 	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
124 	Tim Watters 	Defence 	 	Winnipeg Jets 	Michigan Technological University (WCHA)
125 	Scott McGeown 	Defence 	 	Quebec Nordiques 	Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL)
126 	Blair Barnes 	Right Wing	 	Edmonton Oilers 	Windsor Spitfires (OMJHL)
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==Draftees based on nationality==
Rank	Country 	Amount
 	North America	120
1 	 	111
2 	 	9
 	Europe 	6
3 	 	5
4 	 	1
==See also==
* 1978–79 NHL season
* 1979 NHL Expansion Draft
* List of NHL players
==Notes==
==References==
==External links==
* HockeyDraftCentral.com
* 1979 NHL Entry Draft player stats at The Internet Hockey Database
Category:National Hockey League entry draft
Category:NHL Drafts