I have a bit of time, so here's the round-by-round breakdown of the 2000 expansion draft.
The following parameters were in place:
- Atlanta and Nashville were exempt from participating
- The other 26 teams could protect either one of two goalies, three defensemen, and seven forwards, or one goalie, five defensemen, and nine forwards
- Each existing team would lose two players. A team that lost a goalie could not lose a defenseman as well.
- Draft order was snake style. Columbus had first pick of goalies and forwards, Minnesota of defensemen.
- The first three rounds were goalies only, the next eight defensemen, the next thirteen forwards. The final round would be for any position.
For this breakdown, I'm considering the following.
1) Since every team was participating in some way, it was a great opportunity for someone to get a player they really wanted but otherwise couldn't get. Either one of Columbus or Minnesota could (and did) act as little more than a pass-through for a player they claimed by flipping him to a new team for a previously agreed-upon asset.
2) Existing teams would have a great interest in either not losing an exposed player or in making sure that they lost an exposed player. Both Columbus and Minnesota would make deals that followed this. This was a pre-salary cap world, and one onerous contract to an unproductive player could be suffocating, especially to a small-market team.
3) It's quite likely that both Columbus and Minnesota had agreed upon deals for the same player that could potentially be claimed; the only question would be who would get to that player first and trigger the deal.
4) It's also possible that an agreed-upon deal would fall apart. I'm aware of one in the 1999 expansion draft with Atlanta where this allegedly happened. The story there, in an article that I can't seem to find right now, was that Atlanta would claim Matt Johnson from Phoenix, then trade him to Philadelphia with a 3rd-rounder for Philly's 1st-rounder and Dmitri Tertyshny. Atlanta claimed Johnson, and Philly allegedly backed out of the deal that had allegedly been already agreed upon. The story has a tragic epilogue: Tertyshny was killed in a boating accident just one month later.
5) Compensatory draft picks for losing free agents still existed, all the way up to second-rounders. The framework involved the new salary of the player's contract. Expansion teams could claim a player, then collect a draft pick for losing him despite the possibility of having zero contact with him outside of the expansion draft paperwork.
So with all of this in mind, this is the 2000 NHL expansion draft.
Round 1 - goalies
Columbus takes Rick Tabaracci from Colorado. Tabaracci was 31 and just barely eligible for the draft (26 games played in the NHL the previous two seasons); he had failed to stick on the expansion Thrashers, playing just one game there before ending up in Colorado.
Minnesota takes Jamie McLennan from St. Louis. McLennan was 29 and had appeared in 52 games the previous two seasons.
At the time - Having already acquired Marc Denis, Columbus had what they regarded as the goalie of the future. Tabaracci was a pending UFA, so it's possible that this was a gamble that he would get a big contract elsewhere and leave Columbus with a draft pick.
There may have been a bit of gamesmanship at play here. Colorado had Greg de Vries and Alexei Gusarov available as defensemen, and it's certainly possible that Columbus took Tabaracci in this spot specifically so Minnesota could get neither of them.
End result - McLennan would play 38 games with the Wild that year, then fall back to the AHL the next season before being traded for a 9th-rounder (Mika Hannula, who never played in the NHL). Tabaracci would sign with Dallas, leaving Columbus with an 8th-rounder in 2001 (Andrew Murray). I'll still call this one a wash.
Round 2 - goalies
Minnesota takes Mike Vernon from Florida. Vernon was 37 and past his prime, although certainly still a good goalie.
Columbus takes Frederic Chabot from Montreal. Chabot was 32 and basically a career minor-leaguer.
At the time - Both of these were pass-through deals. Minnesota traded Vernon to Calgary for Dan Cavanaugh (a 1999 2nd-round pick) and a 2001 8th-rounder; Columbus received a 2nd-rounder from Montreal for taking Chabot. This was likely due to the fact that the Canadiens had exposed Karl Dykhuis, Scott Lachance, and Eric Weinrich, plus prospects Matthieu Descoteaux and Stephane Robidas. By getting Chabot off the board, all of those defensemen were now protected.
End result - Minnesota took Jake Riddle with their pick, and Cavanaugh never played in the NHL. This should be a clear win for Columbus, but that 2nd-rounder from Montreal was used to draft Kiel McLeod. End result is a wash of total busts.
Round 3 - goalies
Columbus takes Dwayne Roloson , a 31-year-old mostly career minor leaguer who'd played a bit the previous two seasons for Buffalo.
Minnesota takes Chris Terreri from New Jersey. He was 36 and clearly at the end of his career.
At the time - Terreri was another pass-through that was, well, strange. Minnesota would trade him right back to New Jersey along with a 9th-rounder for Brad Bombardir, a defenseman who was unprotected by the Devils. It'll get more strange in a couple of posts when we get to the forwards.
Roloson would refuse to sign with Columbus. It's possible that this was another move to try to get a draft pick for losing a UFA, but Roloson would sign with an AHL team and leave Columbus with nothing.
End result - Bombardir would play four years with Minnesota before being traded to Nashville as part of a deal to get two draft picks. One pick was Patrick Bordeleau, who would make the NHL ten years later, but only after being unsigned by the Wild and leaving them with nothing. The other was Clayton Stoner, who would later play several years in both the Wild system and then on the big club for four years.
This one was a decisive win for Minnesota.
End result - goalies.
From their three picks, Columbus would end up with no NHL games from the players they picked. Out of the assets acquired one way or another, they'd get around 200 games from Andrew Murray, who didn't get above the fourth line.
From their three picks, Minnesota would get 38 games out of McLennan, but also around 200 from Bombardir (which then would become another 200+ of Stoner).
It's possible that both teams simply blunted each other by eliminating the ability to take defensemen; this is unknown, but fun to speculate about.
All told for the goalie round, it's a clear win for Minnesota. I have two rounds (1 and 2) as a push, and one round (3) as a decisive Minnesota win.
Scorecard so far
Round 1 - McLennan/Tabaracci - push
Round 2 - Vernon/Chabot - push
Round 3 - Terreri/Roloson - clear Minnesota
Coming soon....rounds 4-11 - defensemen.
