Michel Goulet's draft selection

[ForsbergForever]

I've read that Michel Goulet got a court order prior to the 1979 NHL draft that mandated that no other team but the Nordiques could select him due to his WHA service. This got me thinking, he was obviously better than his 20th overall selection, so where do you think he would have gone without this strange circumstance blocking other teams.

1. Colorado Rob Ramage D
2. St. Louis Perry Turnbull LW
3. Detroit Mike Foligno RW
4. Washington Mike Gartner RW
5. Vancouver Rick Vaive RW
6. Minnesota Craig Hartsburg D
7. Chicago Keith Brown D
8. Boston Ray Bourque D
9. Toronto Laurie Boschman C
10. Minnesota Tom McCarthy LW
11. Buffalo Mike Ramsey D
12. Atlanta Paul Reinhart D
13. N.Y. Rangers Doug Sulliman LW
14. Philadelphia Brian Propp LW
15. Boston Brad McCrimmon D
16. Los Angeles Jay Wells D
17. N.Y. Islanders Duane Sutter RW
18. Hartford Ray Allison RW
19. Winnipeg Jimmy Mann RW
20. Quebec Michel Goulet LW
21. Edmonton Kevin Lowe D

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[reckoning]

Goulet was rated as the third best LW prospect, behind Tom McCarthy and ahead of Brian Propp. Since McCarthy went 10th and Propp went 14th, that would be an estimate of the range Goulet would've likely fallen in (though drafts can be unpredictable).

I've never understood how binding the court injunction was. If the other teams weren't allowed to draft him, then why would Quebec use their first-rounder on him? Why not wait until the last round if nobody else could get him? It may have just been an arrangement they had with the nhl out of professional courtesy, or maybe another team may have tried drafting him anyway in maybe the second or third round and then take their chances in court.

 

[Stephen]

Goulet was rated as the third best LW prospect, behind Tom McCarthy and ahead of Brian Propp. Since McCarthy went 10th and Propp went 14th, that would be an estimate of the range Goulet would've likely fallen in (though drafts can be unpredictable).

I've never understood how binding the court injunction was. If the other teams weren't allowed to draft him, then why would Quebec use their first-rounder on him? Why not wait until the last round if nobody else could get him? It may have just been an arrangement they had with the nhl out of professional courtesy, or maybe another team may have tried drafting him anyway in maybe the second or third round and then take their chances in court.

I don't get it, how was it that Quebec had to draft him? Could they not have just kept him like the Oilers kept Gretzky?

 

[reckoning]

I don't get it, how was it that Quebec had to draft him? Could they not have just kept him like the Oilers kept Gretzky?

He didn't play for Quebec in the WHA, he played for Birmingham. But there was supposedly a complicated clause in his contract that said if the WHA merged with the NHL, and Birmingham wasn't included, that he would become a Nordique.

Before the draft, he and his lawyer had stated that if any other team drafted him, he would play in Switzerland instead of reporting to their training camp.