Islanders: Every single player lost through expansion drafts since 1974

1974 Expansion – Kansas City Scouts & Washington Capitals

Two years after entering the league the Islanders were on the other side of the table with two teams picking from their group. Each team took one player from the Isles:

• Bryan Lefley (D) – Kansas City Scouts
• Bill Mikkelson (D) – Washington Capitals

Lefley was a good AHL defenseman but wasn’t cut for the NHL, he only played 29 games with the Scouts. Mikkelson was exposed for the second time in two years (the Isles got him in the 72 expansion draft). He’s best known for posting the worst single year +/- with a staggering -82 in 1974-75.

1979 Expansion – Oilers, Whalers, Nordiques, Jets

While each of the teams existed before in the WHA an expansion draft had to be held to fill each team’s roster because of the dispersal draft.

Essentially, players on the Oilers, Whalers, Nordiques, and Jets had been drafted by NHL teams and as those players were now in the NHL, they were reclaimed by the teams that drafted them. Think of guys like Dave Langevin who was with the Oilers in the NWA but whose NHL rights were held by the Islanders who drafted him 112th overall in 1974.

The Isles lost two players in this draft:

• Pat Price (D) – Edmonton Oilers
• Gerry Hart (D) – Quebec Nordiques

Hart was a good NHL caliber defenseman putting up 128 points in 476 games with the Isles. He’d play 77 games with the Nordiques, scoring 26 points. The same goes for Pat Price who scored 64 points in 134 games with the Oilers. Both were solid players for their squads but neither was a surprise like Karlsson was for Vegas.

PS: Pat Price was traded for current Islanders assistant coach Lane Lambert in 1987.