Islanders: Every single player lost through expansion drafts since 1974

Remember every player the New York Islanders have lost through the expansion draft? Don’t worry, here’s a refresher for you.

There’s been a lot of talks recently about the upcoming Seattle Expansion Draft. Who the New York Islanders lose to the Kraken is on the tip of everyone’s lips. Could it be Nick Leddy? Semyon Varlamov? Maybe Jordan Eberle? Or maybe the Islanders make a deal like in 2017 to keep the Kraken away from some of the players they wanted to keep.

It’s going to be an interesting summer for the Islanders who could lose a good player to the Kraken. Although, that good player will likely also take their large cap hit with them to the West Coast. So it’s not all bad.

For this post, I didn’t want to focus on who the Isles could lose but rather I wanted to look at every single player they did lose through expansion.

Since the Islanders entered the league in 1972 and conducted their own expansion draft, they’ve fallen victim to ten different expansion drafts. I wanted to look back at who they lost, and if any of there were a William Karlsson like find for the Vegas Golden Knights.

1991 – San Jose Sharks

Technically there were two teams selecting players with the Minnesota Stars also making selections. The 1991 expansion draft was complicated. The Islanders only lost a single player in the first expansion in twelve years:

• Jeff Hackett (G) – San Jose Sharks

In two years with the Isles Hackett averaged a .879SV% and 3.60GAA. With the Sharks, he averaged even worse numbers with a 0.875SV% and 4.51GAA. Although it’s not like the Isles were any good between 88 and 91 nor were the expansion Sharks. Hackett would find his groove in Chicago where he would average a 0.913SV% and 2.47GAA. The Sharks traded him to the Blackhawks in 1993 for a third-round pick.

While Hackett would become a good player he wasn’t one for San Jose.

1992 – Ottawa Senators & Tampa Bay Lightning

A year later the NHL expanded yet again adding the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning. Like every other team (except for San Jose), the Isles lost two players:

• Joe Reekie (D) – Tampa Bay Lightning
• Rob DiMaio (RW) – Tampa Bay Lightning

Reekie was a solid NHL’er playing 647 NHL games with the Lightning, Capitals, and Blackhawks.  The stay at home defenseman only had one season with a negative +/- and that was his final year in the league in 2001-02 at the age of 36.

DiMaio was a great AHL’er putting up 52 points in 54 games in a championship-winning 1989-90 season with the Springfield Indians. At the NHL level, DiMaio was a bottom-six forward sho scored 56 points in 154 games with the Lightning.

1993 – Florida Panther & Mighty Ducks of Anaheim

Three years, three expansion drafts. Wild. This was also the first expansion draft where Bill Torrey wasn’t at the helm for the Isles. He was on the other side as the President of the Florida Panthers.

• Glenn Healy (G) – Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
• Tom Fitzgerald (F) – Florida Panthers

Seeing Healy go after what he did in the playoffs was wild. But Anaheim didn’t protect him either and Tampa drafted him the next day. Fortunately for Healy, he was immediately traded to the Rangers and won the Stanley Cup in 1994.

Fitzgerald didn’t have a great career with the Isles but became a solid player for the Panthers, putting up 121 points in 353 games.

1998 – Nashville Predators

After back-to-back double expansions, the NHL only grew by a single team in 98, welcoming the Nashville Predators to the league. The Isles would lose only a single player:

• J.J. Daigneault (D)

Daigneault was already a well-travelled player at this point. The veteran defenseman had already skated with six teams before joining the Islanders. By going to the Preds, by way of the Isles, he was already at eight teams. He’d make it nine in January of 1999 when the Preds traded him for ‘future considerations’ to the then Phoenix Coyotes.

Daigneault was never much a scorer. His most productive season was 28 points in 64 games back in 1985-86, so it’s no surprise he only put up four points in 35 games with the Preds. But the vet was brought in for his wealth of NHL experience and to solidfy the backend for an expansion team.

1999 – Atlanta Thrashers

Another year another new team. The ’90s saw the league grow by seven teams in ten years. It was a wild expansion. Another team meant another expansion draft.

• David Harlock (D)

Harlock played 70 games for the Isles in 1998-99, his biggest stint in the league of his career to date. The Thrashers liked what they saw and picked him. He’d play with Atlanta for three years playing 128 games and scoring eight points (all assists).

The stay at home defender was there to stabilize the back end even if it was on the bottom pair. I wouldn’t say he achieved it, but I also wouldn’t blame him for it. The Thrashers just weren’t a well-run club and aren’t in the league anymore because of it.

2000 – Columbus Blue Jackets & Minnesota Wild

We sometimes forget how rapidly the NHL expanded from 1991 to 2000. They added nine teams, that’s nearly a third of the league. With two teams entering the league the Isles lost two players.

• Ian Herbers (D) – Minnesota Wild
• Ted Drury (D) – Columbus Blue Jackets

Herbers would never step on the ice for the Thrashers. He’d play in the UK by the 2001-02 season. Drury played a single game for the Columbus Blue Jackets. He skated 14:44 in  7-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on October 9, 2000. Ziggy Palffy picked up three points that night (1G, 2A).

2017 – Vegas Golden Knights

After all that expansion between 91 and 2000, the NHL didn’t grow for another 17 years. The protection rules were changed. The NHL didn’t want this new team to be a laughing stock, they wanted them to be competitive off the hop.

And they were. The Islanders only helped the Knights become successful indirectly:

• Jean-Francois Berube (G)

The Islanders had a ton of good options available to be drafted. Guys like Josh Bailey, Brock Nelson, Calvin de Haan, and Jaroslav Halak. But GM Garth Snow made a side deal with the Knights to keep them away from his valuable assets.

The Golden Knights were given a 2017 1st round pick, a 2019 2nd round pick, Mikhail Grabovsky, and prospects Jake Bishoff.

It’s a huge price to pay for sure. Was it the right call? Probably. But with those draft assets, the Golden Knights were able to trade for Tomas Tatar at the 2018 trade deadline and Mark Stone at the 2019 trade deadline.

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So, looking back the Islanders didn’t give up a stud player. I know many of you might say: “well the rules didn’t suit expansion teams between 1974 and 2000” but the Isles were able to find guys like Billy Smith and Ed Westfall in 1972.