1978 NHL Dispersal Draft
| 1978 NHL Dispersal Draft | |
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| Merging teams | Cleveland Barons and Minnesota North Stars |
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In June 1978, the National Hockey League allowed the Cleveland Barons and Minnesota North Stars to merge. The North Stars were allowed to keep some of the players from each team and the rest of the players went into the 1978 NHL Dispersal Draft.
After the 1977–78 NHL season, Barons owners Gordon and George Gund III tried to buy the Richfield Coliseum, but failed. Meanwhile, fan interest in the North Stars was in decline as the team had missed the playoffs in five of the previous six seasons, and the league feared that the franchise was also on the verge of folding. On June 14, 1978, the league, in an unprecedented arrangement, granted approval for the Barons to merge with the North Stars, under the Gunds' ownership.
The merged team would continue to be known as the Minnesota North Stars, but assume the Barons' place in the Adams Division. The recently retired Lou Nanne was named general manager, and a number of the Barons players – notably goaltender Gilles Meloche and forwards Al MacAdam and Mike Fidler – bolstered the Minnesota lineup. Furthermore, Minnesota had drafted Bobby Smith, who would go on to win the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's top rookie that year, and Steve Payne, who himself would go on to record 42 goals in his second campaign in 1979–80.
A stay-at-home defenceman who was selected by the California Golden Seals in the 1975 NHL Draft, Greg Smith followed the franchise when it relocated to Cleveland in 1976, and when it folded in 1978 and merged with the Minnesota North Stars, where his rights were protected by the North Stars in the 1978 Cleveland-Minnesota Dispersal Draft. He played for Minnesota for three seasons, and his solid defensive play would help guide them to the finals in 1981.
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