1979 NHL Entry Draft
| 1979 NHL Draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Date(s) | August 9, 1979 |
| Location | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| First selection |
 Rob RamageSelected by: Colorado Rockies |
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The 1979 NHL Entry Draft took place on August 9, 1979, at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. The National Hockey League (NHL) teams selected 126 players eligible for entry into professional ranks, in the reverse order of the 1978–79 NHL season and playoff standings. The draft was the first to be conducted after the NHL-WHA merger. As part of the terms of the merger, the four former WHA teams had joined the NHL on the condition that they be placed at the bottom of the draft order, as opposed to the top of the order as is usually the case for expansion teams.
In addition, the minimum draft age was lowered from 20 to 18. The NHL had been considering lowering the draft age for some time (the WHA did not have a minimum age), and timed the decision to lower the draft age at least in part to coincide with the merger. The lowering of the draft age caused three years' worth of draft picks to go in the same draft, resulting in what is generally considered one of the best draft classes in NHL Entry Draft history, which included future Hall of Famers Ray Bourque, Mike Gartner and Michel Goulet in the first round alone. Hall of Famers Mark Messier and Glenn Anderson would be drafted in later rounds. 12 of the 21 players selected in the first round would play in at least one All-Star game, 19 of the 21 would play at least 450 career NHL games, and all 21 had NHL careers of at least 235 games. The lowering of the draft age also made rising superstar Wayne Gretzky eligible to play in the NHL, although special circumstances as noted below prevented Gretzky from entering the draft. Under the old rules, Gretzky would not have been eligible to enter the NHL until the 1981 draft.
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