Many Veterans Are Bypassed During NHL’s Waiver Draft

The expansion Nashville Predators took former Edmonton Oiler center Zdeno Ciger with the first pick of the NHL waiver draft Monday.

Ciger, who played the last two seasons in his native Slovakia, had 31 goals and 39 assists in his last NHL season (1995-96) with the Oilers.

The Tampa Bay Lightning selected Brent Gilchrist, a forward who helped the Detroit Red Wings win a second consecutive Stanley Cup title, with the second pick in the nine-player draft. The Lightning later traded Gilchrist back to Detroit for a sixth-round pick in the 1999 entry draft.

Gilchrist, entering his 11th NHL season, had 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists) in 61 games last season with Detroit. He is not expected to play before early November because of a hernia.

The Mighty Ducks, selecting third overall, took defenseman Pascal Trepanier from the Colorado Avalanche. The Chicago Blackhawks then selected enforcer Dennis Bonvie, who had 295 penalty minutes in 57 games with the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs, Edmonton’s minor-league affiliate.

The Toronto Maple Leafs then took defenseman Kevin Dahl from the St. Louis Blues.

The Montreal Canadiens reacquired goaltender Frederic Chabot from the Kings. Chabot spent four years in the Canadien organization before being traded to Philadelphia for cash in 1994.

The other players selected were defensemen Maxim Galanov (by the Pittsburgh Penguins from the New York Rangers) and Rory Fitzpatrick (Boston Bruins from the Blues) and center Kip Miller (Pittsburgh from the New York Islanders).

Among the veterans bypassed in the draft were goaltenders Kay Whitmore (New York Rangers), Jim Carey (Boston) and Glenn Healy (Toronto Maple Leafs), defensemen Zarley Zalapski (New York Rangers), Neil Wilkinson (Pittsburgh) and Al Iafrate (Carolina Hurricanes) and forwards John Cullen (Tampa Bay Lightning), Ray Ferraro (Kings) and Randy Cunneyworth (Buffalo Sabres).

The Vancouver Canucks filled their backup goaltending spot by re-signing restricted free agent Corey Hirsch to a one-year deal 90 minutes before the draft.

Canuck President and General Manager Brian Burke urged Hirsch to agree to the deal before the draft or the Canucks would select one of the goalies in the draft.

Hirsch, who played only one NHL game last season, will be the backup to starter Garth Snow.