1979–80 NHL transactions explained

The following is a list of all team-to-team transactions that have occurred in the National Hockey League during the 1979–80 NHL season. It lists what team each player has been traded to, signed by, or claimed by, and for which player(s) or draft pick(s), if applicable.

Trades between teams

May

May 24, 1979

To Atlanta Flames Curt Bennett

To St. Louis Blues Bobby Simpson

June

June 7, 1979		To Philadelphia Flyers Phil Myre
June 9, 1979	To Winnipeg Jets 7th-rd pick - 1980 Entry Draft (# 135 - Michael Lauen)	To Pittsburgh Penguins Jets promise not to claim Kim Clackson as a priority selection in the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft
June 9, 1979	To Minnesota North Stars Oilers promise not to claim Paul Shmyr as a priority selection in the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft	To Edmonton Oilers 4th-rd pick - 1979 Entry Draft (# 69 - Glenn Anderson)
June 9, 1979	To Quebec Nordiques Black Hawks promise not to claim Real Cloutier as a priority selection in the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft	To Chicago Black Hawks 1st-rd pick - 1980 Entry Draft (# 3 - Denis Savard)
June 9, 1979	To Montreal Canadiens 3rd-rd pick - 1980 Entry Draft (# 45 - John Newberry) 2nd-rd pick - 1981 Entry Draft (# 32 - Lars Eriksson)	To Quebec Nordiques Nordiques promise to claim Alain Cote or Danny Geoffrion rather than Marc Tardif or Richard David as a priority selection in the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft^1
June 9, 1979	To St. Louis Blues future considerations^2 (Ralph Klassen)	To New York Islanders Barry Gibbs Terry Richardson
June 9, 1979	To Los Angeles Kings Barry Gibbs	To New York Islanders future considerations^3 (Tom Williams)
June 10, 1979	To Minnesota North Stars 2nd-rd pick - 1982 Entry Draft (CGY - # 29 - Dave Reierson)^4	To St. Louis Blues Richie Hansen Bryan Maxwell
June 11, 1979	To Washington Capitals Mike Marson	To New York Islanders Steve Clippingdale
June 13, 1979	To Montreal Canadiens 2nd-rd pick - 1980 Entry Draft (# 27 - Ric Nattress)	To Edmonton Oilers Dave Lumley Dan Newman
June 13, 1979	To Quebec Nordiques cash	To St. Louis Blues Hartland Monahan
June 15, 1979	To Quebec Nordiques Nelson Burton	To Washington Capitals Dave Parro
June 28, 1979	To Quebec Nordiques Barry Legge Jamie Hislop	To Winnipeg Jets Barry Melrose

1. Quebec selected Alain Cote in the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft.
2. Trade completed on June 14, 1979.
3. Trade completed on August 16, 1979.
4. Minnesota's second-round pick went to Calgary as the result of a trade on June 7, 1982 that sent Willi Plett and Calgary's fourth-round pick in 1982 NHL Entry Draft to Minnesota in exchange for Steve Christoff, Bill Nyrop and this pick.

July

July 2, 1979	To Colorado Rockies rights to Hardy Astrom	To New York Rangers Bill Lochead
July 19, 1979	To Minnesota North Stars cash	To Vancouver Canucks Chuck Arnason
July 25, 1979		To New York Rangers future considerations

August

August, 1979 exact date unknown	To Quebec Nordiques Goran Hogosta	To New York Islanders Richard Brodeur
August, 1979 exact date unknown	To Atlanta Flames Paul Terbenche	To Winnipeg Jets future considerations
August 3, 1979	To Detroit Red Wings Pete Mahovlich	To Pittsburgh Penguins Nick Libett
August 7, 1979	To Edmonton Oilers Tom Roulston Risto Siltanen	To St. Louis Blues Joe Micheletti
August 8, 1979	To Montreal Canadiens 2nd-rd pick - 1979 Entry Draft (# 42 - Gaston Gingras) 2nd-rd pick - 1982 Entry Draft (# 32 - Kent Carlson)^1	To Minnesota North Stars Bill Nyrop
August 9, 1979	To Minnesota North Stars 2nd-rd pick - 1979 Entry Draft (# 42 - Neal Broten) 3rd-rd pick - 1979 Entry Draft (# 63 - Kevin Maxwell)	To Edmonton Oilers Dave Semenko 3rd-rd pick - 1979 Entry Draft (# 48 - Mark Messier)
August 16, 1979	To Washington Capitals Wayne Stephenson	To Philadelphia Flyers 3rd-rd pick - 1981 Entry Draft (# 47 - Barry Tabobondung)
August 22, 1979^2	To Los Angeles Kings Andre St. Laurent 1st-rd pick - 1980 Entry Draft (# 4 - Larry Murphy) 1st-rd pick - 1981 Entry Draft (# 2 - Doug Smith)^3	To Detroit Red Wings rights to Dale McCourt
August 22, 1979	To Toronto Maple Leafs Reg Thomas	To Edmonton Oilers 6th-rd pick - 1981 Entry Draft (# 111 - Steve Smith)
August 30, 1979	To Montreal Canadiens Denis Herron 2nd-rd pick - 1982 Entry Draft (# 31 - Jocelyn Gauvreau)	To Pittsburgh Penguins Robert Holland Pat Hughes

1. The original pick was for a 2nd-rd pick in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft but was changed to a 2nd-rd pick in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft on June 11, 1980 (1980 NHL Entry Draft) day.
2. This was a compensation trade. The rights to Dale McCourt were transferred to Los Angeles as compensation to Detroit signing restricted free agent Rogatien Vachon on August 8, 1979. McCourt refused to report to Los Angeles and sued the NHL, NHLPA, Detroit and Los Angeles.^[1] The matter was resolved and McCourt stayed with Detroit.^[2]
3. Los Angeles had the option of a 2nd-rd pick in 1980 or 1st-rd pick in 1981 NHL Entry Draft. They selected in the 1981 draft.

September

September 4, 1979	To Detroit Red Wings Dennis Sobchuk	To Philadelphia Flyers 4th-rd pick - 1981 Entry Draft (# 65 - Dave Michayluk)^1
September 14, 1979	To Montreal Canadiens 4th-rd pick - 1982 Entry Draft (# 69 - John DeVoe)	To Los Angeles Kings Brad Selwood 4th-rd pick - 1982 Entry Draft (# 82 - Dave Ross)
September 24, 1979	To Edmonton Oilers Jim Harrison	To Chicago Black Hawks future considerations

1. The trade was for a conditional 3rd-rd or 4th-rd pick in 1981 NHL Entry Draft. The pick was made in the 4th-rd but the condition of the pick is unknown.

October

October 4, 1979	To Montreal Canadiens cash	To Winnipeg Jets Ron Wilson
October 5, 1979	To Buffalo Sabres John Van Boxmeer	To Colorado Rockies Rene Robert
October 10, 1979	To Atlanta Flames Garry Unger	To St. Louis Blues Ed Kea Don Laurence 2nd-rd pick - 1981 Entry Draft (# 36 - Hakan Nordin)
October 12, 1979	To Winnipeg Jets Bud Stefanski	To New York Rangers cash future considerations
October 23, 1979	To Boston Bruins Bobby Lalonde	To Atlanta Flames 4th-rd pick in 1982 Entry Draft (MIN - # 81 - Dusan Pasek)^1

1. Calgary's fourth-round pick went to Minnesota as the result of a trade on June 7, 1982 that sent Steve Christoff, Bill Nyrop and Minnesota's second-round pick in 1982 NHL Entry Draft to Calgary in exchange for Willi Plett and this pick.

November

November 2, 1979	To Colorado Rockies Lucien DeBlois Pat Hickey Mike McEwen Dean Turner future considerations^1 (Bob Crawford)	To New York Rangers Barry Beck
November 6, 1979	To Atlanta Flames Harvey Bennett Jr.	To St. Louis Blues cash
November 6, 1979	To Vancouver Canucks Bruce Affleck Gord Buynak	To St. Louis Blues cash
November 13, 1979	To St. Louis Blues Blair Chapman	To Pittsburgh Penguins Bob Stewart

1. Trade completed on January 15, 1980.

December

December 7, 1979	To Washington Capitals Mike Kaszycki	To New York Islanders Gord Lane
December 10, 1979	To Boston Bruins Dan Newman	To Edmonton Oilers Bobby Schmautz
December 10, 1979	To Minnesota North Stars 2nd-rd pick - 1981 Entry Draft (# 31 - Mike Sands)	To Vancouver Canucks Per-Olov Brasar
December 13, 1979	To Toronto Maple Leafs Dave Farrish Terry Martin	To Quebec Nordiques Reg Thomas
December 21, 1979	To Vancouver Canucks Dave Logan Harold Phillipoff	To Chicago Black Hawks Ron Sedlbauer
December 27, 1979	To Toronto Maple Leafs Bob Stephenson	To Hartford Whalers Pat Boutette
December 29, 1979	To Toronto Maple Leafs Pat Hickey Wilf Paiement	To Colorado Rockies Lanny McDonald Joel Quenneville

January

January 2, 1980	To Vancouver Canucks cash	To Philadelphia Flyers Jack McIlhargey
January 3, 1980	To Minnesota North Stars David Hanson	To Detroit Red Wings future considerations
January 3, 1980	To Minnesota North Stars cash	To Detroit Red Wings Alex Pirus
January 4, 1980	To Minnesota North Stars 2nd-rd pick - 1982 Entry Draft (MTL - # 32 - Kent Carlson)^1	To Vancouver Canucks Kris Manery
January 10, 1980	To Toronto Maple Leafs Pat Ribble	To Chicago Black Hawks Dave Hutchison
January 17, 1980	To Hartford Whalers Tom Rowe	To Washington Capitals Alan Hangsleben

1. Minnesota's second-round pick went to Montreal as the result of a trade on August 8, 1979 that sent Bill Nyrop to Minnesota in exchange for Minnesota's second-round pick in 1979 NHL Entry Draft and second-round pick in 1980 NHL Entry Draft. The trade was later changed for this pick on June 11, 1980 (1980 NHL Entry Draft day).

February

February 8, 1980	To Vancouver Canucks Ivan Boldirev Darcy Rota	To Atlanta Flames Don Lever Brad Smith
February 10, 1980	To Toronto Maple Leafs Curt Ridley	To Vancouver Canucks cash
February 16, 1980	To Toronto Maple Leafs Mike Kaszycki	To Washington Capitals Pat Ribble
February 18, 1980	To Toronto Maple Leafs Bill Derlago Rick Vaive	To Vancouver Canucks Jerry Butler Tiger Williams
February 25, 1980	To Colorado Rockies Bobby Schmautz	To Edmonton Oilers Don Ashby
February 27, 1980	To Hartford Whalers Bobby Hull	To Winnipeg Jets future considerations
February 28, 1980	To Vancouver Canucks cash	To St. Louis Blues Bruce Affleck Gord Buynak

March

March 3, 1980	To Toronto Maple Leafs 3rd-rd pick - 1980 Entry Draft (# 43 - Fred Boimistruck)	To Colorado Rockies Walt McKechnie
March 10, 1980	To Buffalo Sabres 1st-rd pick - 1982 Entry Draft (# 6 - Phil Housley)	To Los Angeles Kings Jerry Korab
March 10, 1980	To Los Angeles Kings Billy Harris Dave Lewis	To New York Islanders Butch Goring
March 11, 1980	To Edmonton Oilers Don Murdoch	To New York Rangers Cam Connor 3rd-rd pick - 1981 Entry Draft (# 50 - Peter Sundstrom)
March 11, 1980	To Quebec Nordiques Ron Chipperfield	To Edmonton Oilers Ron Low
March 11, 1980	To Minnesota North Stars Jim Corsi	To Edmonton Oilers future considerations

Additional sources

• hockeydb.com - search for player and select "show trades"
• Web site: NHL trades for 1979-1980 . 2021-07-22 . NHL Trade Tracker.

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Ups and Downs of Dale McCourt . 3:03 min:sec mark . . 2016-12-24 . 2017-04-25.
2. Book: Labor Relations in Professional Sports. Berry. Robert C.. Gould. William B.. Staudohar. Paul D.. 1986. Greenwood Publishing Group. 9780865691377. en.