In the dispersal draft, just as in the expansion draft, teams were allowed to make deals with each other to protect certain players in exchange for draft picks and other assets.
And that's how the 2016-17 iteration of the Sharks have a roster connection to the yet-to-play-a-game iteration of the team.
The Minnesota North Stars wanted to ensure that one of their players would stay on their team in the dispersal draft (who that player was remains unconfirmed), so on May 31, 1991, they made a deal with the Sharks to ensure that the Sharks wouldn't select that player. In exchange, the Sharks got a 1991 2nd round draft pick and a 1992 1st round draft pick.
READ: The full results of the 1991 Sharks Expansion and Dispersal Drafts.
With those picks, the Sharks drafted defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh and forward Andrei Nazarov respectively. Both players made contributions to the early Sharks teams: Ozolinsh played 212 games and scored 46 goals and 132 points (this includes his 2007-08 return to team teal), and Nazarov played 169 games and scored 23 goals and 51 points.
But their contributions to the team didn't stop there; both were later parts of significant trades.
Ozolinsh was traded to the Colorado Avalanche for future Sharks captain Owen Nolan, but that's not what this article is about.
Nazarov, along with a 1998 1st round pick (eventually the first overall pick Vincent Lecavalier), was traded on March 24, 1998 to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for David Shaw, Bryan Marchment, and a different 1998 1st round pick (eventually the second overall pick David Legwand).
The Sharks then flipped that 1998 1st round pick (the Legwand pick, not the Lecavalier pick), along with a 1998 3rd round pick, to the Nashville Predators for yet another 1998 1st round pick (neither the Legwand nor the Lecavalier pick) and 1998 second round pick on June 27, 1999.
Too confusing, didn't read? Over a period of three months the Sharks acquired and traded away each of the top three picks of the 1998 draft, ending up with two roster players and a 1st and 2nd round pick of the 1998 draft.
The Sharks ended up drafting defenseman Brad Stuart third overall with the first, and forward Jonathan Cheechoo with the second round pick.
Those who know their Sharks history will see where this is going.
In late November 2005, as the Sharks were mired in a 10-game losing streak, yet another trade was made. Brad Stuart, along with Marco Sturm and Wayne Primeau, was traded to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Joe Thornton.
Yes, the same Joe Thornton who was the
13th player in NHL history to score his 1,000th assist this past season
.
To recap: Not selecting a player in the dispersal draft begat Andrei Nazarov, who begat a 1998 1st round pick, who begat Brad Stuart, who begat Joe Thornton, who played for the San Jose Sharks in 2016-17.
That's quite a link.
And who knows? Maybe the Vegas Golden Knights expansion draft on Wednesday will have the same far-reaching effects as that of the Sharks.
